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Check out full coverage from this weekend’s races

Sprint Cup Series

Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway, 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, ESPN on air at 1 p.m. ET. | WEEKEND SCHEDULE | RESULTS

Featured Story

Harvick wins at Kansas

It was a great weekend for Kevin Harvick. On Friday, he won the Coors Light Pole and on Sunday, he won the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. The win was Harvick’s third of the Sprint Cup Series season and pushed him to third in the point standings as well. | Read the full story | Final Laps | Victory Lane

MORE NEWS
— Johnson close, but Kenseth hangs on to points lead
— Kansas curse hits Kyle Busch yet again
— Post-Race Reactions: Hollywood Casino 400
— Allgaier loses control, wrecks Newman
— Kenseth, Logano have problems on pit road
— Patrick gets loose, slams into wall
— Champ won’t stand for Busch’s actions
— Goodyear shows tire wear with digital mapping
— Johnson’s top 10 wins in the Chase
— Drivers test new Goodyear tires at Kansas
— Keselowski happy for team with Penske deal
— Despite missing Chase, McMurray finds his stride
— Larson to make Sprint Cup debut at Charlotte

Nationwide Series

Kansas Lottery 300, Kansas Speedway, 3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, ESPN (ESPN on air at 3:30 p.m. ET) | WEEKEND SCHEDULE | RESULTS

Featured Story

Kenseth wins as Busch, Keselowski clash

Matt Kenseth may have won Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway, but Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski provided the most explosive fireworks in a wild race that featured 11 cautions in 200 laps. | Read the full story

MORE NEWS:
— Crash takes spotlight, Dillon takes points lead
— Smith tops final practice
— Allgaier joins double-duty crew in Kansas
— Sadler, Vickers take aim at Nationwide rally
— NASCAR penalizes Penske’s No. 22 team
— Hornish’s miscue allows Dillon to close the gap
— NASCAR penalizes Piquet Jr.
— Leavine Family Racing to field single-car Nationwide Series team


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Harvick wins at Kansas

READ: Kansas curse
hits Busch again

WATCH: Kenseth, Logano
have pit road problems

WATCH: Patrick slams
into wall on opening lap
Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick earns first pick with first pole in seven years

RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage

With his first pole in over seven years and Richard Childress Racing’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole in over six, Kevin Harvick earned the first pick of pit stalls.

The No. 29 car will roll into and out of the first stall, situated at the exit of pit road toward Turn 1.

The second-fastest qualifier, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse Jr., chose the eighth stall for his No. 17 ride. Across the front opening will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 ride in the seventh stall.

Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate and five-time champion Jimmie Johnson qualified third and chose the 43rd and last stall on pit road at the Turn 4 entrance. Five stalls up pit road toward the start/finish line, with an opening in front of him, is Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Matt Kenseth.

Watch the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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Preview for Kansas

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READ: Tires change
along with technology

Posted on by Staff Report

Coors Light Pole Award winner Austin Dillon gets first pit pick

With a Coors Light Pole and a track record, Austin Dillon earned the first choice of pit stall for Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The No. 3 car chose the first stall at the exit of pit road, the No. 2 pit box.

The man he is chasing, NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Sam Hornish Jr., chose the 20th stall, three off of the start/finish line toward the Turn 1 side.

The second-fastest qualifier, Justin Allgaier, will pit in the seventh stall with an opening behind him. Directly across the opening from him will be Elliott Sadler in stall 8.

Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, Brian Scott, chose the 18th stall with an opening in front of him. Others with pit openings in front of them on the Turn 4 side of pit road are Parker Kligerman in the 26th stall and Alex Bowman in the 38th stall.

Brian Vickers, another title contender, picked the last stall at the entrance to pit road, the 42nd box.

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Preview for Kansas

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Preview Show

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Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology

Posted on by Brad Norman

Dillon now leads Hornish Jr. in the point standings by eight

RELATED: Results | Standings

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — As a throng of people descended onto pit road following Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300, Austin Dillon climbed out of his pink No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet and stood there unencumbered.

