This Weekend in NASCAR – Kansas Speedway Storylines

NASCAR’s top two national series are on track this weekend with Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series at Kansas Speedway; the Camping World Truck Series is off until October 24 at Talladega Superspeedway. Weekend storylines follow…

Logano Advances To Eliminator 8 Round With Win At Charlotte

Joey Logano led 227-of-334 laps on his way to Victory Lane in Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to become the first driver to advance to the Eliminator 8 Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The No. 22 Ford driver becomes a member of the Eliminator 8 by winning the Contender Round opener for the second straight season. Last year, he won the first Contender Round race at Kansas Speedway – the site of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. In 12 starts at Kansas, Logano owns one win, four top fives and four top 10s. He has logged a top-five showing in his last four starts at the 1.5-mile track.

Logano’s checkered flag was his first at Charlotte. His previous best Queen City finish was third in 2011.

On the season, Logano ranks tied with Kevin Harvick for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series lead in top 10s with 24. His five Coors Light Pole Awards are the most in the series.

Striving For Greatness: Harvick Joins Elite Company With 20th Top-Five Finish

After placing second on Sunday at Charlotte, Kevin Harvick became the 13th driver in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present) to collect 20 top-five finishes in a season. The other drivers to achieve the feat include: Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson.

If Harvick can finish within the top five in the final six races he will tie Jeff Gordon’s record for most top fives in a modern era season – 26 in 1998.

Harvick’s Charlotte result also earned him his 11th runner-up of the season, the most since Bobby Allison logged 12 in 1972. The No. 4 Chevrolet driver boasts 14 top-two finishes this season, double the total of the next-highest driver (Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, 7).

Harvick heads to Kansas ranked second on the Chase Grid – 13 points above the cutoff line. In 19 career starts at Kansas, he boasts one win (fall 2013), four top fives, six top 10s and the track’s second-best average finish (9.4).

Another Milestone: In addition to his impressive finish totals, Harvick has led 2,031 laps – his second straight season with over 2,000 laps led. The last driver to lead 2,000 laps or more in consecutive seasons was Jeff Gordon (1995-96).

Earnhardt, Kenseth Head To Kansas In Need Of A Win

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth have to be thankful for the simple formula that embodies the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format – “win and you’re in.”

Earnhardt, 11th on the Chase Grid, sits 19 points behind Brad Keselowski on the cutoff line. Kenseth, 12th on the Chase Grid is 32 points below the cutoff line.

Both drivers essentially need wins in the next two races (Kansas and Talladega) to advance from the Contender Round to the Eliminator 8 Round.

And both drivers get to race at tracks where they perform well.

In 19 starts at Kansas, Kenseth has two wins, six top fives and 11 top 10s. His 104.9 driver rating there is the second-highest total in NASCAR.

Earnhardt has solid stats at Kansas with nine top-10 finishes in 18 starts there, but gets to close out the Contender Round at Talladega where he owns six wins – tied with Jeff Gordon for the second-most victories in track history.

Kenseth hasn’t been very strong at Talladega. In 31 starts at the superspeedway, he claims one win, six top fives and 10 top 10s.

Newman And Busch On The Outside Looking In

If the Contender Round ended after Charlotte, Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch would be among the four drivers eliminated from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Luckily for them, there are two races left. Newman (-6) and Busch (-10) are also close enough to the cutoff in points where they do not need wins to advance.

The two drivers get their chance to close their points gaps in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Historically one of his worst tracks, Busch’s only top-five finish in 15 starts at Kansas was a third-place showing in the Chase last fall. His average finish at the 1.5-mile track is 21.4. With Talladega looming, Busch could be in trouble.

Newman owns one win (fall 2003), three top fives and six top 10s in 19 starts at Kansas. He has logged a top-10 finish there in his last two races and has an average finish of 17.6 in the Jayhawk State.

