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No. 18 gets loose on Lap 103 in Kansas and collects Logano’s car in head-on wreck

Related: STP 400 results | Full Kansas coverage

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Busch, for one, could not wait to hear the iconic movie line, “you’re not in Kansas anymore.’’

His three-day trip to the Heartland was arguably the most frustrating race weekend of the season for Busch, who ultimately wrecked out of Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. He ended the night with a 38th-place finish, dropping him five positions in the standings to seventh place, 54 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

When he climbed out of his damaged No. 18 M&M’s Toyota he had few words for reporters, instead making a beeline for his motorcoach, more than ready to put the Kansas landscape far behind.

On lap 103 of the 267-lap race, Busch crashed hard into the Turn 4 wall and then as his car slid down the banking made heavy contact with Joey Logano’s Ford as it tried evasive action on the track apron.

When Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew ask him if he was OK, Busch radioed back sarcastically, “Oh yeah, Kansas, right.’’

“I watched the 18 (Busch) and he was spinning out, and I saw it the whole time,’’ Logano said. “It looked like he was going to stay up there (on the track) because he kind of slapped the wall with the right side after he hit it the first time, so I’m like, ‘All right, I’m gonna gun it and get by him here.’ And as soon as I committed to that, I saw him start coming back down.

“At that point, you’re just lined up to him, and I hit him a ton. I’m fine. It’s just unfortunate for the AAA guys, they deserve better than that. We’re not going to gain many points this weekend.’’

"At that point you’re just lined up to him and I hit him a ton."

—Joey Logano, on the wreck with Kyle Busch

The 1.5-mile super-smooth, high-speed Kansas oval is the only Cup track on the schedule that Busch doesn’t have a top-5 finish. He didn’t even finish at all this weekend.

He crashed in Friday’s opening Sprint Cup practice and was in a backup car for Sunday’s race. On Saturday, he brought out the first caution in the Camping World Truck Series race after a solo spin, then crashed out of the race on Lap 90, colliding with German Quiroga.

Similarly, Busch brought out the first caution in Sunday’s race, spinning around by himself on the backstretch only five laps into the event.

The DNF will mean a substantial hit in the points standings for Busch, who is coming off one of his best showings of the season — a Nationwide and Cup series sweep at Texas Motor Speedway last week. He is one of only two two-time winners this season and was ranked third in the Cup championship standings coming to Kansas.

“Spun twice on our own; just don’t know what to do with Kansas,” Busch said. “(Early in race) Running third doing fine, car a little tight and you spin out. Don’t know what to do with that and then we’re back in traffic all day.

“Traffic is way worse. Just trying to get back up to the front and making some gains, but car just snaps out from you every corner.”

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Day was emotional for organization, which added Boston Marathon decals to its cars

Related: STP 400 results | Full Kansas coverage

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Michael Waltrip Racing drivers Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin may have taken different paths, but by day’s end each had arrived at pretty much the same place — inside the top 10.

Truex Jr. battled back from a tire violation early in the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway to finish fourth. Bowyer, running in front of the home crowd, was steady all day en route to a fifth-place ending. And Martin, who seemed to have his hands full on a number of occasions, made a strong push in the closing laps to garner a ninth-place result.

It was the first time all three finished in the top 10 since last October at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

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Truex Jr., second a week earlier at Texas Motor Speedway, led two times for 46 laps, racing his way back into contention after a tire violation during an early pit stop sent the No. 56 Toyota from third to the rear of the field.

His seventh career runner-up finish had generated a lot of attention and a lot of questions in light of his obvious disappointment. A top-five, on the other hand, was seen in a much more positive light. Chalk it up to circumstances and overcoming obstacles to carve out an impressive run the following week.

“Of course I was (disappointed),” Truex Jr. said of the result at Texas, moments after trailing race winner Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson across the start/finish line in Kansas. “Today is the complete opposite. (I’m) very happy and excited about a fourth-place finish.

“It was a great day; we overcame a lot and the guys did a great job bouncing back after that pit road problem … and we had a great race car.”

Bowyer, in the midst of an up-and-down start to the season that has seen him finish inside the top 15 five times and 15th or worse on three occasions, said the result was all about “momentum.”

“We needed a turnaround after last week,” he said. “Certainly you want to win it at home, but a good top-five finish is a great way to get things bounced back.”

Eight cautions slowed the pace of the race, and nearly every driver described the racing conditions on the 1.5-mile track as treacherous.

“It was slick, especially on the restarts,” Bowyer said. “It’s just a product of these repaves. This race track, these hard tires — you’ve got your hands full. I’m telling you, a couple times I about got turned around and I know a lot of people did. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

Martin agreed, adding, “It was as wild behind the wheel as I’m sure it looked on TV.”

