Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin passed post-race technical inspection Sunday at Kansas Speedway with no issues.

The No. 11 Toyota was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Hamlin won the third and final Round of 12 race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Erik Jones (finished seventh), though, had one lug nut not safe and secure. Also, the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Kurt Busch (finished fourth) will go back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

With post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Official race results

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the Research & Development Center.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It wasn’t a win, but a runner-up finish got the job done for Chase Elliott at Kansas Speedway.

Elliott’s clutch effort in Sunday afternoon’s Hollywood Casino 400 propelled him into the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, earning the final berth over Brad Keselowski by just three points. The final NASCAR Overtime restart served as Keselowski’s kryptonite, as he lost six spots and faded to a 19th-place finish.

RELATED: Unofficial race results | Who’s in, who’s out

Facing a 22-point deficit at the start of the day, Elliott earned a total of 15 points for finishing second in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2 to add to his race total, while Keselowski collected just five stage points.

“To battle for the win, I was proud of that,” Elliott said. “We weren’t the best car by any stretch, but I felt like we kind of came here with a mindset of having to win.”

After pitting for tires in the closing laps, Elliott was able to work his way up from eighth to the second-place position. Elliott gave eventual winner Denny Hamlin a run for the lead before Bubba Wallace spun in Turn 2 to set up the first of two overtime restarts.

“To be honest with you, I was liking my chances before the caution came out,” Elliott said. “I was on four tires. I think Denny was on two. I had a little momentum. Who knows if I could have ever passed him, but I felt like that was going to be my best shot to win the race.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, also thought Elliott was in an ideal position to take over the top spot from Hamlin before the Wallace incident.

“We passed Kyle (Busch) and he thought he was squared up to pass Denny there when the 43 (Wallace) wrecked,” Gustafson said. “You think you’re in good shape and then that happens. We just knew we had a good opportunity. It was close with the 2 (Keselowski). He was struggling. Just good we could get all we could get.”

Both Elliott and Gustafson acknowledged the Round of 12 was tough, kicking it off with a last-place finish at Dover International Speedway and overcoming a crash to place eighth at Talladega Superspeedway.

“It’s never easy,” Gustafson said. “Dover was tough. That was probably in my career one of the more difficult things to go through. You come off the high of winning at the (Charlotte Motor Speedway) Roval and we worked really hard to accrue a good amount of bonus points.”

But in the end, being at the right place at the right time gave Elliott a chance to fight another day.

“We just got lucky, really,” Elliott said. “To run second was good; wish we could have won. But the rest of it really didn’t have to do with me, just good fortune and getting the right amount of points.

“To go through all the stuff we did these past two weeks and still move on is a … is a wonder, that’s for sure.”

Despite coming up just short of picking up his fourth win of the year, Elliott believes the second-place result showcased what the No. 9 team is made of moving forward into the final push toward the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“For us to go out and battle for the win is what a really good team is made of and what you’re going to have to do if you’re ever going to make it to Homestead,” Elliott said. “That’s the reality of where we are. Glad we get to fight another week and we’ll go to Martinsville (Speedway) and try to get a win in one of these next three weeks.”

Now the team moves on to the first Round of 8 race next weekend at Martinsville, a place where Gustafson has visited Victory Lane before to make the Championship 4 with Jeff Gordon in 2015.

“Just looking forward to getting there and going at it,” Gustafson said. “We’ve been kind of finicky, kind of hit or miss. … I’m excited to go there, but I need to go to work on it now to make sure all the I’s are dotted and all the T’s are crossed.”

Elliott echoed his crew chief’s analysis.

“I felt like we’ve had good runs there, I felt like we had bad runs there,” Elliott said. “I really haven’t done anything different. We just really need to do our homework this week and focus on it.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – As Denny Hamlin was finishing off a dominating day in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott stole perhaps an even bigger prize — a spot in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Hamlin, who led 153 of 277 laps, crossed the finish line .128 seconds ahead of Elliott in a second overtime to secure his fifth victory of the season, his second at Kansas and the 36th of his career.

RELATED: Unofficial results | SHOP: Hamlin gear

But the real suspense in the second overtime featured a three-way battle among Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano for the final two spots in the Round of 8. Logano restarted 20th in a damaged No. 22 Ford and finished 17th to secure one of the playoff positions.