The television cameras rushed past the new NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader to focus their lenses on Kyle Busch, whose late-race tangle with Brad Keselowski provided the final fireworks in a race full of twists and mistimed turns.

Dillon was hardly unassuming in his pink firesuit and pink-rimmed black cowboy hat, but the 23-year-old driver had a rare slice of time to himself following his sixth-place finish at the Kansas Speedway. He spoke with team owner and grandfather Richard Childress, smiling a smile rarely seen after sixth-place finishes, as the scoring pylon behind him flickered out Sam Hornish Jr.‘s finish — 17th.

"A sixth-place finish is great for us," said Dillon, who entered the day trailing Hornish by four points and exited it up eight. "We’re the points leader, and that’s awesome. We have to keep on doing what we’ve been doing the past couple of weeks, and that’s gain points and maintain our top-five finishes."

It’s been quite a stretch for Dillon to catch Hornish, who grabbed the points lead following a third-place finish at the Mid-Ohio race in mid-August. In the No. 12 Penske Racing Ford, Hornish rattled off three top-five finishes in a four-race stretch from Atlanta to Kentucky before consecutive 17th-place showings over the past two weeks allowed Dillon to close the gap and eventually surge into the lead.

Starting from the Coors Light Pole, an 11-caution race wrecked the No. 3 team’s strategy and sent Dillon on a voyage that saw him drop as low as 25th place. A left-front tire that continually blistered forced Dillon’s team to take more tires than his opponents, so he routinely lost ground on pit road.

Dillon reassumed the lead on Lap 100, but he lost ground on multiple late restarts. He was ninth with 20 laps to go, but benefited from the final caution — on Lap 189, when Busch drilled Keselowski from behind.

"We didn’t want to race like that. We had a car we thought we could run up front with," Dillon said. "Just, the left-front kept blistering throughout the day, and we had to change our strategy quite a bit. We had to keep putting on tires, putting on tires, and it hurt our track position."

Dillon’s ascension in the standings wasn’t a lock until Hornish Jr. slapped the wall following a Lap 150 restart. Two races ago at Kentucky, Hornish Jr. got loose and brilliantly saved his car en route to a fourth-place showing. He couldn’t keep it off the wall in Kansas, though, and that slapper sent him from seventh place, just behind Dillon, to 13th.

"It was one of those days," Hornish Jr. said. "We were racing hard at the end and we freed up the car a little too much. I asked them to free it up and then I ended up getting into the wall because of it. That’s my bad."

Hornish has four races to make up the eight-point deficit, but Dillon has been among the most consistent Nationwide drivers during the stretch run. In the past seven races, Dillon has three top-fives and three top-10s — two of those top-10s are sixth-place showings. His only finish outside the top 10 during that stretch is a 12th-place effort at Richmond.

The strategy — and goals — aren’t changing now that Dillon holds the points lead.

"No, it’s going to be the same thing as we’ve been doing," he said. "Top-fives, top-fives, and if they can beat us with us getting top-fives from here on out, then good on them."

Throughout the season, Dillon has bemoaned his missed opportunities at winning races. He won twice in 2012, and has seven Coors Light Pole awards this year — and two runner-up finishes.

That sting is assuaged now that Dillon is running P1 on the path to a championship.

"It won’t mean nothing if we don’t win it at the end of the year," Dillon said. "That big trophy is what we want."

Then he paused, and flashed that sixth-place smile again.

"A regular trophy would be nice, too."

MORE:

READ: Paint Scheme
Preview for Kansas

WATCH: Kansas
Preview Show

WATCH: Chase Chat:
Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology

Posted on by Brad Norman

Kyle, Kurt hit the wall hard in practice led by Stenhouse; both will start in the rear

RELATED: Results | Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Busch brothers continue to have problems at Kansas Speedway, and Saturday’s setbacks came in the throes of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship stretch run. Both Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch had shortened practice sessions early Saturday after getting into the wall hard, bringing their respective backup cars out of the haulers and ensuring both would start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Kyle Busch, third in the Sprint Cup Series standings and 12 points behind teammate Matt Kenseth, has just two top-10s in 12 starts at the 1.5-mile speedway. He finished 38th in the spring race here after wrecking.

