10 stats you need to know for Saturday’s Kansas race

Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott won last year's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events at Kansas Speedway, but statistics show there are plenty of other drivers in the running for Victory Lane. Take a look at these 10 deep stats in preparation for Saturday night's Digital Ally 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), courtesy of Racing Insights.

With two wins on the year -- last month at Richmond and last Monday at Dover -- it wouldn't be a surprise to find Martin Truex Jr. at the front once again this weekend. Truex has led 726 laps at Kansas, the fifth-best total of his career among all tracks. In total, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two wins, eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes at Kansas.

Still searching for his first win of the season, Ryan Blaney's Kansas stats indicate his chances are high to get it done this weekend. In eight career starts at the 1.5-mile oval, Blaney has three top fives and five top 10s -- his most in both categories among all tracks on the circuit. He's also led 154 laps, his third most at a track. The No. 12 Team Penske driver has also led 357 total circuits so far this year, the most among drivers without a win in 2019.

At Kansas, if you win the battles, chances are you probably won't win the war. Since stage racing was implemented in 2017, stage winners have never finished higher than fourth. Ryan Blaney finished fourth after winning Stage 2 in May 2017, while Kyle Larson earned the same result after winning the second stage in May 2018. With that said, Stage 2 winners in 2019 have won seven of the first 11 races.

Kansas Speedway is one of 12 tracks where Kyle Larson has logged one or more runner-up finishes without a win. Currently riding a 57-race winless streak, Larson's chances are good to break it Saturday night with two top fives, three top 10s and 101 laps led in the past four Kansas races.

After posting two consecutive second-place results at Talladega and Dover, Alex Bowman is looking to continue the trend. Kansas is one of four tracks where Bowman has earned two top-10 finishes, with Bristol, Chicagoland and Talladega serving as the others. The No. 88 driver has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three races on the 1.5-miler.

Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are the only four drivers to record top-10 finishes in all three 1.5-mile races so far this season.

It's a stretch to say Kevin Harvick has struggled, but a goose egg in the win column certainly isn't what anyone expected from him 11 races into the season. Harvick's best finish so far is fourth on five different occasions, his worst best finish during an 11-race stretch in his career.

Locked into the NASCAR Playoffs with his victory at Talladega, Chase Elliott has really come on strong as of late. After going the first five races of the year without leading a lap, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports drivers has paced 312 circuits in the last six events.

Jimmie Johnson has gone 70 races since his last victory at Dover in June of 2017, but he's broken a winless streak before at Kansas. Johnson snapped a 21-race drought with a victory in the fall playoff race at Kansas in 2011. Throughout his career, Johnson has had five winless streaks of 18 races or more, ending all of them on 1.5-mile ovals.

After starting the season strong with two victories at Atlanta and Martinsville, it’s been a moderate struggle for Brad Keselowski recently. In the past five races, Keselowski has only managed one top 10, 139 laps led and an average finish of 17.2, compared to four top fives, four top 10s, 538 laps led and a 5.2 average finish as well as the two wins in the previous five events.