Posted on by Reid Spencer

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — He did it again.

Last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings and faced with an uphill struggle to make the Round of 8, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team did what they do best — win with their backs to the wall.

Moments after a restart on Lap 238 of 267, Harvick cleared Carl Edwards for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away to win Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 by 1.183 seconds.

With his second victory at Kansas, his fourth of the season and the 35th of his career, Harvick joined last week’s Charlotte winner, Jimmie Johnson, in the Chase’s Round of 8 and erased the specter of racing under pressure next Sunday in the crapshoot that is Talladega.

With his team chanting “I believe that we will win” in unison behind him, Harvick climbed from his car and thrust his fist into the air in triumph.

“These races are hard to win, and these guys are just so good at the details,” said Harvick, who won elimination races at Phoenix during his championship season in 2014 and at Dover last year. “You put their backs against the wall, and they get better. Really proud of them …

“I just got two good restarts against the No. 19 (Carl Edwards). He didn’t have a car quite as close to him, and I was able to break that draft before I got to the middle of one and two and get away from him, so that was pretty awesome. I just needed to go for it, and that’s really the mind-set we go into every race in the Chase (with) — to go for, and we did.”

Edwards, who covets a win at the track closest to his Columbia, Missouri, home, was delighted with the way his No. 19 Toyota ran, but he was frustrated with his second runner-up finish at the 1.5-mile speedway.

“We ran well,” Edwards said philosophically. “That was really fun, getting to race up front. It is really tough for me to finish second here. It’s happened twice. Both of them were pretty painful. The bright side is that, yes, we raced up front. Got a lot of support from a lot of people here. Hopefully, they enjoyed that part of it.

“That last restart, Kevin and Jimmie just lined up at the bottom, and they just got far enough ahead, I couldn’t hang on the outside. Then I ended up having to race Kyle (Busch) really hard there for a few laps. It let Kevin get out ahead.

“But, man, we’ll just move forward. A day or two will pass, maybe the sting will wear off, and I’ll be more excited about the points situation going into Talladega, because that’s the bright side. We’ve got two decent races under our belts to go to Talladega with.”

Joey Logano ran third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford, an excellent recovery from last week’s 36th-place finish at Charlotte in the open race of the Round of 12. Logano enters the cutoff race at Talladega tied for eighth in the Chase standings with Austin Dillon, who finished sixth on Sunday after gaining track position with a late two-tire call.

Johnson was fourth at Kansas, followed by Kyle Busch, who leaves his former “Waterloo” track 27 points above the cut line for the next round.

Pole winner Matt Kenseth finished eighth behind non-Chasers Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger and is 29 points to the good heading to the elimination race. Among other Chase drivers, Martin Truex Jr. ran 11th, Kurt Busch 13th and Denny Hamlin 15th. From that trio, Truex and Busch remained inside the cut line, with Hamlin falling to 10th, six points behind Logano and Dillon.

But the real Chase casualties at Kansas were Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski. Six laps after passing Harvick for the lead on Lap 169, Elliott returned to pit road after a green-flag stop with his left rear tire down.

That and two subsequent brushes with the outside wall relegated the Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader to 31st at the finish, leaving him 25 points behind Logano and Dillon and likely needing a victory at Talladega to advance.

Keselowski was a victim of his own mistake. On Lap 190, he joined the growing club of Chase drivers who have experienced major trouble in the Round of 12.

Roaring through Turn 4, Keselowski moved up the banking in front of Denny Hamlin. But Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford got loose and slowed exiting the corner, and Hamlin had no room to brake in time to avoid tapping the 2 car.

After repairs, he attempted one futile lap but retired in 38th place, dipping to 11th in the standings, seven points out of eighth.

“I spun and got in the grass and tore the nose off,” Keselowski said. “I probably could have raced less hard with a big points gap coming in. With this format, it’s probably the smart thing to do, but I don’t want to race like that.

“I want to race my guts out and go for wins. I don’t want to points-race. I don’t care what the damn format is — I’m going to give it my best.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Keselowski comes through in the clutch at Talladega in 2014

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Here we go again.

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Round of 12 finale at Talladega Superspeedway just became that much more of a must-see event. Former Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski once again finds himself in a precarious position heading into the elimination race at the 2.66-mile track, in need of a victory to advance after finishing toward the back of the pack at Kansas Speedway.