Trying to work his way back inside the top 10 through 87 laps of the 267-lap race, Martin’s No. 55 Toyota broke loose and slid up out of the racing groove. Although he was able to reel the car back in, the slip dropped him from 14th to 31st.

Two cautions later on a Lap 115-restart, Martin got into the back of Jamie McMurray — the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver lost multiple spots while Martin was able to soldier on.

Crew chief Rodney Childers’ continued call for changes began to pay off during the second half of the race, leaving Martin to wrestle his way to a top-10 result.

“Rodney just did a great job on the pit box adjusting the car,” Martin said. “We missed it pretty good (early) but our best run of the day was on the last run of the day. That’s the way you do it.”

Childers said an issue during the previous day’s final practice put the team behind. “But we had plan going into the race,” he said. “We knew what we were going to fight.

“Everybody did a good job executing that plan. We just had one run that got us back there where we didn’t want to be. Then the caution fell, I thought that was going to work out and then that didn’t. Had to be pretty brave there at the end and make a call, cut it pretty close on fuel.

“I’m just proud it worked out for everybody, especially with having the Boston Marathon (decals) on the cars and all three MWR cars in the top 10. That was pretty special.”

In honor of those killed and injured in last week’s bombing, the numbers adorning the sides of each of the three MWR entries were decaled to resemble the numbered “bibs” used by runners.

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Defending champion relieved after caution-laden race

Related: SFP 250 results | Coverage from Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. –- Defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher scored his first top-10 of the season Saturday, coming home sixth in the SFP 250 at Kansas Speedway.

In an event that saw the caution flag fly 11 times, and 18 of the 36 starters in the field sidelined by crashes, parts failures or other maladies, Buescher didn’t exactly arrive at the checkered flag unscathed.

Running up front alongside Turner Scott Motorsports teammate Miguel Paludo, both trucks broke loose and trouble ensued on Lap 34 of the 167-lap race.

“I told them before the restart to make sure (Paludo) keeps plenty of room (between us) because when I was outside of him, I had left a truck width between us I felt like, and he was still getting loose underneath me,” Buescher said afterward. “I wanted to make sure he was going to give me some room to keep some air on the right side so I wouldn’t get loose and he didn’t. I got loose and the end result was him being out of the race and almost us.

"It was a close call for us and I hate it for him."

— James Buescher on spinning teammate Miguel Paludo

“It was a close call for us and I hate it for him. It’s part of the way this racing is; I’m assuming that’s how every caution happened today.”

Paludo’s truck suffered terminal damage and left him 31st in the finishing order. Buescher was able to soldier on, his truck not much worse for wear.

“It was treacherous to be inside of people; you get loose, slide around, can’t make any moves,” he said. “The race track is so slick with the hard tire they’ve got.”

The end result did improve Buescher’s points position — he’s now sixth after four races but 41 points behind leader Johnny Sauter.

“Relieved to finally get a top-10,” said Buescher, who led four times for a race-high 55 laps. “We can’t seem to have anything go our way this year. But it’s a step in the right direction. Sat on the pole and led some laps. We had a fast truck; everybody was just (running) single-file, nobody could make any passes. At least out my windshield nobody was making any passes.”

Matt Crafton, Sauter’s ThorSport Racing teammate, won the race.

• Veteran Todd Bodine endured the hardest hit of the day when contact from Brennan Newberry sent Bodine’s Toyota slamming into the wall coming out of Turn 2. After sliding back down across the track, Bodine was hit by Bryan Silas.

The race was red-flagged for 12 minutes and 46 seconds.

“Brennan got loose, got sucked around,” Bodine said. “I gave him a lot of room. He doesn’t have a lot of experience so he doesn’t understand what to do in that position. He arced it way in the corner, which you can’t do; tried to hold it wide open, which you can’t do. He left too much room at the bottom. There was three feet between us, I was against the gray (up top), I couldn’t go any higher.”

• Darrell Wallace Jr. is trying his best to be patient and smart as he chases his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win.

He took another shot at it Saturday at Kansas, scoring his second top-10 of the season and moving up a position in the championships standings.

Wallace’s No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota led twice for eight laps and ran among the top five late in the race en route to a seventh-place finish. It was good enough to move him up to eighth in the points standings, 47 behind leader Sauter and 14 behind fellow rookie Ryan Blaney.

But Wallace, of course, wanted more.

