2017 NASCAR Week 11: Kansas

GoBowling 400

Kansas Speedway

By Richard Tix

This weekend NASCAR leaves the short tracks and plate tracks behind for another look at the predominate 1.5 mile tri-ovals on the schedule. The topic of schedule make up when it comes to track sizes has become a hot topic lately (even though we have been all talking about it including on here for years). No matter the side of the debate you're on this weekends race location won't be changing.

After a surprise first career win from Ricky Stenhouse Jr at Talladega last weekend and a season that has brought us eight different winners in ten races we are entering the discussion of, "how many winners will we have in 2017?" Even bigger, could we have more then 16 winners and a race winner misses the Playoffs?

Season's have started out like this before, but not many times does the winners list not include such fast cars like the 4, 24, 88, 11, 18 and 20 with guys like the 1, 47, 21, and 14 also being threats to win at some point. That same list also includes a guy like Ricky Stenhouse, Ryan Newman, and a struggling Kurt Busch. With eight winners the playoff window is closing pretty early and a focus on more wins/points will be a hot topic.

I can't see this season not ending with the 4, 11, 18, 20, and 24 not getting a win. That is 13 winners so we would still have three open spots, but that's not including the 88, 14 (strong cars), 21 (young gun with good equipment), or 47 (short track and Martinsville pro). None of that even mention's Daytona or Mother Nature who can throw wrenches into a race.

I still think we will be just short of 16 winners (before the Playoffs), but the idea is starting to creep into my mind. The fact remains that only 16 races remain before the playoffs and squeezing eight more first time 2017 winners in that span only get's harder the more first time winners we have (smaller sample of strong cars left) especially with guys like the 2, 22, 48, 78, and 42 running so strong and looking for even more wins.

**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- A win and three top fives in his last four, JJ has a long track record hear of good finishes. In his last 16 starts here he has 14 top tens, nine top fives, and three wins.
• Kevin Harvick- Harvick is the last Cup winner here at Kansas and has two wins and three runner up finishes since 2013.
• Joey Logano- JoLo didn't notch a single top ten while he was with JGR at Kansas. Since joining Team Penske he has 6 top tens, 6 top 5's, and two wins in eight races.
• Kyle Busch- Yes, a fourth driver this week. This is a special occation because this track and stating facts is why I am Twitter blocked by Kyle. I happened to tag him in a stat about his poor finishes and his occational spin outs awhile back... Apparently that was enough to get the D. Mutombo on Twitter. Well, its only fair to point that he has turned that luck around and has four top fives in his last four including a win in this race last year.

The Middle

• Dale Earnhardt Jr- Juniors avaerage finish of 16th here at Kansas says it all for the most part. Looking at his finishes from 2016 on back to 2011 it shows even more incosistency (15th, 21st, 3rd, 39th, 5th, 8th, 16th, 7th, 14th, and 7th). Which Junior will finish on Saturday?

The Bad

• Jamie McMurray- It's tough not to think JMac will turn it around here after his hot start to 2017. But the simple fact remains he has one top 15 in his last seven starts here including only three top 20's, rough.
• Kyle Larson- Small sample size alert, but JMac's CGR teammate has three straight finishes of 29th or worse here at Kansas. His other three career starts are a 12th, 2nd, and 15th respectfully.
• Trevor Bayne- One way to look at this is Bayne and RFR have creeped into my mind enough to be brought up in these sections....Bayne will be looking for his first top 15 at Kansas in his seventh try on Saturday after only having two top 20's in six starts here.

About the Track: Kansas

Track Stats

• Kansas has 13 different career winners in 22 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 11, 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, Kenseth 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