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  • Full weekend schedule for Kansas

    Full weekend schedule for Kansas

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will be in action at Kansas Speedway while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is off. The Monster Energy Series heads to the final race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs, while the Xfinity Series enters the first race in the Round of 8. Check out the full schedule below, which is subject to change.

    Note: All times are ET

    FRIDAY, Oct. 19
    2:05-2:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    3:05-3:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    5-5:50 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    7:10 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    12:30 p.m.: Kyle Larson
    12:45 p.m.: Ryan Blaney
    1 p.m.: Alex Bowman
    1:15 p.m.: Aric Almirola
    1:30 p.m.: Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Daniel Hemric
    3:30 p.m.: Clint Bowyer
    8 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

    SATURDAY, Oct. 20
    10:30-11:20 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series second practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    11:40 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series pole qualifying, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    1:05-1:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
    2:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    5:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

    SUNDAY, Oct. 21
    2:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 (267 laps, 400.5 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    11 a.m.: Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award
    5:30 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

    MORE: How to find NBCSN

    Playoff Standings – Field will be cut to eight contenders at the conclusion of the Kansas Speedway Hollywood Casino 400.

    1. Aric Almirola  – Win – Will Advance
    2. Chase Elliott  – Win – Will Advance
    3. Kevin Harvick +63
    4. Kyle Busch +46
    5. Joey Logano +39
    6. Kurt Busch +30
    7. Clint Bowyer +21
    8. Martin Truex +18
    9. Brad Keselowski -18
    10. Ryan Blaney -22
    11. Kyle Larson -36
    12. Alex Bowman -68

     

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas

    Kansas Speedway was the home for the sixth race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was dominated by a young 19-year old.

    Here are four takeaways from the 37 Kind Days 250.

    1. Kyle Busch Motorsports Strong In The Heartland – It’s no doubt that if it’s not Johnny Sauter or Matt Crafton dominating the races, then it’s the Kyle Busch Motorsports stable. This weekend it was the No. 18 of Noah Gragson and the No. 4 of Kyle Busch. Gragson started on the pole and led most of the race, while his boss, Busch, followed closely behind in second. Gragson cut into the points lead and is now 35 behind Sauter. It will be interesting to see if Gragson can get on a roll after winning at Kansas this weekend.
    2. GMS Racing Has Strong Showing – GMS Racing drivers had a strong showing at Kansas Friday night. Last week’s winner Johnny Sauter finished fifth, Justin Haley 10th and Dalton Sargeant 11th. The team continues to be strong week in and week out.
    3. John Hunter Nemechek Posts Top Five Finish – In just his fourth race of the season, Nemechek posted his second top five by finishing fourth. Currently, he has three more races for the 2018 season while he is competing part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
    4. Brandon Jones Back In The Truck Series – Brandon Jones returned back to the Truck Series this past weekend driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry. It was Jones’s first race back since Bristol of last summer where he finished 10th. He started 13th and finished seventh and fifth, respectively, in both stages. When the 37 Kind Days 250 was all done and finished, the Atlanta Georgia native finished eighth.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Kansas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Kansas Speedway this past weekend.

    It was the sixth race of the 2018 racing season and so far, there have been six different winners this year as a new, but familiar, face ended up in victory lane.

          1. Noah Gragson – After last week’s heartbreak at Dover, Gragson was able to back it up with a dominant win at Kansas. After starting from the pole position, he led all but four laps to win Stage 1. While he still had a fast truck in Stage 2, Gragson didn’t lead all the laps but went on to win the second stage. The lead was swapped multiple times in the remaining laps with Stewart Friesen, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, and Myatt Snider until Gragson reclaimed the lead with six laps to go and was able to hang on to score just the second victory of his career. He lead 128 laps of the scheduled 167 laps and now sits second in the points, 35 points behind Johnny Sauter. Previous Ranking: 2nd
          2. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had another career night at the 1.5-mile speedway. After starting eighth, he finished 10th in Stage 1 and fifth in the second stage. Friesen took the lead twice and led for six laps. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon placed the No. 52 Halmar Racing team third to earn his second top five of 2018 and his fourth of his career. Previous Ranking: Not Ranked
          3. Johnny Sauter – Although, Sauter didn’t have the best truck all night, he was able to make the best with what he had. He started in the fifth position and fell back a bit during the two stages. In Stages 1 and 2, Sauter finished ninth and eighth, respectively. It was not the dominant truck that he had last week at Dover, but Sauter managed with what he had and finished fifth for his fifth top five of the season. He still remains as the point leader, leading over 35 points. Previous Ranking: 1st
          4. Matt Crafton – Crafton had a very similar night to what Sauter did. He was able to start on the front row alongside eventual race winner, Noah Gragson. He led just the first four laps of the race and struggled to get back into the lead to fight for the win, as Crafton battled a tight truck most of the night. Despite not having the best truck of the race, he managed to finish eighth and ninth, respectively in both stages. Ultimately, Crafton finished sixth for his third top 10 of the season. Previous Ranking: 3rd
          5. Cody Coughlin – Coughlin remains in the power rankings again this week by finishing in the seventh position. He finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn one playoff point. Coughlin sits 11th in the point standings. Previous Ranking: 4th