"That last restart got us. I moved up maybe an inch or two off the bottom and the nose just took off and we lost all track position there and had to fight back,” Wallace said. "We got a couple (positions) back, but still a good run for the Liberty Tire Toyota Tundra to come home seventh in my first mile-and-a-half track. It’s nothing to hang my head about. It was good.

"I didn’t know really what to expect. The restarts are always wild and they sure were today. It’s all stuff I’ve got to learn, but we’ll get better and we’ll get em’ next time.”

• NASCAR officials confiscated the fuel cell from Sauter’s entry Thursday. Any penalties that might result would be announced early next week.

Sauter, twice a winner this season, leads Crafton by 12 points (174-162) in the standings.

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Victory is third of Crafton’s career, comes on record day

Related: SFP 250 results | Coverage from Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Matt Crafton held off Joey Coulter in a thrilling 25-lap green-flag run to the finish to win Saturday’s SFP 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

The victory was Crafton’s first of the season and the third of his career. In beating Coulter to the finish line by .168 seconds, Crafton became the 13th different winner in 13 races at Kansas, breaking a tie for the series record with Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With a late pass, Ryan Blaney finished third, followed by Brendan Gaughan and series leader Johnny Sauter, Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammate.

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Crafton’s crew made wholesale changes to his No. 88 Toyota before the races, and the adjustments paid off.

"This truck was junk (Friday in practice)," Crafton said. "They made so many changes on this thing and turned this thing around. We knew we had something to win with about halfway through this race."

With Coulter on his bumper for the duration, Crafton’s crew gave him some terse advice.

"They said, ‘Just put your head down and just flip your rearview mirror up and dig,’ " Crafton said. "That’s what we did."

Coulter fell back in traffic with about 10 laps left but rapidly closed back in on Crafton and challenged for the lead over the final five laps.

"When we went around a lapped car, I went in a little higher than Matt did behind that lapped car and just got a little bit tight and lost some ground," Coulter said. "I wasn’t too worried about it. I was kind of thinking it was going to work out a little bit better.

"These trucks punch such a big hole in the air that sometimes being a little farther back is a better place to be with a few laps to go. But it ended up being the same thing. I could get to him, but (I couldn’t get) that five feet that I needed to get next to him."

The race was red-flagged after Lap 120 after Todd Bodine took two brutal hits in the same wreck. Driving to the inside of Bodine, Brennan Newberry got loose and his No. 14 Chevrolet knocked Bodine into the outside wall. As Bodine’s Toyota slid down the track, impact from Bryan Silas‘ Ford destroyed the front clip of Bodine’s truck and launched it back into the outside wall.

Bodine escaped injury, but the wreck left just 18 trucks — half the field — rolling for a restart on Lap 126, after a stoppage of 12 minutes, 41 seconds.

In a race that set a Truck Series track record for lead changes (18) as well as caution laps (52 of 167), contact between teammates on Lap 34 deprived the race of one of its fastest trucks. Polesitter James Buescher‘s Chevrolet got loose during a restart and tapped the Chevy of his Turner Scott Motorsports teammate Miguel Paludo as the drivers battled for the lead.

Paludo crashed hard into the frontstretch wall and took his crippled truck to the garage.

"It’s OK — I know he didn’t mean to get into me," Paludo said after exiting his truck. "It’s unfortunate, because we were having a great run, and we really needed a good finish."

Shortly after the halfway point, another wreck took out another contender. After a restart on Lap 88, Kyle Busch got loose in traffic and chased his truck up the banking. Blaney passed Busch without incident, but the same wasn’t true of German Quiroga.

As Quiroga pulled to the inside of Busch’s Toyota, Quiroga lost control, and in trying to correct he spun Busch’s Tundra into the outside wall, ending the race for the No. 51 KBM team.

SFP 250 results

1. (6) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 167
2. (11) Joey Coulter, Toyota, 167
3. (19) Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 167
4. (8) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 167
5. (4) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 167
6. (1) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 167
7. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Toyota, 167
8. (5) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 167
9. (13) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 167
10. (18) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 167
11. (12) German Quiroga #, Toyota, 167
12. (14) Dakoda Armstrong, Chevrolet, 167
13. (31) David Starr, Toyota, 166
14. (23) Tim George Jr., Ford, 166
15. (3) Jeb Burton #, Chevrolet, 166
16. (28) Clay Greenfield, RAM, 165
17. (33) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 163
18. (27) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, 161
19. (21) Bryan Silas, Ford, Accident, 120
20. (17) Brennan Newberry #, Chevrolet, Accident, 119
21. (10) Todd Bodine, Toyota, Accident, 119
22. (36) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, Accident, 106
23. (30) Jeff Agnew, Chevrolet, Accident, 100
24. (16) Joey Logano(i), Ford, Engine, 99
25. (9) Max Gresham, Chevrolet, Accident, 99
26. (34) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Engine, 99
27. (7) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, Accident, 90
28. (25) Danny Efland(i), Chevrolet, Clutch, 77
29. (24) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, Engine, 59
30. (35) Jamie Dick(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 43
31. (2) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, Accident, 35
32. (20) John Wes Townley, Toyota, Accident, 27
33. (29) Mike Harmon(i), Chevrolet, Overheating, 8
34. (26) Chris Jones, Chevrolet, Carburetor, 5
35. (22) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 4
36. (32) Scott Saunders, RAM, Vibration, 2