Keselowski, who entered the race with a 20-point margin over Elliott, was bottled up on the final restart, fell from 13th to 19th in the running order and lost the final playoff berth to Elliott by three points.

Fittingly, there were two celebrations on pit road — one for the winner and one for the runner-up.

“This is a great feeling,” said Hamlin, who led Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (third) and Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) into the penultimate round of the playoffs. “That car was awesome to dominate that whole second half.

“I have to thank everybody who pushed me on the restarts, Kyle (Busch), the 9 (Elliott) at the end. Good to see him make it by points anyway. But, hey, I’m just really happy for this whole FedEx team. It’s been great. Been running really good. Cannot wait to get to Martinsville Speedway (next Sunday’s Round of 8 opener).”

Elliott is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to transfer into the Round of 8. Teammate William Byron was fifth Sunday but missed the next round by 16 points. Alex Bowman suffered early damage and rallied to run 11th, but he finished the race 20 points behind Elliott for the last spot.

Clint Bowyer came home eighth and was eliminated from the playoffs in 12th place, 21 points below the cutline.

“The good news was the bottom lane rolled good enough on the last restart to at least get back to second,” Elliott said. “So I appreciate the effort. We were really struggling there at one point in the race. You have to stay fighting in these things, especially with these late-race restarts.

“Just proud of the effort today. Just excited we get to fight another race. Back up against the wall, to come out here and battle for a win, that’s what you have to do when you’re in the position that we were in.

“If you ever get to (the Championship 4 race), you’re going to have to fight for a win down there. Proud of the effort. Learned a lot. To be able to come out here and, like I said, in our minds have to win, come and fight for one, to finish second, I think is a step in the right direction for us. So excited to move on.”

Logano won the first 80-lap stage and added four points with a seventh-place finish in the second stage to give himself the buffer he needed at the end, after spinning through the infield grass on the next-to-last lap in the first overtime, the result of a collision with the Chevrolet of Ty Dillon.

Logano, the defending series champion, finished the Round of 12 nine points ahead of Keselowski, his Team Penske teammate.

An effective charge toward the end of the race netted Kurt Busch a fourth-place finish. Truex, Erik Jones, Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson completed the top 10 in order.

Despite an off day, Harvick cruised into the next round of the playoffs. Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney already were locked into the Round of 8, thanks to their respective victories at Dover International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Posted on by Staff Report

Four drivers were eliminated from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway as the postseason field was trimmed from 12 drivers to eight.

Read on for a full update on the standings and results.

Eliminated drivers

• Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
• William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
• Alex Bowman, No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
• Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Advancing to the Round of 8

1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 4,046 points
2. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 4,042 points
3. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 4,037 points
4. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford, 4,030 points
5. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, 4,028 points
6. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, 4,024 points
7. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 4,011 points
8. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford, 4,009 points

MORE: Unofficial results

The ups

• Two drivers had clinched spots in the Round of 8 based on victories earlier in the round (Kyle Larson at Dover, Ryan Blaney at Talladega). Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin snapped up two more berths based on their performance in the first two stages at Kansas. Hamlin won Stage 2, and Truex gathered 15 points in the stages, tied with Chase Elliott for the most among playoff drivers.

• The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team benefited from a late caution period, and Chase Elliott converted the solid pit strategy and good fortune into a clinching second-place run that sealed the final Round of 8 berth. Elliott erased a 22-point gap to keep his postseason hopes intact.

• Joey Logano entered the Hollywood Casino 400 in the last transfer spot on the provisional playoff bubble, but bolstered his cause with a Stage 1 victory. The Team Penske No. 22 group rallied from an unscheduled pit stop for a wheel vibration, then used some pit strategy to emerge triumphant in a two-lap shootout at the opening stage’s end. A seventh-place finish worth four points at the end of Stage 2 helped keep his title defense going, offsetting a late spin that left him with a 17th-place finish.

The downs

• Some early damage and an ill-handling No. 88 Chevrolet hindered Alex Bowman’s long-shot chances to advance in the postseason. Though he recovered to briefly return to the lead lap, Bowman was closed out of the top 10 at the end of each stage, frittering away extra points and losing ground to his playoff rivals.