"I need a lot of help," Kyle Busch said. "Our car’s not very good. I’m not very good here. With my Cup car, I’ve never had (a good) feeling here at Kansas."

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver came into Kansas on the heels of his best-ever postseason start, finishing second, second and fifth in the first three Chase races.

Kurt Busch’s struggles have been almost identical — three top-10s in 15 starts. He’s currently ninth in the standings, 55 points back.

Kyle Busch, who had qualified 18th on Friday, drilled the wall on the first lap of practice in his No. 18 Toyota. His fender crumpled and fell off after the hard shot into the outside wall, and his car needed a tow off the track. Busch walked under his own power to the ambulance, and he was checked out at the medical care center. A golf cart whisked the driver back to the garage, where his team had already unloaded the backup car.


Kurt Busch’s spin happened nearly 30 minutes into the hour-long practice session. Marcos Ambrose wiggled in front of the No. 78 car, which then lost control and spun around before drilling the outside wall in Turn 2 with its left side. The Furniture Row Racing team unloaded the backup No. 78 Chevrolet a few minutes later. Kurt Busch had qualified 19th.

Kurt Busch finished 20th in the session, and Kyle Busch finished 32nd. In the day’s second practice, Kurt Busch was 11th on the grid and Kyle Busch was 25th.

Saturday’s practices saw multiple spins as drivers dealt with temperatures that had dropped more than 30 degrees since qualifying on Friday.

Kenseth was among those affected, and he spun his No. 20 Toyota out with five minutes remaining in the first practice. The veteran was trying to merge back onto the track after putting on new tires, and his spin came just as Kyle Busch was thundering past in his backup vehicle.

Aric Almirola took a solo spin in the second session, but his No. 43 Ford did not incur damage.

 

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READ: Paint Scheme
Preview for Kansas

WATCH: Kansas
Preview Show

WATCH: Chase Chat:
Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology
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Harvick wins first Coors Light Pole since 2006

MORE: Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup | Lineup

KANSAS CITY, Kan.— When you think of potential pole winners for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, Kevin Harvick is nowhere near the top of the list.

But Harvick scratched a seven-year itch during Friday’s time trials at Kansas Speedway.

Covering the 1.5-mile distance in 28.796 seconds (187.526 mph), Harvick won the pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

In claiming his first Coors Light pole award after a dry spell of 254 races dating to September 2006 at New Hampshire, Harvick edged Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (187.480 mph) by .007 seconds. Harvick earned the top starting spot for a Cup race for the sixth time in 460 tries.

The pole is a good jump start for Harvick in his attempt to reel in Chase leader Matt Kenseth. Harvick is tied for fourth in the standings with Jeff Gordon, 39 points behind Kenseth, 31 behind Jimmie Johnson in second and 27 behind Kyle Busch in third.

Johnson qualified third at 187.162 mph, with Brad Keselowski (186.233 mph), Joey Logano (186.168 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.072 mph) lining up in positions four through six. Kenseth qualified seventh at 185.893 mph, with Busch a disappointing 18th at 184.603 mph.

With Harvick in a lame-duck season, the result of an announced moved to Stewart-Haas Racing next year, the driver of the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet is used to being discounted when it comes to his championship prospects. 

"To be honest with you, I walked into media day (in February at Daytona), and there were two people standing in line to conduct interviews, so from day one of this year, everybody’s kind of written us off," Harvick said.

"We’re three races into the Chase, and it is what it is. We’ve done our thing and put ourselves in position to just go out and race and enjoy it."

Winning the pole gives Harvick the luxury of picking pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road. That can be a huge factor late in the race.

