2016 NASCAR Week 31 Preview: Kansas

Hollywood Casino 400

Kansas Speedway

By Richard Tix

Week 31.... Let that sink in for a moment. Another season has come and gone as we round up the final twelve drivers and crown a Champion. Another year of writing in this space about just about anything that I feel is relevant in my life or the world of NASCAR. 

With all of that being said why are you still here!? For real though, I appreciate all of you that do come weekly to check out the Power Rankings and Race Previews. I also appreciate all of the interaction on Twitter (if you don't already follow me, check out @NASCARBTW and @UNC_Coastin). The first is this blogs twitter which I do most of my tweetering, but the second is my personal twitter (which I rarely use). 

It has been a crazy year and an even crazier Fall for me. I felt like I have missed a ton of content on here (sorry guys) and a ton of action on the track. None the less, we continue to push on to Miami and then into the vast offseason where N.O.D. becomes a real scare to fans of the sport (credit @annoyingracefan).

Before we get ahead of ourselves, we still have five more races left including Kansas Speedway this weekend. So, lets get into the "Good, Middle, and Bad" drivers here.

**This section is just a quick look at some of Cup drivers latest finishes. This is not a tool for fantasy purposes and NBTW only is looking at end results. No deep statistic's are involved, but rather it is just a quick way to get ready for the race and get caught up on who has finished well at each track**

The Good

• Jimmie Johnson- Coming off a win at Charlotte, this is not what anyone wants to see except for the No 48 team and Rick Hendrick. JJ has 16 top 10 finishes in 20 Kansas starts including three wins.
• Kevin Harvick- Four times in the last six Kansas races has Harvick finshed first or second (one win). He also has three pole awards in that same time. KH need's it this week after back to back rough finishes.
• Kyle Busch- Kansas hasn't always been a good track for Kyle (19.2 average finish), but he has three staright top 5 finishes here including a win earlier this year.
• Extra Credit: Joey Logano

The Middle

• Carl Edwards- Kansas has been one of Carl's best tracks (10.6 average finish in 18 races), yet he hasn't won here yet. Can he get it done this weekend?

The Bad

• Tony Stewart- On one hand Smoke has two career Kansas wins, on the other he has six straight finishes outside the top 10 and eight out of the last nine. 
• Jamie McMurray- McMurray matches Smokes six straight finishes outside the top 10, but one ups him with only one top 10 in his last 17 Kansas starts.
• Danica Patrick- Eight career Kansas races and only one top 10, and three top 20's. It's not terrible, but it's not great either. 

About the Track: Kansas

Track Stats

• Kansas has 13 different career winners in 21 Cup races
• Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are tied for most career Kansas wins with 3
• In 2011 Kansas started to have two races a year.
• Manufacture win count: Chevy 10, Ford 6, Toyota 3, and Dodge 2
• Brad Keselowski won after starting 25th in 2011, the furthest back a winner has come from
• JJ, Harvick, and Kahne are tied for most career Poles at Kansas (3)
• Most cautions in a Kansas race was 2013 in the Fall Chase race (15)

Track Details

• Surface: Asphalt
• Length: 1.5 mile
• Banking
• Turns: 24 degrees
• Straights: 5 degrees