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Thursday, May 5, 2016

2016 NASCAR Week 11 Preview: Kansas

GoBowling.com 400

Kansas Speedway


By Richard Tix

It's been a long week on Behind the Wall which can mean only one thing... I am super excited it's almost race weekend! I know many fans feel the same way as I do. Nothing is better then getting done with a long work week, finding an ice cold refreshment, and knowing that NASCAR will be on all weekend long.

This weekend NASCAR get's back to night racing on Saturday. I love night racing, personally. The lights bouncing off the cars it a sight to see. However, for me it is normally harder to catch all of the race because life gets in the way. On Saturday evening's, life always gets in the way! However, I wouldn't change a thing about night racing so each season I make it work.

So, Brad Keselowski added his name to the list of multiple winners in 2016 with a win last week at Talladega. That is four Talladega wins in his career and his 19th win overall. 19 wins ties him with Greg Biffle, Davey Allison, Buddy Baker, and Fonty Flock.

Speaking of wins, I once wrote an article three years ago about the magic number of 50. Since, Tony Stewart has gone win-less. Now the question is will Stewart every get to 50? If not, who is the next one to 50 wins? The easy and common answer is Kyle Busch (36 total). JGR teamates Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin both have 27 and have a good stretch of their peak years ahead of them. BK only has 19, but has put together some runs in bunches. Meanwhile Joey Logano has 14 total but is only 26 with a lot of great years in front of him.

Who will make 50? Will any of them? Will multiple guys make it? I don't see how Kyle Busch won't eventually get there, but that is the interesting about a NASCAR career, anything can happen.



**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- With Jeff Gordon retiring (3 Kansas wins), JJ now becomes the driver with the most win's who is still active (3 wins). He has a top 10 in 13 of his last 14 races here and it is almost a lock that happens again.
  • Kevin Harvick- Kansas was not always Harvick's best track, but lately he has turned it around. He has three straight poles from 2013-2014. He also has had a win and two runner up finishes in the last five races.
  • Joey Logano- In the last four races JoLo is the only one with four top ten finishes. Actually, he has five straight which include's two win's and all five also happened to be in the top 5. In that five race span only three drivers even have three top 5's. 
The Middle
  • Carl Edwards- 12 top 10's in 17 career Kansas starts. Not too bad right? Well, all the good Carl has done here and he has yet to notch a win. Maybe this time is finally his time to get a Kansas win?
The Bad
  • A.J. Allmendinger- Over 12 career Kansas starts A.J. only has 2 career top 10 finishes. Worse yet is his average finish of 21.4 over that time. Only one time in 12 races has he ran over 50% of the race in the top 15.
  • Jamie McMurray- JMac has five straight races at Kansas without a top 10. During that span he also only has one top 15. In his career he only has three top 10's in 18 tries.
  • Clint Bowyer- Bowyer have five straight races at Kansas withotuh a top 10 as well (see McMurray above). He only has one top 15 and two top 20's during those same five races. 
About the Track: Kansas
Track Stats
  • Kansas has 12 different career winners in 20 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 2, 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 
Martinsville Speedway
Race
Date
Cars
Winner(s)
St
Make / Model
2001-28
9/30/2001
43
Jeff Gordon
2
Chevrolet
2002-29
9/29/2002
43
Jeff Gordon
10
Chevrolet
2003-30
10/5/2003
43
Ryan Newman
11
Dodge
2004-30
10/10/2004
43
Joe Nemechek
1
Chevrolet
2005-30
10/9/2005
43
Mark Martin
19
Ford
2006-29
10/1/2006
43
Tony Stewart
21
Chevrolet
2007-29
9/30/2007
43
Greg Biffle
7
Ford
2008-29
9/28/2008
43
Jimmie Johnson
1
Chevrolet
2009-29
10/4/2009
43
Tony Stewart
5
Chevrolet
2010-29
10/3/2010
43
Greg Biffle
5
Ford
2011-13
6/5/2011
43
Brad Keselowski
25
Dodge
2011-30
10/9/2011
43
Jimmie Johnson
19
Chevrolet
2012-08
4/22/2012
43
Denny Hamlin
4
Toyota
2012-32
10/21/2012
43
Matt Kenseth
12
Ford
2013-08
4/21/2013
43
Matt Kenseth
1
Toyota
2013-30
10/6/2013
43
Kevin Harvick
1
Chevrolet
2014-11
5/10/2014
43
Jeff Gordon
13
Chevrolet
2014-30
10/5/2014
43
Joey Logano
4
Ford
2015-11
5/9/2015
43
Jimmie Johnson
19
Chevrolet
2015-31
10/18/2015
43
Joey Logano
14
Ford


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