Two years ago the Team Penske driver placed 36th in the Hollywood Casino 400. He placed 38th on Sunday after contact with Denny Hamlin on Lap 189 sent his No. 2 Ford careening into the grass, destroying the front end of his ride.

And two years ago he hit the proverbial walk-off home run, landing in Talladega Victory Lane — and into the Round of 8.

Can he do it again?

“We will win Talladega and other races and be fine,” Keselowski said in the garage following the incident. “I like Talladega. Talladega has been good to me and I am going to drive my butt off and at the end of the day I have faith that if it is meant to be it is meant to be. We can’t get down. There is a long way to go still.”

In an attempt to scrape together any extra points he could salvage, Keselowski returned to the race on Lap 218 — 28 laps down — for only two circuits before bringing out the seventh caution when his car started smoking again. He quickly returned to the garage and retired for the day.

“It’s an automotive war zone out here,” Keselowski said. “(My team) just worked their guts out. If my team keeps putting out this kind of effort, I’m not worried about today. We’re going to win races.”

Keselowski entered the race fourth on the Chase Grid but now sits 11th in the 12-driver field, ahead of Chase Elliott by 18 points. He trails points leader Jimmie Johnson by a whopping 44.

If any driver in the field has a chance to pull off the miraculous feat that he once again faces, it’s Keselowski.

The winner of the past two restrictor plate races (May Talladega, July Daytona) has five total in his career, four of which have come at the Alabama track. With restrictor plate ace Dale Earnhardt Jr. sidelined for the remainder of the season, Keselowski is arguably the best superspeedway racer in the series right now.

Some may question Keselowski’s hard-charging method of racing at Kansas in an event he conceivably could’ve raced more for points than for the win, but — as we’ve come to known — that’s not his style.

“I probably could have raced less hard with a big points gap coming in,” he said. “With this (Chase) format it is probably the smart thing to do but I don’t want to race like that. I want to race my guts out and go for wins. I don’t want to points race. I don’t care what the damn format is, I am going to give it my best.”

There will be no option to points race at Talladega.

Keselowski likely needs to win.

“Days like today are going to happen to anybody and everybody in the Chase. It is about the effort you have when that happens,” Keselowski said.

“I am proud of my guys for doing their best to recover and we will move on to Talladega and give ’em hell.”


Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Results | Chase Grid


KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It was, Elliott Sadler noted, “like Kentucky all over again.”

Sadler, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, won that one.

He didn’t win Saturday’s caution-filled Kansas Lottery 300 — he finished second. But he was the highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular, trailing Kyle Busch under the checkered flag.

The race was the first stop in the Round of 8, a trio of races that will determine which four teams will advance to Homestead-Miami Speedway — in the Championship 4 — next month to battle for the series title.

Kentucky opened the first round, and “when you start with an even playing field,” things can get intense, Sadler said.

The intensity returned for Kansas.

“Everybody wants to get the edge, you want to get the advantage,” he said. “That creates hard racing and protecting your real estate and that creates closer racing. When you have closer racing you have mistakes and sometimes a lot of cautions.”

Fellow Chase hopeful Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing), Joey Logano (Team Penske) and Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing) completed the top five.

There were 10 cautions and plenty of mistakes on Saturday, which surprisingly wasn’t a track record for either. Not all involved were Chase contenders, but enough did to promise the next few weeks will be interesting.

Three Chase drivers, Justin Allgaier, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Reed, were part of a six-car incident on Lap 165 of the 200-lap race. Reed (Roush Fenway Racing) had been battling troubles all day; Wallace, his teammate, had led briefly; Allgaier (JRM) had been solid.

But the incident took Wallace out of the race and Allgaier out of contention.

“I just got run over from behind,” Allgaier said. “We were three wide so obviously there was a lot going on behind us, cars getting big runs, and I just kind of got run over.”

His car was mangled — body damage and mechanical issues — but Allgaier still managed a 15th-place finish.

“I think more than anything, the fact that we rallied back and had a solid finish to what really was a catastrophic day,” he said of the end result. “Yeah it’s a little frustrating to not be better in points than we are but at the same time we battled through adversity today and lost as few points as we could lose. That’s a big plus.”

Wallace, 33rd, said his No. 6 team wasn’t “knocked out” of the title picture.

“It is just motivation to go to Texas,” he said.