Average speed of race winner: 103.028 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 25 minutes, 53 seconds.
Margin of victory: 0.167 Seconds.
Caution flags: 11 for 52 laps.
Lead changes: 18 among 10 drivers.

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After winning Nationwide seasons, Stenhouse eager to see Cup success

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — When you are a heralded two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion who won about one in five races last season, it’s easy to understand a high level of confidence and expectation.

And that’s precisely why Sprint Cup Series rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is so encouraged with his best qualifying effort of the season, a third-place start in Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. It’s just a question of what took so long.

It has been a frustrating and humbling start to the two-time champ’s first full-time Cup season and Stenhouse is hopeful that this will be the week he rights the ship.

Last year in Nationwide, he won six races — including here at Kansas. This year in Cup, he doesn’t have a single top-10 run. 

A quarter of the way through the 26-week regular season, Stenhouse is ranked 20th in points. He has had only one top-15 run in his No. 17 Ford Fusion — a 12th-place showing in the season-opening Daytona 500. Most recently, he has tallied finishes of 25th at Martinsville and 40th at Texas. He’s hoping to change that this weekend.

"I think you just have to hit your stride and hit it at the right time. We’ve had some bad luck lately."

— Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“It feels good,’’ a smiling Stenhouse said Friday after turning in a solid qualifying performance. “We had a track bar break at Martinsville and cut a left-rear tire at the beginning of the Texas race, so it feels good to come here and be fast.’’

Stenhouse and the rest of his Roush Fenway Racing team have been fast since unloading at Kansas Speedway. His qualifying run was no fluke, either — he was second-fastest in Saturday’s opening practice and eighth-quickest in final practice, substantial improvements compared to previous races.

“It seems like when you roll off the truck with a fast car, you generally have that fast car throughout the weekend, so that’s what we’re hoping to obtain, and carry this throughout the weekend,’’ said Stenhouse, who has only one previous top-10 start in 2013.

It not only gives him a well-timed dose of confidence, but a very real feeling that he can make a run — not just at a top-10, but at a win.

“I want to go for it,’’ Stenhouse said. “I think you just have to hit your stride and hit it at the right time. We’ve had some bad luck lately … but we’re in good position to start the race. And if we do everything right, we can definitely contend for a win.’’

Stenhouse gives an honest assessment of why his learning curve has been so steep. After working with the same crew chief, Mike Kelley, for three years in the Nationwide Series, he’s newly paired with Scott Graves in Cup. With this new relationship, he must find and cultivate a new comfort level.

He’s also the first to point to small but costly mistakes on his part as well as the team’s, and quick to note that you’ve got to up your game when competing in NASCAR’s big leagues.

On top of getting used to his new surroundings, there is the additional spotlight on the Rookie of the Year competition. His primary competition is also his girlfriend, Danica Patrick, who leads Stenhouse by three points in the rookie championship standings even though Stenhouse has earned top rookie honors in four of the first seven races.

“For sure I thought I’d have one (top-10) by now,’’ Stenhouse said. “I definitely think we should have had a couple top-10s. I felt like we’ve run well enough at a couple tracks to get a top-10, we just didn’t put everything together.

“You’ve got to put everything together on the Cup side; (on) the Nationwide side you could get away with a couple little mistakes and still finish top-five, top-10. But everybody is so good in this series and the cars are so close, it’s just not that easy.

“But I see potential in what we’ve got and we’re trying to minimize those mistakes in the race car, whether it’s me hitting a wall, telling them I need something and they make an adjustment and I go back out and figure out that’s not what I needed.

“Communication is definitely key. I was with Mike and those guys for three years and that was a long relationship, and after half a year you’ve got it figured out. I think by the midpoint of this season we’ll have it figured out. We’re off to a good start here at Kansas.’’

Graves, also in the midst of his first full-time Cup season, is more measured in his expectations.

