Five to Watch: Key Kentucky story lines

Kentucky Speedway will host the NASCAR Cup Series for the 10th time with Sunday's running of the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart (2:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). There have been five different winners since the inaugural race in 2011 with Brad Keselowski (2012, 2014, and 2016) leading the way with three victories. Kyle Busch (2011, 2015) and Martin Truex Jr. (2017, 2018) each have a pair of wins with Matt Kenseth (2013) and Kurt Busch (2019) winning one each.

JOHNSON RETURNS: Jimmie Johnson returns after missing last weekend's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which snapped his consecutive start streak at 663, after he self-reported a positive test for COVID-19. Johnson has since been cleared to race after negative tests Monday and Tuesday. Johnson, who has yet to win at Kentucky, currently sits 15th in the standings, 30 points ahead of Austin Dillon. 
 
“I feel like where I sit above the cutline, I can still apply the mentality of worrying about stage points, points and also wanting to win," Johnson said. "If we were below the cutline, I think it would probably change and the focus would be much more on trying to win a race. Luckily, we’ve had a good start to the season. There are a few races that I wish I could have back to even have myself higher in the points right now and more of a cushion on the cutline, but that’s just not the case. I think my focus stays the same.”

GRIP AT KENTUCKY: Sunday's Quaker State 400 will mark the fifth race at Kentucky since the track was reconfigured in Turns 1-2. It will also be the first held in the day since 2013 when rain postponed the Saturday night race to Sunday afternoon. Like last season, traction compound will be applied to both ends of the track.
 
"I think that’s the thing the teams have their eyes on the most right now is will that lower lane start to produce an option or will the traction compound continue to be dominant," said Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Denny Hamlin. "The other thing is Goodyear brought a new tire trying to evolve with the racetrack. It’s the same tire we ran at Las Vegas. There is heavier left side wear trying to give us a little more grip, but that left side wear will definitely change pit strategy."

BATTLE FOR WIN LEAD: Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin lead the series with four wins each and now head to Kentucky where both have yet to visit Victory Lane. Along with next month’s addition of the Daytona road course, Kentucky and the Charlotte Roval are the only tracks on the schedule Harvick has yet to win at. Hamlin has a pair of top fives since Kentucky was reconfigured, and Harvick has three top 10s in that four-race span, including a fifth in 2018.
 
"It has cycled around to the two of us for several weeks now," Harvick said. "I think as you look at that, it definitely makes it fun. You want to have the upper hand on the who finishes in front of who ratio at this point, especially because if that’s the guy you’re racing and the team you’re racing, you want to at least stay even par."

BUSCH STILL SEARCHING: Kyle Busch is still searching for not only his first win of the season but also his first stage win and playoff point. Last year through 16 races Busch, he had accumulated four wins and 25 playoff points. Busch, who will start from the pole after the random draw, leads all drivers with a 4.7 average finish at Kentucky. He is the only driver who has finished in the top five in each of the last three races at Kentucky.

SIX FOR SIX?: There have been five different winners in the five races held at 1.5-mile tracks this season. Denny Hamlin won the last event at Miami with the other wins going to Kevin Harvick (Atlanta), Chase Elliott (Charlotte), Brad Keselowski (Charlotte) and Joey Logano (Las Vegas). Next in line to win could be Ryan Blaney, who leads all drivers with a 4.8 average finish at 1.5-mile tracks in 2020. Austin Dillon and Martin Truex Jr. also have had solid showings with the fourth- and sixth-best average finish, respectively, among drivers who have competed in all five races. Aric Almirola began his current stretch of five consecutive top fives on the season with a fifth-place finish at Miami.
 
"If we consistently keep running in the top five like this and continue to contend, we’re going to keep putting ourselves in position to win races and we’re going to capitalize on it," Almirola said. "I’m looking forward to this next round of races."