Next Race: Hollywood Casino 400 The Place: Kansas Speedway The Date: Sunday, October 21 The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 400.5 miles (267 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 267) Harvick Hunting Playoff Victory From the earliest weeks of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Kevin Harvick established himself as the 2018 championship favorite. He was the first driver to win seven races – two more than his previous season total in 17 years at the Cup level. And with five races remaining, his 25 top-10 and 20 top-five finishes are also well within the range of previous personal bests of 28 top-10s and 23 top-fives (2015). Harvick comes to Kansas Speedway for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) atop the points standings, but behind Round of 12 race winners Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola on the Playoff leaderboard, for the second consecutive week. He holds a 17-point edge over regular-season champion Kyle Busch and, more importantly, he is 63-points better than ninth place Brad Keselowski with only the top eight drivers in the standings moving on to the next round of the Playoffs following Kansas. Yet for all that statistical positivity, Harvick is still vying for his first Playoff win of 2018. He led 46 laps at Talladega on Sunday, but finished 28th, running out of gas in NASCAR Overtime. He led a dominant 286 laps at Dover the week before and finished sixth. The good news is that Kansas has historically been a good venue for the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. His three wins on the 1.5-miler ties him with 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for most all-time. He’s won two of the last four races – splitting the total with fellow Playoff driver Martin Truex Jr. And his most recent win was at the most recent race – this May. His 614 laps led this season at 1.5-milers is tops and his three wins are tied for most with Busch. And he’s done everything but hoist a trophy in the Playoffs. “It’s one thing to dominate a race all day and win – that’s great,’’ Harvick said. “But, making a last-lap pass, an end-of-the-race pass or winning on a day when you’re not supposed to, there is just no better feeling than getting out of the car and looking at those guys. Having the rest of the field asking how was he able to win today. “Those are the types of moments I love to be a part of. We’ve been fortunate to experience a lot of those. That’s the adrenaline rush that comes with what we do. There is no better feeling than those particular moments.” Making It A Must-Win As is so often the case, the last handful of laps at Talladega Superspeedway can alter course for drivers and that’s exactly what happened last Sunday to all four of the championship hopefuls now on the “outside” of the Playoff cutoff. Brad Keselowski, his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman – are all ranked ninth-12th, respectively, following ‘Dega and need to climb into the top eight of the standings Sunday at Kansas Speedway to sustain their Playoff runs. A victory is the best option for all. Penske teammates Keselowski and Blaney were running top 10 the majority of the day at Talladega, even combining to lead 26 laps. But a fuel gamble left them short in the overtime race and as a result, the 2012 Monster Energy Series champ Keselowski sits 18-points behind eighth-place Truex. He won at Kansas in 2011 and has top-10 finishes in four of the last seven Kansas races. Blaney is now 22-points behind Truex. He has two top-five finishes in the last three Kansas races, leading 54 laps in the spring visit. Larson is 36-points behind the cutoff. He has a pair of top-five finishes at Kansas, including a fourth place this spring when he led 101 laps. Bowman is 68-points off the cutoff line and will absolutely need a victory to advance. His best showing at Kansas was seventh in the 2017 Playoff race when he filled in for the then-injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kyle Busch Looking To Bounce Back The regular season champion Kyle Busch has already scored one win in the Playoffs (at Richmond) but tough outings in two of the past three races since have him wanting to right the ship. Kansas Speedway has been a very solid venue for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team – especially in recent years. He’s finished in the top-10 in the last seven races and top-five in five of those, including his victory in the spring of 2016. He finished 10th in the Monster Energy Series’ last visit to the track in May – one of only two times he hasn’t led laps in the past five races there. Busch currently sits a seemingly comfortable second in the points standings to Harvick and has a 46-point edge over ninth-place Brad Keselowski as the Round of 8 Playoff field is set following Sunday’s race. Varied In Victory Lane With Aric Almirola’s victory Sunday at Talladega, the Monster Energy Series has had five different winners in five Playoff races. Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas), Kyle Busch (Richmond), Ryan Blaney (Charlotte Road Course), Chase Elliott (Dover) and Almirola have all hoisted trophies. Should a different winner do so Sunday in Kansas, it would mark the first time since the Cup elimination-style Playoffs began in 2014 for such an assortment of winners in the opening two rounds. There has never been a season in which each of the opening three rounds of the Playoffs has seen three different Playoff contenders win the races. The third round, the Round of 8, begins in two weeks at Martinsville Speedway and also includes races at Texas Motor Speedway and the new-look ISM Raceway in Phoenix. There’s a very legitimate chance that a new Playoff driver will win this week. Current points leader Harvick has been close but is still looking for his first Playoff victory this season. He won at Kansas in May – the second win in the last four Kansas races, book-ending Martin Truex Jr. victories. Reigning Cup champion Truex has to be considered a heavy favorite at Kansas Speedway, as well. He’s won two of the last three races there – including the 2017 Playoff race – and was runner-up to Harvick in May. So Much Strength At Stewart-Haas Racing As demonstrated by the strong showing up front last Sunday at Talladega, the Stewart-Haas Racing team is enjoying its best overall Playoff run in years. All four cars are in good shape to advance to the next round and, with a dramatic victory at Talladega, the team’s newest driver, Aric Almirola, made the operation a perfect 4-for-4 in terms of earning 2018 trophies. SHR is poised to be the only Monster Energy Series team to have all its cars advance to the Round of 8. Almirola is “in” automatically by virtue of the Talladega win. Seven-time winner Harvick leads the points standings, Bristol winner Kurt Busch is sixth in the standings with a 30-point edge on ninth place Keselowski. And two-time winner Clint Bowyer, of Emporia, Kansas, is seventh in points, with a 21-point cushion on the field heading to his “home track.” Of the four – only Harvick (three wins) has won at Kansas previously. Not-So-Spoiler Alert In the last 10 Kansas races, every Fall winner has been a member of the championship drive. In fact, only twice in that time frame did a driver not currently in the playoffs (Jeff Gordon in 2014 and Jimmie Johnson in 2015) win at Kansas. The winners of the last four Playoff races at the track – are all vying for a championship this weekend. Joey Logano won back-to-back in 2014-15, Harvick won in 2016 and Truex won in 2017. All three of them are looking for their first victory of the 2018 Playoffs. Best Of The Rest While the top 16 drivers have – or were – thinking championship, the rest of the field still had some valid reasons to finish strong as well. And they have. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has had three solid finishes in the five Playoff races, highlighted by a third place at Talladega on Sunday. A.J. Allmendinger, who will not be returning to his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet next year, has had a pair of top 10s as well, including a best of sixth place at Talladega. Daniel Suarez was eighth at Las Vegas and 10th at Dover. Wood Brothers Racing driver Paul Menard has scored a pair of top 10s in the Playoffs as well – 10th at Vegas and ninth at Talladega And Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jamie McMurray came as close as possible to getting a win – finishing runner-up at the Charlotte Road Course. Next Race: Kansas Lottery 300 The Place: Kansas Speedway The Date: Saturday, October 20 The Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 2:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) The Bell Is Ringing And Joe Gibbs Racing Is Singing Joe Gibbs Racing’s rising star, Christopher Bell, has won two of the first three races in the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs and in doing so has become one of the favorites in this season’s championship run. This weekend, Bell and the NASCAR Xfinity Series return to action at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday, October 20, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The JGR standout from Oklahoma has not only wrestled his way into the series standings lead but has etched his name in the history books. Bell’s six wins this season is now the all-time Xfinity Series record for wins by a Sunoco rookie surpassing previous rookie record holders Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards (with five wins each). “Since our win at Richmond, the only thing we have been going for is race wins and stage wins. That’s all that matters,” said Christopher Bell following his second Playoff win of the postseason. Bell kicked off the postseason with a win at Richmond Raceway, finished fifth in the debut of the Charlotte Road Course and followed all of that up