Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Week 11 Preview: Kansas

Kansas Speedway



Richard Tix

Well Talladega was Talladega. Meaning a lot of crazy and strange things happened that don't need an explanation except that NASCAR was at Talladega for the weekend. Lots of people are talking about crashes and a questionable late caution to end the race. One thing remains, Denny Hamlin won at Talladega after starting out 2014 on a disappointing note.

Now Denny has the time to figure things out as he is most likely in the 2014 Sprint Cup Chase. Past Hamlin winning a lot of top drivers with good cars fell victim to Talladega wrecks along the way. This week NASCAR heads to Kansas Speedway for some more Saturday night racing and some of these drivers will be looking to get back on track.

So, lets get into the section where we take a look at some resent driver results at Kansas Speedway in The Good, Middle, and Bad. Also, if you like looking back, here is the Kansas Preview and Review from last year in Behind the Wall.


The Good, Middle, and Bad
(This is just a review of each drivers recent past performance, generally about 5-10 past races)

The Good
  • Jimmie Johnson- JJ has 15 starts at Kansas and only twice has he finished outside the top 10. he also has 2 wins (tied with 4 other drivers (Gordon, Biffle, Kenseth, and Stewart)) and 6 top 5's. On top of that, he shows often that he is fast while out front and has won 3 career poles here.
  • Matt Kenseth- Well, in the last 5 races at Kansas he might have the best track record. Kenseth has 2 wins, 4 top 5's, and 4 top 10's. His lone non top 10 was an 11th place finish here last time around. Only JJ rivals him in the last 5 with 5 top 10's but only 1 win.
  • Kevin Harvick- His career at Kansas didn't start off amazing, but he has 6 top 10's in his last 10 starts. 1 win, 3 top 5's, and 6 top 6's. Yes that was typed right, all of his top 10's were one spot off of a top 5. 
The Middle
  • Greg Biffle: He has 2 career wins at Kansas but lately he has been shaky. In his last three at Kansas he has a best finish of 13th, but all the races before that he has a long list of top 10's. One thing in his favor, he has been racing well in the last few races of 2014, so expect a good finish.
  • Extra Credit: Tony Stewart
The Bad
  • Kyle Busch- Kyles Busch'es struggles are well documented at Kansas. His last three finishes have produced 34, 38, and 31 place finishes. In 13 races he only has two top 10s.
  • Joey Logano- Before the last Kansas race, JoLo had zero top 10's in 8 tries. Last time around JoLo notched a 4th place finish so things are looking up. Both drivers in the Bad category so far (He and Kyle) have talent and can find speed, it will just be if they put it together here,
  • Danica Patrick- 2 of her 3 starts here have resulted in crashes. So watch out if here and Kyle Busch get near each other. She did finish 25th in the one race she didn't run into trouble, so a top 25 isn't out of the question.
Track Stats
  • Kansas has 11 different career winners in 16 Cup races.
  • 5 drivers are tied for most wins with 2. Gordon, Stewart, Biffle, Johnson, and Kenseth.
  • In 2011 Kansas started to have two races a year.
  • A Kansas race has been won from the Pole two straight times (Harvick and Kenseth) and 4 times total.
  • Manufacture win count: Chevy 8, Ford 4, Toyota 2, and Dodge 2.
  • Brad Keselowski won after starting 25th in 2011, the furthest back a winner has come from.
  • Jimmie Johnson has the most career laps lead (562) with Kenseth in second (500).
  • JJ and Kahne are tied for most career Poles at Kansas (3). 
  • Jeff Gordon has run the most career laps at Kansas (4180) with Harvick in second (4110).
  • Most cautions in a Kansas race was last year in the Fall Chase race (15).


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