Next Race: Hollywood Casino 400 The Place: Kansas Speedway The Date: Sunday, October 20 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) 2018 Race Winner: Chase Elliott Elliott needs a strong performance at Kansas Chase Elliott arrives at Kansas Speedway this weekend as defending winner of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and all the good juju that past achievement conjures will be welcomed with wide-open arms. Thanks to an impressive rally through an afternoon of multi-car crashes and tough luck that targeted every Playoff driver, Elliott finished a solid eighth-place at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway’s rain-delayed finish on Monday. It wasn’t quite enough points-wise to overcome an engine failure and 38th-place finish at Dover a week earlier, so the sport’s reigning Most Popular Driver remains in a precarious points position heading to one of his best tracks this week. After two races of the three races making up this Playoff round, Elliott is ranked 10th among the 12 Playoff drivers. Only the top eight advance with championship eligibility after Sunday’s checkered flag. Elliott trails eighth-place Joey Logano by 22 points. The good news for Elliott is that Kansas has traditionally been one of his better tracks. He has four top-10 and three top-five finishes in seven starts there including the win last year. He’s finished fourth or better in three of the last four races – leading a combined 89 laps in the last two races. Although glad to rally for a top-10 finish in Monday’s Talladega race, Elliott fully recognizes that his 2019 championship aspirations ultimately depend on how he fares at Kansas. “You have to have the mindset to go out there and control what we can control and do everything we can to get a win,’’ Elliott said. “That’s all we can do.’’ Hamlin’s luck has changed quickly Denny Hamlin’s measured and motivated run to a career first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup title remains on course after a dramatic but satisfying third-place finish on the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway high banks Monday. It was his third top five in five Playoff races this season and was especially impressive considering Hamlin started last in the Talladega field after an engine problem in qualifying. It brings Hamlin’s top-five total this season to 16 – a career-high mark. He has 20 top-10 finishes meaning 80 percent of the time he’s in the top 10, it’s a top-five performance. His place atop the series points standings – eight points up on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. – is his best standing of the season and undoubtedly has fed the confidence of this popular driver, who is an annual championship favorite. Seven times in his 14-year fulltime Cup career, Hamlin has finished sixth or better in the title chase. He was a career best runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in 2010 and twice has finished third in the championship, including a headline-making 2006 rookie campaign. The driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota is a former Kansas Speedway winner, earning the trophy in Spring, 2012. Since then he’s been especially good in the Fall Playoff races – finishing runner-up in 2015 and fifth in 2017. The track has been hit-or-miss statistic-wise for Hamlin. He has two top 10s – both fifth-place finishes – in the last seven races. He was 16th this May and 14th in this race last October. Very Happy Harvick Few drivers may be happier to arrive at Kansas Speedway than Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick. His three wins at the track ties NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most ever and his three runner-up finishes are most of any driver in this week’s field. Not only has Harvick been outstanding here in the past, he shows up this week in a highly-motivated championship mode. His 17th-place finish at Talladega last weekend – one of dozens of drivers collected in three large multi-car accidents – was his worst in nearly two months. He has five top-five finishes in the last seven races including a statement-making win from the pole position in the Indianapolis regular season finale. And Harvick is an absolute favorite to earn his fourth victory of 2019 this weekend at the Kansas 1.5-miler where he’s already hoisted more hardware than any of his competitors. In 27 starts, Harvick has eight top-five and 14 top-10 finishes – and won a series high five pole positions. He’s led laps in 11 of the last 12 races – three times race-high numbers. That includes 104-laps out front in May when he finished 13th. He was 12th in last year’s Playoff race at Kansas – the two sub-10th-place finishes snapping a streak of five straight top-five runs. Harvick joins Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman as the only drivers to have started all 27 Cup Series races held at the Speedway, which opened in 2001. Jeff Gordon won the track’s first two races in 2001-2002. “I don’t really know [why],’’ Harvick said about his recent success at Kansas. “It’s a racetrack where I’ve won a couple races at and for whatever reason it just kind of its my style and what we do with the cars. “We’ve had a lot of good race cars there to capitalize on the good characteristics that fall into my driving style and we’ve been able to have some good results with it.’’ Turnaround time for Kyle Busch It’s been an uncharacteristic few months for the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who hasn’t won a race since Pocono, Pa. – 17 races ago. The regular season champ has had an up-and-down Playoff run finishing 19th or worse in three races and top 10 in the other two. He’s led laps in only two of the three Playoff races – but that includes 202 laps out front at Richmond, where he finished runner-up. Busch is ranked third in the championship standings coming to Kansas – 15 points behind leader and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. The 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway has been a significant venue this season for Busch. His 30th place finish at Kansas in May snapped a historic run of 11 straight top-10 finishes to open the season. It also snapped an impressive run of eight consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas that included a victory in 2016 and a runner-up finish to Chase Elliott in last year’s Playoff race. Busch is the only driver with victories in all three NASCAR national series at Kansas. In addition to his Cup win, he has four Xfinity Series victories – including an unprecedented three straight from 2014-16 – and a pair of Gander Outdoors Truck Series trophies (2014 and 2017). Peaking Penske With Ryan Blaney’s victory Monday at Talladega and his two Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano inside the Top 8 of the Playoff standings heading to this Playoff round’s elimination race, this team has every reason to feel optimistic. Blaney has an automatic berth in the Round of 8 – the second time he has advanced that far in the Playoffs. And Keselowski and Logano are currently two points apart, ranked seventh and eighth. Keselowski is the most recent Kansas winner, taking the trophy in May after a dramatic overtime finish – his second career victory at the track. He has 10 top-10 finishes in 19 races there including a runner-up showing (2017-1) to go with his wins. Before being collected in an accident at Talladega, Keselowski had four top-11 finishes in the four previous Playoff races, including a best of third in the Las Vegas opener. He has three victories (at Atlanta, Martinsville and Kansas) this season in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford and would love to join Martin Truex Jr. (2017) as the only drivers to sweep a season at the Kansas 1.5-miler. Logano, the defending Cup champion, has certainly had to work hard for a chance to become the first back-to-back Cup champ since Jimmie Johnson won five consecutively from 2006-10. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has a pair of Kansas wins – the 2014 and 2015 Playoff races – and seven of his career eight top 10s are also top fives. He was 15th here in May. In last October’s Playoff race, he won the pole and led a race-best 100 laps but finished eighth. Logano managed an 11th-place finish at Talladega despite being caught in a multi-car accident. He’s had four finishes of 11th or better in the five Playoff races – the lone exception a 34th-place finish at Dover. Blaney, who has already earned his ticket to the Round of 8, has five top-10 Kansas finishes in nine starts with a decided tip to the Playoffs. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford has earned four top-10 finishes in the last five Playoff races at Kansas with a career-best third place at the track in the 2017 Fall race. Truex is feeling the good vibes After another so-so outing at the Talladega big track on Monday, Martin Truex Jr. must be eager to head West. The 2017 champion is the only driver in history to sweep a season’s races at Kansas Speedway (2017) and then he finished runner-up in the very next race – a three-race streak of excellence unmatched in the track’s 19-year history. Eight of his nine top-10 finishes have been fifth-place or better. He was fifth in this Playoff race last year and 19th here at Kansas this May. Truex is already the winningest driver of the 2019 season with six victories – including two in the Playoffs (at Las Vegas and Richmond, Va.). He’s second in the championship standings – eight points behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. He salvaged a 26th-place finish at Talladega after his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota suffered crash damage. Prior to that his worst finish in four Playoff races was a seventh place at the Charlotte ROVAL. He was runner-up at Dover. a week ago. Truex won the 2017 title with a career best eight-wins and finished runner-up to Joey Logano last year. Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is the only active driver to earn more than one title. “We’re pretty happy where we are in the Playoffs now that we’re through Talladega,’’ Truex said. “We knew that would be a wild card for us, but we’re confident we can go everywhere else and be competitive and have a shot to win. “That starts this week in Kansas. We know what we need to do to move on to the next round, but we’d also like to add more Playoff points if that opportunity presents itself.’’ Playoff bubble gets bouncy This Playoff round has certainly provided drama for many racing prognosticators, particularly based on regular season showings. The two race winners in this three-race Playoff round – Kyle Larson at Dover and Ryan Blaney on Monday at Talladega – celebrated their first victories of the season. That leaves several other pre-Playoff favorites really challenging for one of the remaining six positions to transfer into the Round of 8. Alex Bowman, who earned his first career win at Chicago this summer, is ranked ninth – 18 points behind Joey Logano. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, a three-time race winner, is ranked 10th, 22 points behind Logano. Kansas native Clint Bowyer is 11th, 24 points behind and the third Hendrick Motorsports driver still racing for a title – 21-year old William Byron – is ranked 12th, 27 points behind Logano. Ironically, Byron and Bowyer were the two Stage winners last week at Talladega before being collected in a multi-car accident (Byron) and having a mechanical issue (Bowyer). Nevertheless, it’s go-time for the foursome. Three of these four drivers finished top-five in the Spring. Bowman was runner-up, Elliott was fourth and Bowyer was fifth. And Elliott is the defending Playoff race winner. Bowman’s work in May was his third top-10 finish in the last four races at Kansas. The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was ninth in last year’s Fall race He was involved in a crash while leading the Talladega race on Monday but has three top-10 finishes in the five Playoff races, including a runner-up finish at the Charlotte ROVAL three races ago. Elliott certainly brings confidence into the event as the defending winner. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet rallied to a fourth-place finish in the May Kansas race after qualifying a season-worst 32nd place. He has four top-10 and three top-five finishes in seven Kansas races. Bowyer has reason to feel optimistic as well. The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford has three top-10s in five Playoff races this season. He started on the outside pole at Kansas this spring, led 12 laps and finished fifth – one of three top fives and seven top 10s in 22 career starts on his home track. He was 13th in last year’s Kansas Playoff race and has a career-best finish of runner-up in the 2007 Fall Kansas race. Byron, who won the opening stage at Talladega (his second stage win of the season), now finds himself needing to rally to advance in his first Playoff appearance. The 21-year old, 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion had been ranked eighth prior to Talladega – just on the cutoff line to move to the next round. Now he’ll have to turn in a career-best day at Kansas Speedway, which hasn’t necessarily been a highlight on his resume. He has only one finish in three starts, finishing 20th this May and leading his first laps (four). Best of the rest Aric Almirola is continuing a competitive trend he mastered last season. Although he advanced to the penultimate Playoff round last year, he raced competitively enough to finish a career-high fifth in the points standings – best among those not racing for the title in Homestead. He’s on a similar path this year. The driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was 13th after the first round of the Playoffs – with the Top 12 moving on. Since then he has maintained that ranking and is coming off a fourth-place finish at Talladega last weekend. As for the drivers who missed the Playoff cut, a certain seven-time series champion is leading the way. Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson holds a 1-point edge over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez in the standings after both drivers were involved in accidents on Sunday. Johnson’s nine top fives and 18 top 10s at Kansas are most in the field in both categories. From the start of the Playoffs at Las Vegas to last week’s race at Dover, Johnson finished – in descending order – 11th, 10th, ninth and eighth before Sunday’s DNF. Suarez, the first driver to miss the Playoff cut, has only one top 10 in the five Playoff races. Next Race: Kansas Lottery 300 The Place: Kansas Speedway The Date: Saturday, October 19 The Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 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) 2018 Race Winner: John Hunter Nemechek Round of 8: Xfinity Playoffs head to Kansas With the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ first three Playoff races in the books, eight drivers move on to the Round of 8 to challenge for a chance at the title in the Championship 4 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But first, the eight Playoff contenders must face each other at Kansas Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway in Phoenix to decide which four get to move on. Up next is Kansas Speedway nestled west of Kansas City, a true gem of the area, the 1.5-mile paved oval track has variable banking in the turns ranging from 17 to 20 degrees, and will host this season’s fourth Xfinity Playoff race, the Kansas Lottery 300, on Saturday, October 19 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 200 lap (300-mile) Playoff event will be broken up into three stages – the first two stages will be 45 laps each and the final stage will be 110 laps (45/90/200) and will mark the 19th time the NASCAR Xfinity Series has competed at the facility. The first series event at Kansas was on Sept. 29, 2001 and won by 2000 series champion Jeff Green. The first 18 Xfinity races at Kansas have produced 14 different pole winners and 14 different race winners. Kyle Busch leads the series in wins at Kansas with four victories. Since the inception of the Playoffs in 2016, Kansas has maintained the fourth race in the postseason. Interestingly, Kansas Speedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course are the only two active tracks in the Playoffs that have not had a Playoff driver win their Playoff races – ever. In 2016, Monster Energy Series driver Kyle Busch won the inaugural Kansas Xfinity Playoff race. In 2017, then-NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Christopher Bell grabbed his first Xfinity Series career win in the Kansas Playoff race. And again in 2018, John Hunter Nemechek, on a part-time Xfinity schedule, grabbed the checkered flag to play the postseason spoiler. The Kansas Speedway Playoff race this weekend will be the eighth different Xfinity race on a 1.5-mile track this season. Of the Playoff drivers, Tyler Reddick has put up the best average finish on 1.5-mile tracks in 2019 with a 5.0; followed by Noah Gragson (6.7), Michael Annett (7.0), Cole Custer (10.7), Chase Briscoe (11.0), Austin Cindric (11.9), Christopher Bell (12.9) and Justin Allgaier (13.1). Just Two Sunoco Rookies Left With the elimination of John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Haley from the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, just two Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders are left to challenge for the end-of-year rookie honors – Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson. Currently, Briscoe holds the rookie standings lead by eight points over Gragson following Dover. Looking ahead, Gragson will be making his series track debut this weekend at Kansas Speedway, but Briscoe will be returning looking to rebound from his series track debut last season where he finished 30th due to suspension issues. Next Race: NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Saturday, October 26 The Time: 1:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 1 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) 2018 Winner: Johnny Sauter source – NASCAR communications
