See where your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for Saturday night’s KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Kevin Harvick won the Busch Pole Qualifying Award and will start in the top position in Saturday’s KC Masterpiece 400 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas Speedway. After a nearly two-and-half-hour practice session for this race, we’ve dissected the numbers and 10-lap averages to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you go to make roster decisions for the 12th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2018.
Note: There will be a competition caution on Lap 30.
Cars to the rear: Kyle Larson (tire change)
RJ Kraft’s revised Fantasy Live lineup following practices and the lineup being set:
1: Kevin Harvick
2: Ryan Blaney
3: Aric Almirola
4: Kyle Busch
5: Daniel Suarez
Garage: Martin Truex Jr.
PLAY NOW: Set your Fantasy Live lineup | How the new Fantasy Live works
MORE: Fantasy analysis for Kansas | Driver stats | Full lineup | 10-lap averages
Analysis: I had the front row duo of Harvick and Blaney in my original lineup and see no reason to move away from it. Harvick has two intermediate wins (out of his four total victories) already in 2018 and Blaney has three top-five finishes in his last four Kansas starts. I’m also sticking with Suarez in my lineup in large because I’ve yet to use him. He finished in the top 10 here last spring and has four straight top-11 finishes in 2018.
The big move for me is putting Kyle Busch into my lineup in place of his brother Kurt. He has five top-five finishes in his last six Kansas races — including a 2016 victory in this race. He’s been strong all season at the intermediate tracks — picking up a victory at Texas last month to kick start his run of three straight victories in April. Add in that the 2015 champion posted the second-best 10-lap average and best 15-lap average (thanks to FS1 and @mikejoy500 for sharing the 15-lap data) and I need to get him in my lineup. Playing Busch, though, does come at a cost in that I am now down to only five uses with him.
In an effort to somewhat save a driver, I’m sticking Martin Truex Jr. — the winner of the past two Kansas races — in my garage. Despite Truex not picking up where he left off last year on the 1.5-mile tracks — he has led just seven laps on that track type in 2018 — I think its too risky to sit him entirely especially when races that involve shifting from daylight to night are a 78 team speciality. I don’t plan on using all three of Harvick, Busch and Truex when my lineup locks at the end of Stage 2. The two that are running the best will stay in and I will shuttle the third of that group into the garage. If something goes haywire elsewhere in my lineup, I potentially have a tough decision to make and I’m willing to live with that potential outcome.
In a quest for significant stage points, I’m adding Almirola into my lineup in place of Erik Jones. He authored his best qualifying effort of the season on Friday — will start fourth and had the third-best 10-lap average and 15-lap average in the lone practice session. With nine top 15s in 11 races, Almirola has been solid all year. But with that starting position (and minimal usage on my rosters thus far), I’m looking for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver to score well in the stages (he currently sits 12th in that category so far in 2018).
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – There are times when redemption is swift and merciful.
A week after throwing away a chance to win at Dover with a wreck of his own making, Noah Gragson scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season, beating his car owner, Kyle Busch, to the finish line in the 37 Kind Days 250 at Kansas Speedway.
Starting from the pole for the second straight race, Gragson led 128 of 167 laps in his No. 18 Toyota, swept all the stages of the event and collected the second NCWTS victory of his career.
RELATED: Race results | Full schedule for Kansas
“This is such a relief for a driver who had a hard week last week battling for the win,” said Gragson, who was running side by side with Johnny Sauter at Dover when he lost control of his truck and backed into the outside wall. “We came back strong this weekend. Two consecutive poles. We led the most laps today.
“Man, this is a pretty damn cool moment.”
After passing Busch and third-place finisher Stewart Friesen on Lap 157 — thanks to a four-tire call by crew chief Rudy Fugle during a green-flag pit stop on lap 134 — Gragson took the lead for good when Myatt Snider ran out of gas with five laps left.
Snider was one of five drivers trying to stretch fuel to the end of the race. One by one they fell by the wayside, but not before muddying the waters in the closing laps.
“After the pit stop, I thought I was going to be the leader, but they told me that (fifth-place finisher) Johnny (Sauter) was stretching it on fuel,” Gragson said. “So I said, ‘OK, maybe I’m running second.’ Then they said the 52 (Friesen) and the 4 (Busch) are a half a lap ahead of you.
“And I thought that was for the lead when I passed the 4 and I passed the 52, and then they said the 13 (Snider) was the leader. And I said, ‘Dang, how many leaders are there going to be?”
As it turned out Snider was the last one, and Gragson had come full circle from his mistake at Dover.