"The first pit stall is definitely important," Harvick said. "It’s obviously not going to hurt anything to be down on that end of pit road. When it comes down to the end of the race and everybody’s got the two-tire strategy, no-tire strategy, four tires—whatever the strategy may be—you should be able to get off pit road pretty well."

Stenhouse, who won his first career pole in August at Atlanta, was disappointed to miss getting a second one by such a slim margin. To Stenhouse, waiting seven years between poles, as Harvick did, is not an option.

"Hopefully, we don’t go that long without a pole," Stenhouse said. "I really wish that he (Harvick) didn’t have a pole, so that I could have another one. I’m getting kind of greedy."

In addition to Harvick, Johnson, Logano, Earnhardt, Kenseth and Kyle Busch, other Chase drivers qualified as follows: Carl Edwards, ninth; Gordon, 14th; Kasey Kahne, 15th; Ryan Newman, 17th; Kurt Busch, 19th; Clint Bowyer, 22nd; and Greg Biffle, 26th. 

Note: The pole was the first for Richard Childress Racing since Bowyer was the fastest qualifier for the Chase race at New Hampshire in September 2007.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kenseth pulls in second, Kligerman third

RELATED: Practice results

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Regan Smith capped a strong day of on-track work by pacing the field in the second practice session Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway with a top speed of 179.617 mph. After finishing second in the opening practice, Smith led a final practice for the NASCAR Nationwide Series that saw two caution periods and multiple cars hit the wall. 

Matt Kenseth (179.146 mph) was second in the final session, which is used to set the qualifying order for Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Qualifying is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. ET Saturday and will be televised on FOX Sports 2.

Joining Smith and Kenseth as drivers to finish in the top 10 in both practices were points leader Sam Hornish Jr. (sixth in the final session, fourth in the first), Austin Dillon (ninth, fifth) and Paul Menard (seventh, 10th). Dillon is four points behind Hornish Jr. in the standings.

Behind Smith and Kenseth in the second session and rounding out the top five were Parker Kligerman (178.879 mph), Brian Scott (178.861 mph) and Trevor Bayne (178.855 mph).

The final 80-minute practice was delayed after 20 minutes of on-track action when rookie Kyle Larson smacked the wall in Turn 4, crumpling the fender of his No. 32 Chevrolet and bringing out the caution. After a quick evaluation, the Turner Scott Motorsports team unloaded the backup car. 

"The guys made me a great race car," Larson told FOX Sports 1. "I’ll try not to make any more mistakes."

Later, Bayne also got into the wall, but his contact was more of a scrape down the right side of his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Same thing for Kyle Busch, whose No. 54 Toyota incurred a similar scrape a few minutes after Bayne took his car back to the garage. Busch’s hit brought out the second yellow.

Bayne and Busch finished the second session fifth and 18th, respectively.

Friday’s practice took place in breezy, warm conditions. The temperature is expected to drop by as much as 20 degrees for Saturday’s race.

Rookie Alex Bowman led the opening 65-minute practice session, turning a fast lap of 177.223 mph on the 1.5-mile oval.

Bowman, 20, has never started a NASCAR race at Kansas, but he won here in 2011 and 2012 in ARCA. He’s driving the No. 99 Toyota for RAB Racing and finished 14th in the second session. 

Chris Buescher, running the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, was third in the opening session, ahead of Hornish and Dillon.

MORE:

READ: Paint Scheme
Preview for Kansas

WATCH: Kansas
Preview Show

WATCH: Chase Chat:
Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology
Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch, Johnson finish second and third during practice session

RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage | Results | Qualifying order

Editor’s Note: Practice 1 results are the test results 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kevin Harvick led Friday’s practice session at Kansas Speedway, posting a fastest lap of 185.223 mph in his No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Harvick, who is fourth in the points standings, led for nearly the entire 90-minute session.

Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson felt like a winner, too, although he came in third on the grid, one spot behind Kyle Busch (185.179 mph).