• Brad Keselowski faded out of the running for one of the final spots in the Round of 8 with an uncharacteristic 19th-place result that made it a tense run to the finish at Kansas, a venue where he won in May. Keselowski didn’t score a top-10 finish in any of the Round of 12’s three races.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, October 21
6 p.m., NASCAR America: Monday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, October 22
2 p.m., Glory Road: The Inaugural Brickyard (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Glory Road: NASCAR’s Lost Tracks (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., Glory Road: Controversial Finishes, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., Glory Road: IROC (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
9 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, October 23
Midnight, Glory Road: Controversial Finishes (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
12:30 a.m., Glory Road: IROC (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
Noon, NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, October 24
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
Noon, 1999 NAPA Autocare 500

Saturday, October 26
9 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
10 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App
11 a.m., NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (joined in progress on NBCSN) (Canada: TSN App)
1 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NGOTS, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200, FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)

On MRN
9 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice
Noon, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice
1 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

Sunday, October 27
10 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Martinsville, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN1, 4)
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin took the lead from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. with 34 laps remaining in the stage, pacing the field the rest of the way for the Stage 2 victory in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The victory was Hamlin’s fifth stage win of the 2019 season. Last week’s winner at Talladega, Ryan Blaney, placed runner-up in the stage.

Truex, who has led 33 laps thus far, faded to third, while Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and his defending race winner teammate Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. Stage 1 winner Joey Logano placed seventh.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Midway through the stage, Kyle Larson got into the back of the No. 66 of Joey Gase to send it spinning and bring out the caution. Gase then took his ride to the garage, thus ending his day.

Larson, in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, placed 14th despite having led 60 laps. He’s already locked into the Round of 8 with a victory earlier this month at Dover International Speedway.

Brad Keselowski was the lowest-finishing playoff driver, in 16th.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 9
3 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 7
5 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 6
6 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7 Joey Logano Team Penske 4
8 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 3
9 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 2
10 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 1

STAGE 1

Joey Logano stayed out during a late-stage caution and emerged during the ensuing restart to win Stage 1 in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Kansas Speedway.

It was the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford’s 10th stage win of the season, and it came after he went two laps down earlier in the stage with a loose wheel.

Right behind him was Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Rounding out the top five were Daniel Suarez in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Kyle Busch in the No. 18 JGR Toyota.

Series points leader Denny Hamlin led nine laps and placed eighth in the stage. Kyle Larson led 60 laps, but fell to 13th after the caution came out.

Coming off his first pole of the season, Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric quickly handed off the lead after pacing the field for five laps and finished 16th in the stage.

Ryan Newman and Alex Bowman made contact early in the stage, taking off a chunk of the right rear fender of the No. 6 Ford of Newman. It was contact between Newman and Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with five laps remaining in the stage, however, that brought out the caution to set up the restart at the end of the stage.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske 10
2 Chase Elliott (P) Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing 7
5 Kyle Busch (P) Joe Gibbs Racing 6
6 Brad Keselowski (P) Team Penske 5
7 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske 4
8 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing 1
Posted on by RJ Kraft

Daniel Hemric is on the pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Is the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender worthy of a spot on your roster? How should you navigate the playoff game format? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Kansas:
Playoff driver 1: Brad Keselowski
Playoff driver 2: Martin Truex Jr.
Non-playoff driver 1: Kurt Busch
Non-playoff driver 2: Aric Almirola
Garage: Kyle Busch

RELATED: Odds for Kansas | Lap averages | Weekend preview

Analysis: The most recent winner at Kansas — Keselowski — is the anchor to my lineup. He’s been solid here throughout his career and was solid in practice. I also like that given his position to the cutline (+20) that he and crew chief Paul Wolfe will be aggressive in maintaining track position and nabbing stage points. I also like Truex at this track. He swept the 2017 races here and I like the momentum he has in the playoffs.

For the garage, I am absolutely taking a playoff driver. The pick here centered around Busch, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney. Blaney qualified the best of the three — third — but his 1.5-mile tracks numbers have been disappointing for much of the year with just three races of at least 30 points. Busch had great lap averages in final practice and his starting spot of 18th indicates the No. 18 team is all set in race trim. The bugaboo with him has been the inconsistency in the playoffs, but I think they have something to prove this weekend. And then there’s Harvick — who has been tremendous at this track with crew chief Rodney Childers — but will start all the way at the back in 40th. The lap averages for Harvick were solid. Starting toward the back didn’t bother Chase Elliott (52 points) or Kyle Larson (37 points) in the spring as each scored points in both stages as well. It’s more of a coin flip than I originally thought and I’m going with Busch for the better starting spot and lap averages.