John Hunter Nemechek came home fourth, followed by Sauter and Matt Crafton. Cody Coughlin, Grant Enfinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley completed the top 10.
With 23 laps left, Friesen forced Busch down to the infield grass in the tri-oval, costing Busch a chance to pass the No. 52 Chevrolet and put distance between himself and Gragson.
RELATED: Busch takes ride through the grass
Busch had taken right-side tires only on his green-flag stop on Lap 139, and Gragson methodically caught his car owner, making what proved to be the winning pass with 10 laps left.
“The truck felt good after about 15 laps, but it took too long to come in,” Busch said. “And there on that last run, we didn’t make enough adjustments. We took two tires and we got way too tight.
“But awesome run by Noah and those guys. They deserve it—they’re fast. They needed a boost and they got one. They’re going to race for a championship, and hopefully this will help them get going.”
Sauter retained the series lead by 35 points over Gragson. The Camping World Truck Series’ next race is scheduled Friday, May 18 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Contributing: Staff reports
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — William Byron expects his fledgling Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career to get a boost during the summer months — and with good reason.
If the arc of his first season in Cup follows that of his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Byron has cause for optimism.
He didn’t win in the Xfinity Series until the 14th race of 2017, when he took the checkered flag at Iowa Speedway. He won again the following week in the July race at Daytona and went on to collect victories at Indianapolis and Phoenix on the way to the series championship.
After a rough start to his rookie season in the Cup series, the 20-year-old driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has finished outside the top 20 only once in the last eight races.
“The beginning of the year was a big shock, especially Atlanta and some of those places, but now we’re just getting a lot closer, and that’s allowing us to run closer to the top 15,” Byron said on Friday at Kansas Speedway. “Summer has normally been the best results for me. Normally, May is a really good month for me, so looking to start that off strong here.
“Dover was pretty solid (14th). I feel like the May tracks are really indicative for what the rest of the year looks like with the 1.5-milers. Charlotte is a race track that is very similar to Kentucky and other places. I feel like the summer has always been the area where we start to hit on what we need in the race car, and I think that is my confidence in the team and then showing them that I can produce with what I get in the race car. I think we’re starting to get that feel that I want, and it’s just kind of around the corner, I guess.”
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kevin Harvick has been the dominant force in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing this season.
In knockout qualifying on Friday at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford showed no sign of relinquishing his grip on NASCAR’s foremost series.
Harvick navigated the 1.5-mile speedway in 28.600 seconds (188.811 mph) in the final round of time trials to win the top starting spot for Saturday’s KC Masterpiece 400 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Qualifying results | Larson spins |Full schedule for Kansas
The Busch Pole Award was a record fourth for Harvick at Kansas, his second of the season and the 23rd of his career.
“This has been a really good place for us through the years, and obviously, when you look at qualifying day, it’s one of those places that fits what we do,” said Harvick, who has a series-best four victories to his credit this season, including last Sunday’s win at Dover.
“It’s been an entertaining day. We’ve had a lot of things to work through today (during practice and inspection), but it’s one of those days when you look at the team and go, ‘Man, those guys are really good at what they do.’ Nobody panics, and it really shows the experience and the patience that all those guys have.”
Harvick edged Ryan Blaney (187.826 mph) for the top spot on the grid by .015 seconds. Kyle Busch (187.552 mph) qualified third, followed by Aric Almirola (187.428 mph) and Brad Keselowski (186.748 mph).
Blaney had the fastest lap of the day in the first round (189.043 mph) but said the handling of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford tightened up in the second and third rounds.
Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and Chris Buescher completed the top 10. Buescher was the only Chevrolet driver to advance to the final round, as Fords took seven of the top 12 spots and Toyotas accounted for four.
Buescher claimed his best starting spot since qualifying ninth last year at Sonoma Raceway.
“I’m proud of the effort,” Buescher said. “Our Camaro ZL1 was good all three runs. We didn’t lose a bunch of speed throughout the whole thing, and I’m proud of that. It’s the second best start I’ve ever had in the Cup Series. That’s pretty awesome as well.”
In the second round, Kyle Larson, one of the favorites for the pole, spun off Turn 4 and flat-spotted his tires. Larson failed to post a time in the round and earned the 22nd starting position, but the No. 42 will drop to the rear for the start of the race if the team opts to change tires.
“I was pretty tight that run, and I just got tight getting into the top there and got up in the marbles and got loose,” said Larson, who grazed the outside wall with his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. “I’m just thankful I didn’t get too much damage on our First Data Chevy.