Gordon Good At Kansas

No driver is as good at Kansas as Jeff Gordon, who boasts a record three wins there. In his 19 starts at the Midwestern track, the No. 24 Chevrolet pilot also has 11 top fives and 13 top 10s.

Gordon currently ranks seventh on the Chase Grid following his eight-place finish at Charlotte over the weekend – eight points ahead of the cutoff line. He is still searching for his first win of the year with just six races left in his final full-time season.

Homecoming For Edwards, Bowyer and McMurray

Carl Edwards (Columbia, Mo), Clint Bowyer (Emporia, Kansas) and Jamie McMurray (Joplin, Mo.) all get to return to their roots this weekend by racing at their “hometrack” (Kansas Speedway).

None of the three hometown heroes has ever won for the hometown crowd at Kansas.

Here are their stats in the Jayhawk State:

Edwards – 16 starts, six top fives (37.5%), 11 top 10s (68.8%), 10.8 avg. finish, 96.0 driver rating

Bowyer – 14 starts, two top fives (14.3%), five top 10s (35.7%), 14.8 avg. finish, 78.9 driver rating

McMurray – 17 starts, three top 10s (17.6%), 19.9 avg. finish, 70.0 driver rating

All three drivers qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but Edwards is the only one still in contention. Edwards is currently sixth on the Chase Grid, seven points above the cutoff line. He owns two victories this season – the third consecutive year he’s earned multiple wins.

No Chase, No Problem for Potential Spoilers

Just because a driver is not in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, doesn’t mean he/she can’t win one of the final six races.

There are plenty of drivers attempting to play “spoiler” in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 – Jimmie Johnson being the most likely to pull off the victory. The No. 48 Chevrolet driver won the spring race at Kansas for his second career victory at the 1.5-mile track and has failed to finish in the top 10 there a mere three times in 18 starts.

Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart join Johnson as non-Chasers with two Kansas wins.

Last season, two drivers played spoiler during the Chase – Dale Earnhardt Jr. visited Victory Lane at Martinsville, while Johnson took the checkered flag at Texas.

Buescher Can Be The Master Of His Own Destiny

Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher is currently leading the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings by 26 points over second-place Chase Elliott with just four races remaining in the season. Buescher does control his own destiny – but it’s tough, very tough. If he finishes second in each of the next four races, he’ll clinch no matter what any other driver does.”

Buescher got to this point in the season by being impressively consistent. In 29 starts, he has posted two wins (Iowa and Dover), 11 top fives and 19 top 10s (a top-10 finishing percentage of 65.5%). And to boot, his average finish this season is an 8.1 – best among championship contenders.

Buescher returns to Kansas Speedway to make his third career start at the 1.5-mile facility. In his previous two starts at Kansas he has had mixed results. In his series debut at the track, he finished 16th and last season he was caught in an accident and finished 28th, 51 laps down. This season, expect him to turn it around at Kansas, because in 2015 he has the third-best average finish among championship contenders on 1.5-mile tracks with an 8.3.

New Territory For Chase Elliott With Four Races To Go

This time last season, Chase Elliott had a 38-point lead over second-place in the standings, three wins under his belt and the road to title town was all but paved. This season however, Elliott is voyaging into untraveled territory in his young NASCAR XFINITY Series career. He is second in points with just one win (Richmond), and only has four races left on the schedule to overcome a 26-point deficit to become the series’ sixth driver to post back-to-back titles.

Elliott’s sophomore season could be considered a slump compared to his stellar rookie year, but by no means has his performance in 2015 been subpar. In 29 starts he has one win, 11 top fives, and a series-leading 23 top 10s (a top-10 finishing percentage of 79.3%).

Buescher’s chances at a title are not assured, especially with how well Elliott has run at the final four tracks on the schedule – among the two drivers, Elliott (8.7) has an average finish that is almost six spots (5.8) better than Buescher’s (14.5).

Elliott made his series debut at Kansas last season starting 12th and finishing 10th.