      Honorable Mentions
      1.  Grant Enfinger- Enfinger scored another top 10 finish by placing eighth.
      2. Justin Haley- Haley finished 10th and earned his fourth top 10 of the year.
      3. Dalton Sargeant- Sargeant started 11th and finished 11th.

  • Case closed! Harvick soars to fifth win of 2018 with late surge

    Case closed! Harvick soars to fifth win of 2018 with late surge

  • Noah Gragson finds Truck Series paydirt with convincing Kansas victory

    Noah Gragson finds Truck Series paydirt with convincing Kansas victory

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. – There are times when redemption is swift and merciful.

    A week after throwing away a chance to win at Dover with a wreck of his own making, Noah Gragson scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, beating his car owner, Kyle Busch, to the finish line in the 37 Kind Days 250 at Kansas Speedway.

    Starting from the pole for the second straight race, Gragson led 128 of 167 laps in his No. 18 Toyota, swept all the stages of the event and collected the second NCWTS victory of his career.

    “This is such a relief for a driver who had a hard week last week battling for the win,” said Gragson, who was running side by side with Johnny Sauter at Dover when he lost control of his truck and backed into the outside wall. “We came back strong this weekend. Two consecutive poles. We led the most laps today.

    “Man, this is a pretty damn cool moment.”

    After passing Busch and third-place finisher Stewart Friesen on Lap 157 — thanks to a four-tire call by crew chief Rudy Fugle during a green-flag pit stop on lap 134 — Gragson took the lead for good when Myatt Snider ran out of gas with five laps left.

    Snider was one of five drivers trying to stretch fuel to the end of the race. One by one they fell by the wayside, but not before muddying the waters in the closing laps.

    “After the pit stop, I thought I was going to be the leader, but they told me that (fifth-place finisher) Johnny (Sauter) was stretching it on fuel,” Gragson said. “So I said, ‘OK, maybe I’m running second.’ Then they said the 52 (Friesen) and the 4 (Busch) are a half a lap ahead of you.

    “And I thought that was for the lead when I passed the 4 and I passed the 52, and then they said the 13 (Snider) was the leader. And I said, ‘Dang, how many leaders are there going to be?”

    As it turned out Snider was the last one, and Gragson had come full circle from his mistake at Dover.

    John Hunter Nemechek came home fourth, followed by Sauter and Matt Crafton. Cody Coughlin, Grant Enfinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

    With 23 laps left, Friesen forced Busch down to the infield grass in the tri-oval, costing Busch a chance to pass the No. 52 Chevrolet and put distance between himself and Gragson.

    Busch had taken right-side tires only on his green-flag stop on Lap 139, and Gragson methodically caught his car owner, making what proved to be the winning pass with 10 laps left.

    “The truck felt good after about 15 laps, but it took too long to come in,” Busch said. “And there on that last run, we didn’t make enough adjustments. We took two tires and we got way too tight.

    “But awesome run by Noah and those guys. They deserve it—they’re fast. They needed a boost and they got one. They’re going to race for a championship, and hopefully, this will help them get going.”

    Sauter retained the series lead by 35 points over Gragson. The Camping World Truck Series’ next race is scheduled Friday, May 18 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Race results 

  • Harvick Claims Busch Pole at Kansas Speedway

    Harvick Claims Busch Pole at Kansas Speedway

    Kevin Harvick continued his dominance on the track Friday claiming the Busch Pole Award for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway.

    He led qualifying in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a 188.811 mph lap to secure his second pole of the season and his 23rd career Cup Series pole. It will be the fourth time Harvick has led the field to green at the 1.5-mile Kansas track.

    “This has been a really good race track for us through the years and I think obviously when you look at qualifying day it’s also been just one of those places that kind of fits what we do,” Harvick said. “So it’s been an entertaining day. We’ve had a lot of things of things to work through today, but I think today is one of those days when you look at the team and you’re like, ‘Man, those guys are really good at what they do.’ Nobody panics and really shows the experience and just patience that all those guys have that they’ve gained and learned and I think you look at the experience of the team and it seems to keep getting better, so that’s fun to be a part of.”

    Harvick has four wins this year and continues to hone his competitive edge each week. When asked if he was going to give anyone else a chance this weekend, he quickly replied, “I hope not. I have no plans to.”

    Ryan Blaney will join Harvick on the front road, qualifying with a 187.826 mph lap in his Team Penske Ford.

    “I thought our car today was pretty decent and I thought we found a little bit of speed for qualifying, which was nice. This has been a good track for us over the past handful of years and hopefully we can just find a little bit more to end up in Victory Lane,” Blaney said.

    Kyle Busch (187.552 mph), Aric Almirola (187.428 mph) and Brad Keselowski (186.748 mph) will round out the top five starting positions.

    Six competitors will start from the rear of the field after they failed to make it through inspection in time. Those drivers include Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Michael McDowell, Matt DiBenedetto and Timmy Hill.

    Also of note, Kyle Larson had issues in the second round of qualifying, spinning off Turn 4. He failed to post a time in the round and is slated to start the race in 22nd. However, if the team chooses to change tires, Larson will start from the rear of the field.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Kansas-MENCS-starting-Lineup-May-2018.pdf” title=”Kansas MENCS starting Lineup May 2018″]

  • Kansas – Cup Series News And Notes

    Kansas – Cup Series News And Notes

    Kevin Harvick is coming off a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Dover International Speedway the past weekend and is looking to go back-to-back for the second time this year. Harvick has two wins here at Kansas Speedway, the last one coming in the fall of 2016 almost two years ago.

    He explained why it is one of his favorite tracks and how far the speedway has come.

    “I feel like this has honestly been one of our best race tracks as I’ve gone through the years,” Harvick said, “and especially since I’ve come to SHR. I don’t feel like we’ve won as many races here as we probably should have – some of it of our own doing and some of it just circumstances, but we’ve always run really, really well here and, for me, I look forward to coming here for a number of different reasons.

    “Not only do we run well at the race track, but I think when you look at this race track, I saw it when it was just the race track and the highway here. Now you look at what’s around it and everything has been built around what you’re sitting in right now. To me, that is something that’s pretty neat to see just because of the fact that the race track was here first and it’s easy to get from the airport. It’s one of the better race tracks on the schedule as far as convenience, in my opinion, because there is so much to do now. It’s so conveniently off the highway and from the airport and the airport is easy to get in and out of.

    “There are just a number of things that I look forward to coming here and sitting in the casino watching the Truck race tonight eating dinner is not too bad either. It’s just a good place to come and, like I say, we run well here, but it’s just a good experience and I just enjoy the surroundings of everything that is outside of the race track as well. I enjoy that.”

    Matt Kenseth returns to racing for the first time since Homestead of last year. However, he is back driving the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Kansas Speedway has been a special place for the Cambridge, Wisconsin driver. At Kansas, he has two wins, seven top five’s and 13 top 10 finishes, along with an average start of 12.7 and an average finish of 14.7. Kenseth scored back-to-back victories in 2012 and 2013. He gives his thoughts about what his expectations are for the weekend.

    “I don’t have any expectations for the weekend. I just don’t know,” Kenseth said. “I don’t know how fast we’ll get up to speed and fight that type of thing. I came into this weekend with pretty much no expectations. Kind of came in with an open mind, taking one practice at a time and we’ll go from there.”

    Aric Almirola returns to Kansas this weekend on what will be the one year anniversary of his dangerous wreck that took place last year. However, he has put that behind him and is focusing on 2018. Almirola is having a solid year with a 12.7 average finish. The No. 10 Smithfield driver has a best finish of sixth this season at Bristol. He explains what it would mean to him and the Stewart Haas Racing team if they make the Playoffs this year.

    “I think it would be huge to do that,” Almirola said. “We went into the year hoping to be a team that’s capable of winning a championship and making the playoffs. I think we’re on target for that. We knew at the beginning of the year there would be some growing pains. You know, I feel like overall as a whole our company is a championship caliber company and all three of our other cars are showing speed, and doing what they need to do to make the playoffs. We need to do our part and so far we are. I feel like if we didn’t make the Playoffs, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But, we have the resources, the people at Stewart-Haas Racing, the cars capable of doing that. I keep saying it, but it’s up to Johnny (Klausmeier), my team, myself to go out and get the job done. I feel like we’re currently on pace to do that and we just have to continue to build, and get better.”

    “I hope to be peaking by the time we get to the Playoffs. I think we have 15 more races until the playoffs start and so, that gives 15 more weeks to grow together and continue to build our foundation. So when we do start the Playoffs, we’re firing on all seven cylinders.”

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series KC Masterpiece 400 is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday night and will be broadcast on FS1.

  • Full Weekend Schedule for Kansas

    Full Weekend Schedule for Kansas

  • Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Dover

    Four Takeaways From The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race At Dover

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competed in their fifth race of the 2018 season at Dover International Speedway. Here are four takeaways from the JEGS 200 event on Friday.

    1. Johnny Sauter Continues Series Domination – Sauter got his second win of the 2018 season this past Friday. It was his first win since the season-opening race at Daytona. Since then, he has finished third at Atlanta, second at Las Vegas and only finished outside the top 10 once at Martinsville, finishing 19th. Friday’s victory was the 19th of his career. He’ll look to get his first victory at Kansas Speedway since 2010, eight years ago.
    2. Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland Score Top Five/Ten Finishes – Burton and Gilliland who drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports earned a fifth and 10th place finish, respectively at Dover. Burton came from the back after starting 17th and finished seventh in Stage 1, while ultimately finishing in the top five. Todd, on the other hand, finished second in the first stage and eighth in the second, before finishing 10th.
    3. Justin Haley Earns Third Place Finish – Haley earned his second top five of the 2018 season after finishing third. He started in the fourth position and finished third in Stage 1, with a second-place finish in Stage 2. As the JEGS 200 came to a close, the scoring pylon showed the No. 24 FOE Chevy third. A nice Dover outing for the GMS Racing team.
    4. Close Battle For The Win Ends Under Caution – Sauter and Noah Gragson battled it out all the way to the end until the last corner with two laps to go. Both of them swapped the lead from lap 124 to lap 210. While it looked like Gragson could score his second career win, he would, unfortunately, get loose and end up finishing 20th due to a spin. Gragson and the No. 18 Tundra will look to rebound this week at Kansas Speedway and get his second career victory.
  • Penalty ends Kenseth’s Playoff run

    Penalty ends Kenseth’s Playoff run

    In what might be Matt Kenseth’s final season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, his chance at a second championship went asunder because of a simple rule infraction.

    Having been collected in the multi-car melee in Turn 2 on Lap 198 of the Hollywood Casino 400, he took his car to pit road for repairs. After some hesitation, a seventh man with an electric saw started working on the left-front wheel well.

    During the red flag, while Kenseth was parked down pit road (away from his stall), NASCAR deemed what his team did a “too many men over the wall” violation. Because he was still on the five-minute damaged vehicle clock when the violation occurred, Kenseth was sent to the garage and, by extension, parked for the rest of the race.

    As a result, he wound up missing the cut to the Round of 8.

    “I don’t know what any of the rules are,” a frustrated Kenseth said. “Seems like we got a lot of stuff that kind of gets, you know, changed so often I honestly can’t keep up with it. My head kind of spins from putting lug nuts out of pit boxes to one to many guys over the wall, you’re not allowed to race anymore. I just don’t get it to be honest with you.

    “I really don’t have a lot good to say right now. I’m more than disappointed. I’m just gonna say thanks to DeWalt. They’ve been a sponsor of mine off and on for 20 years. Awesome guys there. They deserve better than this.

    “We showed some flashes of brilliance this season, been off and on, been fast at times, had great pit stops at times, just haven’t been able to put it all together like a championship team needs to. Unfortunately, this is an example of that. I hope that I can do a better job here the next four weeks and hopefully go get a win.”

    Kenseth ended up in this predicament when, on the Lap 198 restart, Erik Jones got loose, overcorrected back up the track and violently slammed the outside wall.

    Kenseth got into the left-rear corner of Aric Almirola, who was reacting to the wreck ahead, and turned him. This got him loose and spinning towards the outside wall, further exacerbated by Austin Dillon getting into the right-rear corner of his car. This stopped him from hitting the wall, but he spun down onto the apron and into the destroyed car of teammate Daniel Suarez, doing damage to his left-front.

    “I didn’t see the wreck. I was racing real hard on the bottom. Had Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. outside of me and racing a guy in front of me. I never saw the wreck until, basically, it was too late. So by the time I noticed everybody checking up, I started checking up and I think I got ran over and just spun out. I was just stuck in it. I didn’t see it in time.”

    Kenseth leaves Kansas Speedway 10th in points.