Kansas Speedway turned out to be a favorable race track for 23XI Racing and Toyota in the first season of the Next Gen car. Kurt Busch won the spring race in the No. 45 Toyota, and Bubba Wallace won the fall race while subbing for the injured Busch in the No. 45 to complete the Kansas sweep.
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It was the first time a car had swept the events at the same track in the same year with two different drivers since the No. 21 car went to Victory Lane with A.J. Foyt (spring) and David Pearson (summer) in 1972 at Daytona International Speedway. If Tyler Reddick takes the No. 45 to Victory Lane in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), it will be the first time the same car number has won three times in a row at a venue with three different drivers.
In addition, Toyota as a manufacturer comes into Kansas with momentum thanks to Martin Truex Jr’s win last week at Dover in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and news yesterday that Legacy Motor Club will be moving to Toyota in 2024. Add to all that the fact that Toyota was really good at Kansas last year, placing five cars in the top six in the spring and four cars in the top five in the fall, and it could be another favorable race for the Camrys. However, Toyota will have some strong challengers this year in order to keep the streak alive – most notably the Hendrick Motorsports fleet, which will see driver William Byron start on the Busch Light Pole today.
OTHERS TO WATCH
KYLE LARSON: He has six finishes of eighth or better in the last eight starts at Kansas, including a win in October of 2021. He starts second in today’s race.
WILLIAM BYRON: He has six top 10s in the last seven races at Kansas, including a sixth-place run last fall, and starts from the pole position today.
ROSS CHASTAIN: This season’s points leader finished seventh in both races last year at Kansas after not finishing better than 13th before that.
MARTIN TRUEX JR.: He has 11 top-10 finishes in the last 12 races at Kansas, including two wins when he swept the 2017 races.
Projections as of Sunday, May 7.
RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR ADVENTHEALTH 400
| Finish | Car number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson |
| 2 | 24 | William Byron |
| 3 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
| 5 | 1 | Ross Chastain |
| 6 | 20 | Christopher Bell |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |
| 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney |
| 9 | 8 | Kyle Busch |
| 10 | 45 | Tyler Reddick |
| 11 | 22 | Joey Logano |
| 12 | 9 | Chase Elliott |
| 13 | 6 | Brad Keselowski |
| 14 | 99 | Daniel Suárez |
| 15 | 23 | Bubba Wallace |
| 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
| 17 | 14 | Chase Briscoe |
| 18 | 2 | Austin Cindric |
| 19 | 17 | Chris Buescher |
| 20 | 54 | Ty Gibbs |
| 21 | 43 | Erik Jones |
| 22 | 7 | Corey LaJoie |
| 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 24 | 34 | Michael McDowell |
| 25 | 10 | Aric Almirola |
| 26 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger |
| 27 | 48 | Josh Berry |
| 28 | 38 | Todd Gilliland |
| 29 | 42 | Noah Gragson |
| 30 | 21 | Harrison Burton |
| 31 | 31 | Justin Haley |
| 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece |
| 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon |
| 34 | 51 | J.J. Yeley |
| 35 | 78 | Josh Bilicki |
| 36 | 15 | Brennan Poole |