Five Former Kansas Winners Competing This Weekend

Experience is often thought of as one of the most important attributes in a successful driver. This weekend the NASCAR XFINITY Series rolls into Kansas with five former series winners – Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Green.

Last season’s winner Kyle Busch is tied with Joey Logano (two each) for the series-most wins at Kansas Speedway. Busch has made 10 starts at Kansas posting two wins (2007, 2014), six top fives and eight top 10s. His average finish at Kansas is 9.2. Busch will be piloting the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this weekend.

Matt Kenseth has one series victory (2013) at Kansas. Kenseth will be directing the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this weekend. In eight starts at Kansas, Kenseth has posted, one win, five top fives and seven top 10s.

Though Joey Logano shares the lead with Kyle Busch for the most wins at Kansas with two, he has not won at the 1.5-mile facility since 2010. Logano is the only driver in series history to win consecutive races at Kansas in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (2009, 2010). He also is the only driver to win at Kansas from the pole (2010). Logano will be in the series car owner points-leading No. 22 Team Penske Ford this weekend.

Harvick returns to the series this weekend after not competing for more than 10 XFINITY races. This weekend Harvick will be in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Harvick has made 10 series starts at Kansas, posting one win (2006), six top fives, seven top 10s and a pole.

Former Kansas winner, Jeff Green will also be attempting to compete this weekend. Green will be driving the No. 19 TriStar Motorsports Toyota for car owner Mark Smith. The 2000 series champ, Jeff Green, has made seven starts at Kansas posting one win (2001; inaugural race) and two top 10s.

Sunoco Rookie: Suarez Chasing The Elusive Win

Following his seventh top-five finish of the season last weekend, Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings leader Daniel Suarez reflected on how close he and the No. 19 JGR Toyota team are to their first series win together.

“We have to work a little harder, but I feel like we’re getting close (to their first win),” said Suarez, following his fourth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend. “We’re competing with the big guys, which is great, but we have to be a little bit better and we’re going to get that win.

Suarez is currently seventh in the NXS driver standings 128 points behind series standings leader Chris Buescher. This season, Suarez has posted three Coors Light poles, seven top fives, 14 top 10s and an average finish of 12.4.

Suarez will be making series debut on two of the four final tracks on the schedule – Kansas Speedway this weekend and Homestead-Miami Speedway to close out the season.

Though time is short, Suarez is not giving up on getting his first win by season’s end.

“I want to be competitive one more time and, like I said before, we just need to put all the luck together and our stuff together to try to win a race. I feel like we’re close and we have the speed. We just need to put our pieces together.”

Suarez also leads the Sunoco Rookie if the Year standings by 29 points over second-place Darrell Wallace Jr.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Etc.:

NASCAR In Kansas – NASCAR has held a total of 53 NASCAR national series events among two tracks (Kansas Speedway 48, and Heartland Park Topeka 5) in the state of Kansas. The first NASCAR national series event held in the state of Kansas was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race held at Heartland Park Topeka in 1995 – the race was won by Ron Hornaday Jr. The NASCAR XFINITY Series has competed 14 times in the state of Kansas – all 14 were at Kansas Speedway. The first NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Kansas Speedway was held in 2001 and won by Jeff Green. Kansas Speedway has had 11 different pole winners and 12 different race winners in the NXS.

Kansas Drivers In NASCAR – 17 different drivers that have competed in a NASCAR national series event have Kansas recorded as their home state. Of the 17 Kansas competitors, only six have competed in a NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Of the six only one has ever won – Clint Bowyer (eight career NXS wins). The six drivers from Kansas to compete in the NASCAR XFINITY Series are Clint Bowyer (Emporia), Rick Beebe (Shawnee), Ryck Sanders (Leawood), Jennifer Joe Cobb (Kansas City), Chase Austin (Eudora), and Randy Briggs (Kansas City). Cobb is the only active Kansas driver participating in this weekend’s XFINITY Series race at Kansas Speedway.