“We have all wrecked plenty of times in our careers, so we know how to use it as fuel. This is just a little dent. Nothing to be worried about. We just have to do our job in Texas and Phoenix and make up as much time as we can.”

Trouble also found pre-Chase favorite Erik Jones (JGR) and Brendan Gaughan (Richard Childress Racing).

Jones was leading the race when contact from Kyle Larson resulted in damage and a tire issue, sending the winner of four races this year to pit road with less than 15 laps remaining. Jones, a four-time winner this season, even led for 11 circuits. 

Jones finished 16th, and if there’s a silver lining, it’s that he’s been here before — an accident at Kentucky put his No. 20 team in a hole it had to dig itself out of to advance out of the first round.

“We really didn’t want to be in that position again,” Jones noted afterward. “We were in a good position not to be in that spot but we just got turned there on the restart. It’s unfortunate. …

“It’s such a shame because we had such a fast car.”

The series is off until Nov. 5 at Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sadler will reside as the points leader at least until then, with Daniel Suarez, Blake Koch, Allgaier and Jones second through fifth, respectively. Only 12 points separate those five.

Reed (-14), Gaughan (-29) and Wallace (-30) complete the top eight.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Tackling the Jimmie question in fantasy

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Win a Chase race and take it easy? Put the ol’ piece on cruise control until the next round?

Not so fast, say NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers.

“The 48 (of Jimmie Johnson), I don’t think he’s going to ride around the track because he’s already won,” said Matt Kenseth, pole winner for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) at Kansas Speedway.

“I think everyone shows up with the idea of trying to win.”

Since the debut of NASCAR’s elimination-style format for its Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2014, only two drivers have scored multiple wins in any one round. Last season, Joey Logano (Team Penske) won all three races in the second round; Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) won two of three in this year’s opening Round of 16.

“With this Chase format, there’s always talk about winning and desperation and all this stuff,” Kenseth said. “I’ve never been at a race I didn’t want to win and have done everything I could to win the race within a certain extent. For me, that doesn’t really change.”

The Chicagoland victory guaranteed Truex a spot in the current Round of 12 and gave the team an opportunity to ease off the throttle. It was an opportunity not taken. Two weeks after the win, Truex was back in Victory Lane, this time at Dover.

“The first win was huge … just that relief, you know?” Truex said Friday at Kansas. “That feeling of, ‘OK, now in the next two weeks we just go out and try to win.’ The icing on the cake so to speak; a huge confidence booster for us.”

With advancement into the next round already guaranteed, it might seem as if those teams would be more likely resurface in the winners’ circle during a particular round. No pressure, the ability to gamble on pit strategy without the fear of repercussions, and nothing-to-lose approach.

“It’s definitely the approach, but you just can’t take for granted how difficult it is to win in our sport,” Johnson said. “Secondly, I think there are certain tracks that fit certain companies and certain styles that drivers have or a crew chief might have. I think that is a big player as well.

“In this elimination round you could look at a team that has fast 1.5-mile cars and think that they are a favorite for the first two, but Talladega you have no clue what is going to happen there. Then in the next round you have a short track and some big tracks, so it’s just tough. I think it’s real hard to favor or pick a favorite for somebody that could win all three or win multiple times.”

Johnson is the only driver to have competed in the Chase every year since its inception in 2004. He has 29 victories in the Chase, 27 while still in title contention. But the latest format change hasn’t been kind to the No. 48 team or its driver.

In ’14 and ’15, he found Victory Lane only after already being eliminated from Chase contention. Until this season, he had never advanced past the first two rounds of the four-round format.

Last week’s victory at Charlotte was huge. The opportunity for additional victories isn’t one the team takes lightly. Having a win in his back pocket provides a sense of security, but “I want us to have more exposure to race-winning pressure, championship pressure,” Johnson said.

“I feel that makes everybody stronger on the race team and there are trophies to go get. I want more trophies this year without a doubt.

“We are showing up with the normal mindset. I think it would be smart for us to not change anything and take the pressure off of ourselves. You’ve got to be at 100 percent for these final races.”