On the non-playoff side, I thought Kurt Busch looked the best in practice and has been a steady hand on the intermediates all year. The second spot is a close call and I am not going to be fooled by all the teams that trimmed out their cars for a strong starting spot. This spot for me is between Jimmie Johnson and Almirola. I like Almirola’s recent Kansas results — four straight top 12s, while Johnson has been solid of late on the 1.5-mile tracks (five races with at least 26 points in the past six on that track length). The seven-time champ is a more popular play among users and I like being a little bit of a contrarian so I’ll take the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.

On the bonus picks side, I will take Keselowski to win Stage 1, Kyle Busch to win Stage 2 and Harvick to win the race with Toyota as the manufacturer pick.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. Does a driver below the cutline advance to the Round of 8? The drivers below the cutline are Alex Bowman (-18), Chase Elliott (-22), Clint Bowyer (-24) and William Byron (-27) with reigning series champion Joey Logano holding the final transfer spot. I don’t see Logano or his Penske teammate Keselowski or even Harvick — starting at the back — coming up short of advancing and I think everyone above them is relatively secure. My pick here is NO.

2. O/U 8.5 playoff drivers will score stage points at Kansas. The playoff drivers are pretty strung out in the starting grid due to some non-playoff teams going all in on qualifying trim. That said, the better long-run cars belonged to the playoff field and I think that will show itself in stage points. So while the starting spots may say under, I am going OVER as I expect the cream — in this case playoff drivers — to rise to the top in each stage.

Posted on by Nick Giffen

Last weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was at one of its two superspeedway tracks, where long-shot winners happen frequently. We identified Ryan Blaney as a value play despite his 20-1 odds, and he delivered, securing his place among the final eight drivers in the playoffs.

This week, we’re back to the series’ bread and butter — the 1.5-mile track. The list of 1.5-mile winners in 2019 is mostly a who’s who of NASCAR:

• Atlanta*: Brad Keselowski
• Las Vegas 1: Joey Logano
• Texas: Denny Hamlin
• Kansas 1: Keselowski
• Charlotte: Martin Truex, Jr.
• Chicagoland: Alex Bowman
• Kentucky: Kurt Busch
• Las Vegas 2: Truex, Jr.

(*Note: Atlanta was the only 1.5-mile track run without aero-ducts, and also is the only 1.5-mile track with incredibly high tire wear. For the rest of this article, I will not be including Atlanta when I refer to 1.5-mile tracks.)

Every single 1.5-mile winner made the playoffs, while all but Kurt Busch are still alive in the playoffs. Unless something incredible happens, we’re looking at a race for the win among the favorites. To find the value plays among this group, I’ll rely on my statistical model. The top factors in my model for this weekend’s race are:

• Year-to-date driver rating
• Average green flag speed at 1.5-mile aero-duct tracks
• Driver rating over the last eight Kansas races
• Final practice 10-lap average

RELATED: Field’s winning odds

I’ll also use practice data over 15 consecutive laps and longer to manually tweak model results. Since there isn’t historical data for these metrics, they can’t be part of the model, but they will give us an idea of who is fast over a longer race run.

We’re on a good run with Blaney last week and Larson two weeks ago at Dover, as well as pegging Martin Truex, Jr. at 14-1 odds at the last 1.5-mile race at Las Vegas. Let’s see if we can continue the run with a trio of playoff drivers at Kansas.

Kyle Busch +500

Busch is my model’s favorite to win, and it likes him at anything longer than +400. Fortunately, bettors across the country can find him at odds longer than this. Busch is +500 at DraftKings Sportsbook and +450 at MGM properties.

The guy they call Rowdy hasn’t won a 1.5-mile race this year, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting up some strong numbers at this track type. Busch has the third-best average green flag speed at 1.5-mile tracks. If we remove each driver’s misleading finishes from the tally, Busch stays in third with an average green flag speed rank of 5.3, just fractions behind Kevin Harvick’s 5.2 and Chase Elliott’s 5.0 rank.