Johnson, who posted the fastest time during Thursday’s testing session for the new Goodyear multi-zone tread tire, took a solo spin less than 10 minutes into practice. He got loose in Turn 4 and shot up plumes of smoke as he spun out, but Johnson avoided hitting the wall and kept his primary car unscathed. He later posted a best lap of 185.134 mph.

At the end of practice, Johnson’s machine lost power on the track and was smoking as Johnson wheeled it off into the garage. The engine didn’t blow up, though.

"It’s been an eventful morning," Johnson told FOX Sports 1. "Just spun out trying real hard early on, got things back under control. … Then as I was coming in, I saw some smoke in the mirror and I could smell it. It’s a radiator, oil issue … nothing wrong with the engine, but certainly a scare."

Two drivers not in the Chase playoff completed the top five, with Mark Martin fourth (185.103 mph) in the No. 14 Chevrolet, and Brad Keselowski fifth in his No. 2 Penske Racing Ford with a speed of 184.710 mph.

Rounding out the top 10 were Kurt Busch (184.697 mph), Jeff Gordon (184.666 mph), Carl Edwards (184.470 mph), Ryan Newman (184.420 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (184.382).

Series points leader Matt Kenseth was among the Chase drivers who struggled to find speed. He finished 13th in his No. 20 Toyota after a late mock qualifying run, but was out of the top 15 for most of the afternoon. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th in the practice session.

Postseason drivers posting speeds outside of the top 20 included Joey Logano (21st), Greg Biffle (25th), Kasey Kahne (26th) and Clint Bowyer (30th).

Friday’s session was the lone practice before qualifying at the 1.5-mile track, which is scheduled to begin at 5:10 p.m. ET (ESPN2) later in the day.

Two practices are scheduled for Saturday — one at 11 a.m. ET (FOX Sports 2) and one at 1:50 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 2) — with the Hollywood Casino 400 taking place Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (ESPN).


MORE:

READ: Paint Scheme
Preview for Kansas

WATCH: Kansas
Preview Show

WATCH: Chase Chat:
Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology
Posted on by Nascar

Keselowski finished fourth in qualifying at Kansas

RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It wasn’t concern or a distraction. Signing a contract extension with Penske Racing, Brad Keselowski said, was more about putting things to bed and keeping the focus on more important items.

Penske officials announced earlier this week that Keselowski, the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and sponsor MillerCoors, had signed contract extensions that will keep the parties together for the next several years. Miller Lite, produced by MillerCoors, is the primary sponsor of the No. 2 Ford.

"It is a great deal for my team," Keselowski said Friday at Kansas Speedway during qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. "I felt pretty confident things would work out, but for my team, it gives them the opportunity to not have to worry about those things – whether it’s the funding for the car or who will be driving it.

"Everybody knows and that is good. I am happy for them."

Miller Lite will adorn the side of the car for 24 of the season’s 36 points races beginning in 2014, a reduction of 12 events. Team owner Roger Penske reportedly requested the reduction in an attempt to bring new sponsorship into the organization. Miller Lite will be a "major associate sponsor" for the other 12 points-paying Sprint Cup events.

MillerCoors has partnered Penske Racing at the Cup level for 23 years.

A five-time race winner a year ago, Keselowski failed to qualify for this year’s Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup and is winless on the season. He enters Sunday’s race 15th in points.

His qualifying lap of 186.233 mph Friday earned the 29-year-old the No. 4 starting spot for Sunday’s event.

"Obviously there is a little more out there because Jimmie (Johnson) and Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) were both faster," Keselowski said after his run. "It was a decent lap and should get us a solid starting spot. We will take it and move on."

Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing) and Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) will start second and third, respectively. Richard Childress Racing’s Kevin Harvick will start on the pole, earning his first No. 1 qualifying position since the 2006 season.

The contract extension is believed to be through the 2017 season. Keselowski signed an extension following the 2011 season that was to run through 2014.


MORE:

READ: Paint Scheme
Preview for Kansas

WATCH: Kansas
Preview Show

WATCH: Chase Chat:
Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology