Five story lines to watch at Kansas

The Kansas kid

Clint Bowyer returns to his home track, hungry to earn his first win at the 1.5-mile oval -- which would break a 159-race winless streak -- roughly 100 miles from his hometown of Emporia.

'It is one of the tracks I have always wanted to win at,' the SHR driver said Friday morning before opening practice. 'All my family and friends and people that helped me get to where I am today all live here in the area and it would be cool to celebrate that with them.'

Turnaround time for Toyota?

In 2016, Toyota held five victories entering the Kansas weekend. This year, the manufacturer has been to Victory Lane just once (Martin Truex Jr., Las Vegas). The results, however, could be turning around with Toyota sweeping Friday's practices (Truex in the first session and Kyle Busch in second). 'Rowdy' also won last year's race, an event in which Truex led for 172 circuits. Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth have won here once and twice, respectively.

Practice problems

Following a spin in final practice, points leader Kyle Larson will start the Saturday night race in a backup No. 42 Chevy for the first time in 2017. That backup car was good enough for the second-fastest lap in that practice session, though.

'I feel bad that I wrecked a primary car,' the Chip Ganassi Racing wheelman said following the incident. 'Our backup should be just as good ... (the track's) just really, really edgy for some reason this weekend.'

Slipping and sliding

Fellow Chip Ganassi Racing drover Jamie McMurray mirrored his teammate's sentiment on the track's condition, which is a result of the track surface combined with the lower-downforce aerodynamic package of 2017.

'This race track is interesting and it's been this way the last couple of years,' Jamie McMurray revealed, post-final practice. 'The gray area of the track has a lot of grip until you get to that last car length from the wall. And it gets really dirty up there and kind of gives you a false sense of security.'

McMurray briefly brought out the red flag in final practice after brushing the wall, leaving slight damage to his No. 1 Chevrolet.

Ricky & Danica

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s breakthrough victory last weekend at Talladega certainly earned him bragging rights, but not so fast.

'No, we don't talk about it,' Stenhouse said when asked if he has been gloating to girlfriend Danica Patrick about winning before she did.

'We absolutely never mess with each other when it comes to that stuff,' Patrick said during her media availability. 'That (would be) a pretty crappy thing to do.'