MORE: Johnson describes tricky relationship with SHR

Posted on by Staff Report

FINAL PRACTICE | Full results | Best 10-lap averages

Polesitter Matt Kenseth showcased the speed of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota once again, as he topped the leaderboard at 186.361 mph during the final Sprint Cup Series practice Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

A pair of Stewart-Haas Racing drivers had some misfortune in final practice. While Kurt Busch‘s No. 41 Chevrolet showed speed early and he finished the session third (185.797 mph), he found trouble at the end of the session, as a right-front flat tire caused him to drive through the grass out of Turn 4 with just seconds left in practice.

Kevin Harvick, who was second-fastest in practice earlier this morning, briefly brought out the caution late in the 50-minute session, as his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet grazed the wall. After tending to the damage, Harvick made another run and ended the session 13th-fastest (184.780 mph).


Kyle Larson was second-quickest, his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet the fastest among non-Chase drivers with a top speed of 185.842 mph.


Rounding out the top five were two Chase drivers: Hendrick Motorsports‘ Chase Elliott (185.752 mph) and Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Kyle Busch (185.535 mph), respectively.

Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson (23rd-fastest) was the slowest driver among the 12 Chase competitors, clocking in a best lap of 183.880 mph. Johnson was also the slowest Chaser during morning practice and Friday’s Coors Light Pole qualifying session.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track Sunday for the Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

PRACTICE 2 | Practice 2 results | 10-lap averages

Paul Menard topped the speed charts in Saturday’s opening Sprint Cup practice at Kansas Speedway with a speed of 184.672 mph in his No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Right behind him was Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet at 184.376 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet, Chase Elliott in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Sprint Cup Series points leader Jimmie Johnson was 25th-fastest with a speed of 181.714 mph in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Johnson was the slowest Chase driver in this session.

Posted on by Staff Report

Practice 1: Results


Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin (C) 3 12 186.256
2 13 Casey Mears 1 10 185.041

Practice 2: Results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch (C) 1 10 182.530
2 27 Paul Menard 1 10 181.964
3 19 Carl Edwards (C) 16 25 181.930
4 42 Kyle Larson 14 23 181.592
5 14 Tony Stewart 1 10 181.370
6 1 Jamie McMurray 19 28 181.028
7 11 Denny Hamlin (C) 1 10 180.975
8 20 Matt Kenseth (C) 19 28 180.946
9 3 Austin Dillon (C) 18 27 180.860
10 2 Brad Keselowski (C) 21 30 180.595
11 21 * Ryan Blaney # 14 23 180.335
12 16 Greg Biffle 25 34 179.901
13 24 Chase Elliott # (C) 20 29 179.575
14 6 Trevor Bayne 22 31 179.469
15 5 Kasey Kahne 13 22 179.367
16 31 Ryan Newman 18 27 179.199
17 95 Michael McDowell 5 14 178.752
18 23 David Ragan 10 19 177.826
19 44 Brian Scott # 9 18 176.984

Practice 3: Results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick (C) 1 10 183.740
2 14 Tony Stewart 1 10 183.490
3 18 Kyle Busch (C) 1 10 183.346
4 24 Chase Elliott # (C) 1 10 183.208
5 20 Matt Kenseth (C) 1 10 182.690
6 42 Kyle Larson 20 29 182.534
7 27 Paul Menard 1 10 182.483
8 5 Kasey Kahne 35 44 182.422
9 3 Austin Dillon (C) 1 10 182.393
10 2 Brad Keselowski (C) 1 10 182.371
11 11 Denny Hamlin (C) 1 10 182.144
12 31 Ryan Newman 1 10 182.004
13 41 Kurt Busch (C) 32 41 181.903
14 1 Jamie McMurray 34 43 181.813
15 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) 1 10 181.773
16 78 Martin Truex Jr. (C) 6 15 181.768
17 88 Alex Bowman(i) 24 33 181.642
18 22 Joey Logano (C) 23 32 181.612
19 21 * Ryan Blaney # 21 30 181.127
20 19 Carl Edwards (C) 28 37 180.788
21 10 Danica Patrick 1 10 179.888
22 7 Regan Smith 1 10 179.836
23 23 David Ragan 1 10 179.544
24 34 Chris Buescher # 18 27 179.322
25 83 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 179.074
26 95 Michael McDowell 5 14 178.930
27 43 Aric Almirola 25 34 178.599
28 46 Michael Annett 15 24 173.901

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above charts. (C) indicates driver is in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Chase Grid | Photos from the day

SHOP: Busch gear


KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Busch‘s domination of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway was about the only predictable thing that happened in the first race of the Round of 8 in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase.