“I haven’t looked at it, but it appears really minor. Wish I wouldn’t have done that because I feel like we had a shot at the pole.”
Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet made it through pre-qualifying inspection just in time to make a first-round qualifying run. But Johnson will start 23rd after opting not to make a run in the second round.
Jamie McMurray, the last driver to qualify in Round 1 after inspection issues, will start 24th after his car failed to fire for the second round.
The No. 14 Ford of local favorite Clint Bowyer failed to advance through inspection in time to qualify, sending Bowyer to the rear for the start of the race. Likewise, Matt Kenseth will start from the back of the field in his return to competition with Roush Fenway Racing, with his No. 6 Ford also failing to pass inspection. The rest who will start at the back of the field after failing to post a time: Kasey Kahne, Michael McDowell, Matt DiBenedetto and Timmy Hill.
Contributing: Staff reports
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Clint Bowyer’s excited to be coming into Saturday’s race at Kansas — a place he calls “God’s country” — on a hot streak, and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola says his confidence level is an 8.
Success is breeding success at SHR with all four teams in the top 11 in points and Harvick hunting back-to-back wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ KC Masterpiece 400 (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).
Almirola says hard work is translating into on-track performance because Stewart-Haas is a different kind of team. He would know.
RELATED: Harvick tops Kansas practice | Full schedule for Kansas
“I’ve been at a lot of organizations fortunately and unfortunately in my career, so I’ve gotten to see some of the good, bad and the ugly of each organization,” the No. 10 driver said before practice Friday at Kansas Speedway. “I’ve been a part of Joe Gibbs Racing. I’ve been affiliated with Hendrick through JR Motorsports and the six weeks that I spent working with Jimmie Johnson on that baby duty deal that I did there. I’ve been a part of DEI. I’ve been a part of RPM and through RPM I’ve gotten to work with Roush.
“So I’ve seen a lot of the garage area and the one thing that stands out to me the most at Stewart-Haas Racing is that from top to bottom the passion for just racing in general is unbelievable.”
In addition to unparalleled drive, Almirola says camaraderie sets SHR apart.
“Everybody wants to just pull their weight and that’s something that’s rare in this industry because this industry is a very dog-eat-dog world and that’s just not the case at SHR,” Almirola explained. “Everybody is there to pull their own weight and to do the best that they can at their job to try and help make their part of the race car go faster, and that collective effort, I think, is what has Stewart-Haas Racing on top right now.”
Team owner Tony Stewart, long one of NASCAR’s most passionate competitors, has full confidence in Almirola as he strives to get that first win in the No. 10.
MORE: Bowyer, SHR ink new sponsor | Harvick predicts next ‘megastar’
“I want to win and we’re only 11 races in,” Almirola said. “So Tony has been just a very calming voice. He’s been like, ‘Be patient. Your time is coming.’ ”
Bowyer’s time is here again, feeding that team-wide confidence as well. The last time he was sitting fifth or higher in the standings was September 2013. A win at Martinsville and a runner-up finish to teammate Kevin Harvick last week at Dover puts the No. 14 team fifth in the standings and in an overly positive mindset of thinking about where the next win will come, not when the next win will come.
“Things are finally gelling and working the way they’re supposed to work at a multi-car team,” Bowyer said Friday. “Having all four cars running well up front for our partners on the side of the cars, our manufacturer, it just speaks volumes about everybody pushing in the same direction and the adjustments we made in the offseason and putting a year under our belts and learning from that.”
Kurt Busch is knocking on the door of a win, too, with a runner-up finish at Talladega. The No. 41 has speed, starting in the front two rows four times in the season’s first 11 races. Busch sits at No. 6 in the standings entering Saturday’s race.
Dressed in the Roush Fenway Racing, Wyndham Rewards livery Matt Kenseth showed up at Kansas Speedway Friday ready to turn his very first laps in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car since last November’s season finale.
The former series champion, 46, addressed the media shortly before his season-opening practice session – the only one he will get prior to qualifying for Saturday night’s KC Masterpiece 400 (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
MORE: Kenseth ‘anxious’ for opportunity | Pieces of Kenseth’s schedule revealed
In a typically low-key, understated manner the two-time Kansas winner managed expectation for his first time on track this season, now with the Roush team he started his full-time premier series career with in 2000 and had left for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013.
“I don’t have any expectations for the weekend, to be honest with you, because I just don’t know,” Kenseth conceded. “I haven’t been in the car yet and I don’t know how fast we’ll get up to speed. What are the things we’re gonna fight, that type of thing, so I don’t really know.
“I came into this weekend pretty much with no expectations, just kind of open-minded and take it one practice at a time, one session at a time, that type of thing, and go from there.”
There is plenty of positive backstory here at Kansas for Kenseth. His two appearances in Victory Lane were an impressive if unusual back-to-back combination: the fall 2012 race in his last year with Roush and the spring 2013 race in his first year with Gibbs. He also has earned three pole positions at the track and his 106.5 driver rating is second only to Jimmie Johnson here.
So in many ways, the 1.5-mile Kansas high banks looks like the perfect place for Kenseth to make his 2018 season debut. He was 28th fastest in opening practice Friday, and 22nd best in a 10-lap average.
STATS: Full practice speeds | 10-lap averages
“Just trying to get a little bit caught up an re-acclimated there with the system and the people and what’s changed and that kind of thing, and been anxious about today and getting back in the car,” Kenseth allowed. “I’m hoping everybody can get through tech and we can get on track in time. There’s not a lot of practice today, so I’m pretty anxious about getting in the car and seeing where we’re at and what my comfort level is, where we are on speed and what we’ve got to work on for tomorrow, that type of thing, so I’m just ready to get going.”
Kenseth, the 2003 champion, will be splitting time in the No. 6 Ford Fusion with Trevor Bayne who steered the car the first 11 races of the season. Kenseth confirmed he will drive for the next four races after Kansas – the non-points All-Star race at Charlotte next week, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend, then at Pocono and Michigan. How the two will share the car the remainder of the season hasn’t been revealed yet.
When legendary team owner Jack Roush announced Kenseth was re-joining the team, he said he has high expectations about what the former champion could bring to re-energize the two-car operation that’s two wins last year by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Daytona and Talladega were the first since 2014.
Kenseth realizes the great hope Roush and the team have in him. And, he said, he has dearly missed being a part of the sport.
“I would say the fans and the competition, the thing you miss the most is always the competition,” Kenseth said. “That’s why we all started racing on Friday and Saturday nights with a couple hundred people in the stands against all the rest of the drivers is because you like to compete. I think when you’re not competing, if there’s one thing you could pick out, that’s probably the part you miss the most.
“As far as how the last six months have been, they’ve been great honestly. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better period in my life, so that’s been really good. …
“ … I feel good about the direction that Roush Fenway Racing has taken the last couple years,” he continued. “Certainly, all the Fords are very competitive this year. The 17 (of Stenhouse) has shown a lot of speed on and off. You don’t see it necessarily in all the finishes, but certainly they’ve been better, so, like I said, I feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick set the pace early at Kansas Speedway, leading Friday’s lone Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series mega-practice at the 1.5-mile track. The veteran, who has four wins in the first 11 races this season, topped out at 186.149 mph once he went to qualifying trim.
Harvick was the lone driver to eclipse the 186-mph mark, but he had a couple of familiar faces atop the scoring pylon once practice ended. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson (185.982 mph) finished second behind Harvick, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch — who has won three races this year, himself — was third on the board with a top speed of 185.166 mph.
RELATED: Full practice results | Best 10-lap averages from Kansas
Busch’s JGR teammate Erik Jones was fourth at 184.634 mph, followed by Harvick’s SHR teammate Clint Bowyer (184.489 mph) in fifth.
A third Gibbs racer, Daniel Suarez (184.464 mph), jumped into sixth place with just two minutes remaining in practice. Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top 10. Truex Jr., who swept the Kansas races last season, climbed to 10th on his final run of the afternoon.
Matt Kenseth, making his return to both the track and to Roush Fenway Racing, logged his first laps in the No. 6 Ford and finished 28th on the speed chart at 179.706 mph.
The day initially called for two Monster Energy Series practices, but early rainstorms altered the day’s schedule. NASCAR officials reconfigured the Monster Energy Series slate to just one practice that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, and included a brief delay to tend to a weeper.
WATCH: Unique measures to drain water
The No. 42 team of Larson and the No. 88 team of Alex Bowman both were given 30-minute practice penalties for failing pre-race inspection three times last week at Dover. Additionally, the No. 3 team of Austin Dillon, the No. 4 team of Harvick and the No. 31 team of Ryan Newman all were given 15-minute practice penalty holds for failing pre-race inspection twice last week at Dover.
Qualifying for Saturday’s race (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is scheduled for later today at 6:45 p.m. ET (FS1).
For 15 consecutive seasons, Dale Earnhardt Jr. held the “Most Popular Driver” torch with pride. Now, all eyes are on the current drivers to find out who fills the vacancy.
Kevin Harvick already has an idea on who the fans will gravitate toward when voting comes around this year.