Harvick starts 40th after failing pre-qualifying inspection four times, and Elliott wasn’t as strong as Busch in either practice session. Notably, Elliott was 0.3 seconds slower per lap than Busch over every long-run metric that each driver ran in final practice.

MORE: From The Action Network

Qualifying was a bit strange, with playoff teams focusing on long-run speed. That makes it notable that Kyle Busch qualified among the top half of the playoff drivers. There are many weaker drivers starting in front of him, so expect him to wind up at the front of the field rather quickly.

Busch has eight straight top-10 finishes at Kansas, including six inside the top five before a misleading 30th-place finish earlier this year.

Joey Logano +1400

Like Busch, Logano also shows up strong in a combination of important metrics. His average green flag speed at 1.5-mile tracks during day races is sixth, while his average finish is second. Among all 1.5-mile races, Logano ranks fourth in average green flag speed, and he holds the best average finish.

Logano also has a strong Kansas history, with seven top-five finishes in his last 10 incident-free Kansas races. That includes five finishes of fifth or better in six incident-free Kansas races during the high downforce era (2013-2015, plus 2019). Additionally, Logano has finished outside of the top eight only once in six Kansas races during the playoffs.

Finally, Logano showed well in practice. Yes, he was only 17th over 10 consecutive laps, but when adding five more laps he really popped. Thirteen of the 16 drivers faster than him over 10 laps also made a 15-lap run, with only non-playoff drivers Paul Menard, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Daniel Hemric failing to do so. Logano leapt to fifth on the charts over 15 consecutive laps, meaning he gained nine positions among drivers that made both 10- and 15-lap runs.

Logano can be found at this price at Station Casinos in Las Vegas. His deep starting position (29th) presents a minor concern, depressing his chances to win in my model slightly. That said, there’s still value down to +1000.

William Byron +4000

Byron has been a sneaky driver at 1.5-mile tracks this year. He ranks eighth in average green flag speed at this track type in 2019. If we just look at the last four 1.5-mile races, Byron has an average green flag speed between fifth and 10th, while posing a sequence of great results during that run.

In practice, Byron followed a similar trajectory to Logano, moving from 18th to ninth in final practice as the number of consecutive laps increased from 10 to 15. He even leapfrogged Logano over 25 consecutive laps.

Kansas has not been a good track for Byron in the Cup Series, which may be why his odds are so depressed. He had two DNFs in 2018, and a 20th place in the first race this year. However, that’s a pretty small sample size to rely on, especially with two misleading results. He was strong at Kansas in the other NASCAR national series, where he placed fourth at Kansas in his lone Xfinity race and won his only Gander Trucks appearance at the track.

Byron is in a must-win situation to advance in the playoffs after his crash at Talladega. That gives him some additional upside to gamble and race aggressively. I’d buy Byron down to +3000.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Just win.

That’s the game plan for all three Hendrick Motorsports drivers currently below the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 cutline heading into Sunday’s elimination race at Kansas Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Alex Bowman is in the best shape among his teammates, sitting 13th in points, 18 points below Joey Logano. Chase Elliott is next in line with a 22-point deficit, while William Byron is 12th facing a 27-point gap with Clint Bowyer just ahead of him.

While Bowman, Elliott and Byron are still mathematically able to race their way into the next round on points, that task is enormous, and the likelihood is minimal. It’s almost a guarantee they would need drivers like the Team Penske bunch of Logano and Brad Keselowski to falter.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Starting lineup

On top of that, all three teams admittedly didn’t have exactly what they were looking for in Friday’s pair of practice sessions at the 1.5-mile track. Byron was the fastest in opening practice in the 20th slot, while final practice saw Bowman earn Hendrick’s best time with the 15th-fastest pace.

So, are they concerned?

“Yeah,” Bowman said after qualifying 16th on Saturday. “We were a 30th-place race car yesterday in practice, so I’m pretty worried for sure.”

Bowman noted crew chief Greg Ives and the No. 88 team made adjustments, but it’s unknown just how much those changes will help until after the green flag drops on Sunday.

“We have what we have now,” Bowman said, who finished second at Kansas in the spring. “… We gotta be aggressive the whole time. I don’t know if we even made any big changes or not, I’m just really hoping we did with how our car practiced. We’re going to be aggressive. We have to get stage points if we have any hope of closing the points gap.”