with another victory two weeks ago at Dover International Speedway. Now heading into the Round of 8 with the standings reset Bell has 3,044 points, five up on second place Justin Allgaier and 33-points up on fifth place Elliott Sadler – the first spot outside the Championship 4. Despite the early Playoff success, Bell’s focus is unwavering. “It all boils down to one run at Homestead-Miami to decide who the champion is,” said Bell. “So, I don’t think anyone is the clear-cut favorite, and we won’t know that till about Lap 100 in Homestead-Miami.” Bell’s rookie campaign has been guided by the expertise of veteran crew chief Jason Ratcliff and the duo have managed six wins (Richmond-1, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Iowa-1, Richmond-2, Dover-2), 17 top-fives, 19 top 10s and four poles this season. But Bell has turned it up, even more, this first round of the Playoffs. In his last three starts, he has two wins, three top fives and an average finish of 2.333. In total, he has accumulated 44 Playoff points this season, and 12 of them he scored in the first round of Playoffs. “To be able to win two out of the three in this round is really cool, and we have added to our bonus points going into the next round,” said Bell. “It would be really nice if we could win Kansas and go on the offensive again the entire next round.” Bell’s confidence heading to Kansas this weekend should be high, the Sunoco rookie won in his series track debut last season at the 1.5-mile facility after starting fourth and leading just four laps. Next Playoff Stop: Kansas Speedway Nestled just west of Kansas City sits the 1.5-mile paved track – Kansas Speedway – and this weekend the NASCAR Xfinity Series will embark on its third straight year with the famed facility as the fourth race in Playoffs and the first of the Round of 8. In the inaugural season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (2016), Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch dominated the event at Kansas Speedway, leading 150 of 200 laps. The highest-finishing NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contender was Elliott Sadler, who finished runner-up. Kyle Busch’s JGR teammate, Daniel Suarez, finished third at Kansas that season and later went on to win the 2016 title. Then last season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff race at Kansas was won Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell, who then was on a part-time Xfinity schedule while competing fulltime in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Bell snatched the win from his JGR teammate Erik Jones in the closing laps of the event. The highest-finishing Playoff contender in the event was William Byron (fourth-place finish), who later went on to win the series title that season. Heading into this weekend’s Kansas Lottery 300, here are the Round of 8 Playoff driver’s average finishes at Kansas Speedway: Christopher Bell (1.0), Tyler Reddick (2.0), Justin Allgaier (7.9), Matt Tifft (8.0), Elliott Sadler (10.9), Daniel Hemric (18.0), Cole Custer (27.0) and Austin Cindric will be making his series track debut this weekend. Owners’ Championship Update The top three owners in the NASCAR Xfinity Series owners’ championship are all within 10-points of each other following Dover. Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford team currently holds the standings lead, six-points ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet team in second and 10 points up on Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team. Austin Cindric will be in the No. 22 and John Hunter Nemechek will be strapped into the No. 42 this weekend; both will be making their series track debuts at Kansas Speedway. Ryan Preece will be in the No. 20 this weekend at Kansas. He has one previous start at the 1.5-mile speedway – starting 24th and finishing 32nd. Notable Mentions Angela Ruch will in the No. 38 RSS Racing Chevrolet this weekend, working with crew chief Todd Myers. This will be Ruch’s second start of the season, her first came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where she started 40th and finished 30th. … One of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt’s grandsons, Bobby Earnhardt, nephew of Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of Kerry Earnhardt and brother to Jeffrey Earnhardt will be attempting to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series 2018 season debut this weekend at Kansas. Bobby Earnhardt will be piloting the No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Dodge this weekend. Next Race: Texas Roadhouse 200 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Saturday, October 27 The Time: 1 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 105.2 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 50), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 100), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) source – NASCAR communications
