KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Ryan Blaney was all alone atop the leaderboard Friday during qualifying at Kansas Speedway.

He probably felt all alone on the track, too.

Blaney earned his first career NASCAR Cup pole for Saturday night’s race, but only after traffic jams at inspection prevented 11 cars from getting on the track. Among the big names that failed to turn a lap were Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne.

That left just 28 cars for Blaney to beat for the right to start up front.

NASCAR has been closely monitoring tech stations this season.