TC Daily Pit Stop: Hamlin Feels He and Ty Gibbs "In a Good Place" After Meetings; Briscoe on Cup Pole; Brandon Jones Locks Into Xfinity Round of 8 With Kansas Win
TC Daily Pit Stop: Sunday, September 28, 2025
Hamlin Says JGR “In a Good Place” After Gibbs Clash; Admits “It Went Too Far on My End”
Heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Denny Hamlin feels he and teammate Ty Gibbs, who he clashed with last weekend at New Hampshire, “are in a good place,” following a round of mid-week meetings between Joe Gibbs Racing management and all of the team’s drivers.
Hamlin admits that while Gibbs raced him more aggressively than he should have at New Hampshire, he also went over the line in how he reacted to his teammate’s on-track aggression.
“Certainly, absolutely. I definitely got hot under the collar, and it went too far on my end,” Hamlin admitted. “There [are] things I wish I could have done a little bit differently.”
Are the fences successfully mended? We’ll see, but it sounds like there is a consensus within the Joe Gibbs Racing team that they must all pull together in order to take home a championship with one of the three drivers it has in the Playoff fight.
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Chase Briscoe Earns Seventh Pole of 2025 in Kansas Playoff Race
Chase Briscoe took his seventh pole position of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in Saturday’s qualifying session for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Briscoe earned the pole with a lap time of 29.987 seconds (180.078 mph) around the 1.5-mile speedway. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, will start alongside on the front row.
Here are the top-10 starters for Sunday’s race:
FULL STARTING LINEUP
Brandon Jones Tops Zilisch for Win at Kansas; Secures Advancement to Round of 8
Brandon Jones had possibly the most complete race of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career on Saturday at Kansas Speedway as he started from the pole, finished second in Stages 1 and 2, had the Xfinity Fastest Lap, and led 54 laps on his path to his second win of the year, and seventh career victory.
Jones held off Connor Zilisch by nearly three seconds to score the win.
For the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, the win secures his place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 8, and the incredible performance only bolstered his confidence heading forward.
“I feel like with this momentum we have here this weekend, really peaking at the right time with these race cars is crucial. So, I’m excited for [Las Vegas],” Jones explained. “We’ll go to the Roval, have some fun with it. Road racing has been a lot more fun recently. I’ve been working on that craft a bunch.”
In addition to Jones, Zilisch, who secured an all-time NASCAR Xfinity Series record 16th consecutive top-five finish, and Justin Allgaier, who won Stages 1 and 2 but ultimately finished 13th after a strategy call didn’t pan out, also advanced to the Round of 8 of the Playoffs on Saturday.
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OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
POINTS: DRIVER | OWNER | ROOKIE | MANUFACTURER
Other NASCAR Headlines:
McDowell, Van Gisbergen Teams Hit With Penalties After Post-Inspection Unapproved Adjustments
Austin Cindric Calls Loudon a “Missed Opportunity” But Eyes Kansas as Playoff Lifeline
“Race Hard, But Don’t Wreck ‘Em”: Josh Berry on Racing Playoff Drivers
Anthony Alfredo, DUDE Wipes Returning to Beard Motorsports at Talladega
Previewing the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas
Logano Featured in Ad Council, NHTSA ‘Child Passenger Safety Week’ PSA
Kansas Race Weekend Resources:
Cup: Entry List | Practice | Qualifying
Xfinity: Entry List | Practice | Qualifying | Race
SUNDAY’S TV SCHEDULE
3:00 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Race (USA Network)
2025 NASCAR Season Resources:
Schedules: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Driver Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Owner Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Rookie Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Manufacturer Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2025 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2026 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR O’Reilly | NASCAR Trucks
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