And it’s a name on which many are likely to agree.
MORE: Full Kansas schedule | All your fantasy questions answered
“I would say the next guy that’s going to take that reign is going to be Chase Elliott,” the Stewart-Haas Racing veteran said Friday at Kansas. “When you look at our sport, there’s only a few guys that come through this sport that have the name, the history, the heritage of that NASCAR family. … and Chase is one of those guys.”
The Hendrick Motorsports driver pilots the No. 9 Chevrolet, a number quite familiar to the Elliott family and NASCAR fans alike. Bill Elliott, Chase’s father, wheeled the No. 9 to Victory Lane 38 times throughout his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.
“Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” also happened to win the Most Popular Driver Award 16 times, the most all-time for any driver.
However, Harvick also sees more than just a last name when it comes to the 22-year-old driver, who is still vying for his first Monster Energy Series victory.
“He’s done a great job of carrying himself. He’s the next Dale Jr.,” Harvick said. “… Is he going to win enough to be the megastar? At some point.
“He’s a star right now. Winning takes you to that next level of being a bigger star. Chase Elliott winning is better for our sport.”
ITsavvy, one of the fastest growing resources for integrated IT products and technology solutions in the United States, has joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), the championship-winning NASCAR team.
The multiyear partnership will be highlighted on the No. 14 Ford Fusion driven by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer. ITsavvy will be the primary sponsor of Bowyer and the No. 14 team Sept. 21-22 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Nov. 9-11 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix. At all other races, ITsavvy will serve as an associate sponsor.
“The crossover between what ITsavvy does and what we do is strong, and ITsavvy can tell a great story with Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Mike Verlander, vice president of sales and marketing, SHR. “Walk through our race shop and throughout the garage and you’ll see how our race cars and our entire industry relies on technology. From engine diagnostics to fuel-mileage calculations, our business is dependent on technology solutions. The senior-level introductions our sport can make will lead to new business opportunities for ITsavvy. Every company needs what ITsavvy provides, and we’re excited to facilitate those introductions.”
Founded in 2004, ITsavvy is a single-source, end-to-end IT partner. The Addison, Illinois-based company combines a comprehensive, value-added reseller business of more than a million computer, hardware and software products with an industry-leading advanced solutions group. ITsavvy has access to $8 billion in daily inventory in 46 distribution centers around the country with the ability to ship in-stock items the same day they are ordered.
“It’s our goal to build an ongoing business relationship with every entity we partner with, and in NASCAR it starts with Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Mike Theriault, president and CEO, ITsavvy. “We are a business-to-business company, and speed and attention to detail are critical to what we do because it’s incredibly important for our clients. Our role with Stewart-Haas Racing allows the team to maximize its performance with our products and technology solutions in a high-speed environment. It provides ITsavvy with an incredibly strong testimonial in an industry where nearly half of America’s Fortune 100 companies invest. We can help these companies the same way we’re helping Stewart-Haas Racing.”
ITsavvy is filled with technology solutions experts, which makes its pairing with SHR appropriate. Since its debut in 2009 as a two-car NASCAR Cup Series team, SHR has grown to become a four-car NASCAR Cup Series team while also fielding a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series team and one part-time Xfinity Series team. Celebrating its 10th year in 2018, SHR has won two NASCAR Cup Series championships and 48 races. It staffs nearly 400 people and boasts an engineering staff of 50.
“Working with ITsavvy gives us a competitive advantage that directly translates to our performance on the racetrack,” said Tom McDonough, IT director, SHR. “Anytime you can align with an IT leader, it makes a positive impact on the success of our operation. Most people don’t realize how complex our IT needs are day-in and day-out, and having a vested partner in the IT solutions industry is a huge benefit to our operation.”
“If it makes my racecar faster than everybody else’s car, then I’m all for it,” said Bowyer, a winner of nine NASCAR Cup Series races, including earlier this season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. “While these are stock cars, the technology inside them is impressive, and the research and development that goes into all the parts and pieces we use to build these cars is cutting edge. The days of paper and pencil are long gone. Heck, we’re not even using tape measures anymore. It’s all digital measurement, and we keep all that data on computers. Technical support and race support go hand in hand, and to have an in-house partner in ITsavvy makes our program that much better.”
“ITsavvy and SHR operate in different environments, but we share the same attributes – technology, precision, speed, teamwork and success,” added Tony Stewart, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and SHR co-owner. “We strive for success and we do it as a team, but we rely on technology to help us find and leverage any advantage that makes our racecars fast. ITsavvy helps us manage all of our technology to where we can quickly turn theory into reality.”