In winning his fourth XFINITY race at the 1.5-mile track, his ninth of the season and the 85th of his career — extending his own series record — Busch led 150 of 200 laps, passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez after a restart with 13 circuits remaining.

“It was a hard-fought battle,” said Busch, who had surged to a lead of 7.961 seconds before the first caution slowed the field on Lap 57. “Seemed like it was going to be easy for us. We had a super-fast car, and when we were out front, I could take it easy on those long runs and we could drive away.

“The car would turn so well. A lot of things were trying to work against us at the end of the race. We were able to persevere and do the right things and have lucky restarts and be in the right grooves and not get caught up in the melee that was happening.”

Suarez had reason to be elated with his eventual third-place finish. An unexplained “popping” sound in his No. 19 Toyota accompanied a loss of horsepower, and Suarez settled for a hard-won result after Elliott Sadler passed him in the closing laps for the runner-up spot.

Because Suarez led laps and Sadler didn’t, he and Sadler leave Kansas tied for the Chase lead, but Sadler owns the tie-breaker due to higher finishes.

“I’m proud of my race team,” Sadler said. “We just kept working on the car and getting it better and better. I’ve got to do a better job trying to outrun that 18 car (Busch). He’s really good, and he knows how to manipulate the air. But I’ve got to keep trying.”

Blake Koch finished ninth — third among Chase drivers — despite a late flat tire, the adverse effect of which was diminished by a timely caution, one of 10 during the afternoon. Koch is seven points behind the two Chase leaders.

Chaos gobbled up the remaining five Chase contenders. A tap from Brandon Jones turned Chaser Justin Allgaier sideways and ignited a six-car wreck that also eliminated Darrell Wallace Jr., who crashed out in 33rd-place. In a severely damaged car, Allgaier soldiered to a 14th-place result and left Kansas tied with Erik Jones for the final transfer spot into the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jones ran up front through the vast majority of the race, but his No. 20 Toyota was turned into the Chevrolet of Ty Dillon when NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Larson made an aggressive move after a restart on Lap 183.

Jones pitted with a cut tire and finished one position behind Allgaier, one lap down.

“He (Larson) said it was his fault,” Jones said after talking to Larson on pit road. “He owned up to it, got me ran over. It is what it is… He just said he got a good start and there was no hole there, nowhere to go with the run he had just got into my left rear and turned us. It’s a shame, we both had fast cars.”

Ryan Reed salvaged a 16th-place finish despite a loose plug wire that kept him down on power until his team could troubleshoot the problem on pit road. After contact in heavy traffic on Lap 176, Brendan Gaughan took a wild spin through the infield grass and came home 31st, 18 laps down.

Both Wallace and Gaughan will have yeoman work to do when the Chase resumes at Texas Motor Speedway after a two-week break for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (Nov. 5, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Chase Grid | Starting lineup for Sunday’s race 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch was dealt a blow — literally — to his Chase hopes in Saturday’s final practice for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
 
With mere seconds left on the clock in the third and final practice session of the weekend, Busch’s right front tire blew out, sending his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet careening into the infield grass. The front end of his entry took significant damage, enough that he’ll be forced to drive a backup in the Hollywood Casino 4000 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App), the middle race of the Round of 12.
 
The 2004 Sprint Cup champion qualified 15th for the race, but will start from the rear as a result of moving to a backup.
 
The car had shown speed in practice, landing second on the leaderboard in the opening session at 194.119 mph and was third in the final go-about at 185.797 mph before settling in the grass.
 
Busch, fifth in points, is one of the 12 Chase drivers vying for a spot in the next round, set to begin after the elimination race on Oct. 23 at Talladega Superspeedway. Only Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson has secured a spot into the Round of 8, thanks to his win last week at Charlotte.
 
While it’s a disappointing turn of events for the veteran, the team tweeted out a pretty encouraging statistic for him.

Busch’s overall history at Kansas isn’t favorable, however, as he has just seven top-10 finishes in 21 career starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, leading just 20 laps since 2011. That said, he does have three straight top 10s and placed third here in May.

Busch’s teammate Kevin Harvick also found trouble during the 50-minute practice session, as his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet brushed the wall and brought out the caution. Harvick got back on track after repairs, coming up 13th-fastest in the field.