The game plan is the same for defending Kansas winner Elliott, but he’s cognizant of that fact that going over the edge in favor of aggression can easily take you out of the postseason, as well.

“I feel like you can be aggressive, but you don’t want to overreach,” Elliott said. “I feel like my time in racing, especially since I’ve been in Cup, I feel like I’ve gotten myself in more trouble when I try to do too much than when I just try to do my job. I’m just going to try to do my job this weekend.”

In Byron’s case, Talladega treated him well until it abruptly didn’t, as he crashed with 25 laps to go after winning the first stage. But the No. 24 team can only focus forward on the surefire way to advance to the next round – obtaining Byron’s first career Cup Series victory.

“You have to put that behind you and think about what we have to do to win,” Byron said. “Ultimately, if we want to advance past this weekend, we’re probably going to have to do that. Then, if we want to make it through the next round, we’re going to have to do that, too. So, that’s kind of what it takes.”

While the speed might be lacking in their Chevrolet-powered machines this weekend, what the Hendrick brigade does have in their favor is how Kansas has proven to be more of a wild-card race than initially anticipated. The same can happen this time around.

For now, glimmers of hope are what all the three of them cling onto as the daunting reality of a non-Hendrick Round of 8 looms in the distance.

But winning would fix everything on elimination Sunday.

“Tomorrow is a new day, and anything can happen,” Bowman said. “Hopefully we have a race car capable of winning because I think that’s what it’s going to take.”

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Push came to shove between Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick on Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

The two NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers came to blows on pit road after Reddick’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet made contact with Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford shortly after a restart with five laps left in the Kansas Lottery 300, the first race of the Xfinity Series’ Round of 8.

RELATED: Race results | Brandon Jones prevails

Custer brushed the wall and faded to an 11th-place finish as Reddick drove on to finish a close second to first-time winner Brandon Jones.

Custer approached Reddick on pit road and placed a hand on his left shoulder, stating, “you can be a dumb(expletive),” then Reddick retaliated by grabbing Custer by the firesuit. That’s when the shoving began and the altercation escalated.

“I thought I could just go up and talk to him, but he went berserk when I laid a hand on him,” Custer said after the scuffle. “I wasn’t going to rough him up, I just put a hand on him.

“Everybody just grabbed onto each other as hard as they could,” he added.

Custer wound up on the pavement after crews for both teams converged on their scrap.

“I was just frustrated that he can’t keep his car on the bottom (lane) and then runs up and puts us in the wall,” Custer said. “I mean, if he wants to wreck cars and put them in the wall from time to time, that’s fine, but when it affects me, I’m not very happy with it. I just went over to talk to him and say that.”

On the contrary, Reddick felt that it was Custer who was the aggressor after quickly walking down to approach the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing driver.

“I understand Cole’s frustration 100 percent,” Reddick said. “We’re trying to lock ourselves into Homestead and he came up to talk after the race and, see him put a hand on me, I put a hand on him back. That’s just how it’s going to be if we’re going to have a conversation that way. Out of breath, but had a little fight there with some people. It was a little bit of fun. … I think a lot of Cole and his driving ability and a lot of that team, so just heat of the moment. We’re pissed off. I’m sure we’ll talk about it soon, maybe today, tomorrow, who knows, maybe have a beer over it.”

Although the dust may clear sooner rather than later between the two competitors, their opinions on what went down don’t line up at the moment.

“It was more hands than words before we could even begin to talk,” Reddick said. “From there, other people were jumping in and at that point, you’re just trying to defend yourself. It is what it is, it’s part of it.”

“It was just hands on the shoulders and then I did it right back,” he added. “From there, I get grabbed from behind and got headlocked into the ground and from there, really don’t know what’s going on.”

Reddick indicated that he wasn’t mad after the altercation, but he was more frustrated in how certain Stewart-Haas Racing crew members jumped into the tussle.

“Just disappointed in his crew members not letting us handle it amongst ourselves,” Reddick said. “Some guys want to take cheap shots and hop in on somebody that’s not giving somebody else any attention. It’s just between me and him, and that’s the way it should have been. Obviously, it didn’t go that way.”

“I know who did it,” he added. “I know whose face it is. I know his name. Don’t care to, but I’ll remember that.”

Contributing: Staff reports