“The first five races we did exactly what we were supposed to do,’’ Graves said. “We went and finished every lap of the race. The last two races have been a disappointment, though. … And now we’ve got some ground to make up.

“He’s learning the Cup cars and how to race with the guys at the Cup level — the difference between the Cup car and the Nationwide car with more power and things like that,’’ continued Graves.

“So he’s learning how to manage that throughout a race and I know from my point of view, being fairly new at the crew chief position, I’m just learning how to actually manage the race and make the right calls and decisions.

“It’s definitely learning on all of our parts at this point.’’

Even a gradual approach to Cup success feels too slow for Stenhouse, who is a popular personality in the garage, a well-respected former open-wheel driver and considered a likely future Cup champ by most.

“He’s one of those drivers that’s giving you everything every lap,’’ Graves said of Stenhouse. “And that’s what you want.

“I’d say as a group, we all feel like we got beat up a little bit the last couple weeks and now it’s our time to go out and show them, ‘Hey, we belong here and let’s get some of that back and show them what we’ve got.’ "

 

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The pole-sitter heads into the STP 400 on another high note

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Matt Kenseth was still fast a day after winning the pole for Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Kenseth led the third and final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice with a top speed of 188.712 mph and a best time of 28.615 seconds.

Kenseth had a top speed of 191.864 mph in qualifying, while Carl Edwards led the first practice at 192.055 mph. Juan Pablo Montoya was quickest in the second practice at 190.671 mph.

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Behind Kenseth in Practice 3 were Aric Almirola (188.554 mph), Montoya (188.541 mph), Kurt Busch (188.508 mph) and Kasey Kahne (188.495 mph). Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Marcos Ambrose and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.

The practice was cut short by a little more than a minute because of an oil spill that needed to be cleaned up before the Camping World Truck Series race slated for 2 p.m. ET.

The Sprint Cup Series STP 400 will get underway Sunday at 1 p.m. ET and will be aired on FOX.

 

 

 

 

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Paludo, Burton will start second and third

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After clocking the top speeds at both Kansas practices, James Buescher also nabbed the pole position for the SFP 250 on Saturday. Without needing a second qualifying lap, Buescher’s Rheem Chevrolet took a best lap time of 30.285 seconds, sending him to the top of the leaderboard. Buescher is the defending champion at Kansas Speedway.

Miguel Paludo will start in the second spot after a qualifying time of 30.340 seconds. Jeb Burton was third-fastest, giving Turner Scott Motorsports the three top starting positions.

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ThorSport Racing’s Johnny Sauter, also the current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader, will start fourth following a qualifying lap of 30.454 seconds.

Kyle Busch will start from the seventh position after running a lap of 30.559 seconds. Ron Hornaday Jr. will start 13th coming off of a penalty for an incident with rookie Darrell Wallace Jr. last weekend at Rockingham. Wallace will be two spots behind him at 15th.

Joey Logano, who was the runner-up in the most recent Trucks race, will start 16th. The SFP 250 will air at 2 p.m. ET on SPEED.

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Stenhouse Jr., Almirola close behind

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Juan Pablo Montoya took the best speed at Saturday morning’s Sprint Cup Series practice at Kansas Speedway. Montoya clocked a best speed of 190.671 mph and a best lap of 28.321 seconds on Lap 14. Montoya ran a total of 35 laps.

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Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was close behind in the No. 17, clocking a best lap of 28.402 seconds, .081 seconds off Montoya’s speed. Aric Almirola was right behind Stenhouse, with a lap .09 seconds off the leader. Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards completed the top five.

Despite running the most laps at 40, Kyle Busch‘s best lap time was 28.472 seconds, making him seventh-fastest on the leaderboard. Pole-sitter Matt Kenseth was 15th-fastest.

Danica Patrick finished 37th-fastest, one spot on the speed charts ahead of Jeff Gordon. Defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski finished 28th-fastest, .612 seconds off the leader’s pace.

The second and final practice of the day will take place at 12:30 p.m. ET and will be aired on SPEED.

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After hitting the wall during qualifying, the four-time champion sees hard road ahead

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Among Jeff Gordon’s 87 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins, only nine have come when he qualified 20th or worse.

The four-time Cup champion will be looking for number 10, however, this weekend at Kansas Speedway. 

A crash during his qualifying attempt left Gordon 43rd in the lineup for the April 21 STP 400, and forced the Hendrick Motorsports team to roll out its backup entry for the race, the eighth stop of 36 this season.

“We had been tight and I wasn’t tight,” Gordon said after the crash. “It felt great coming to the green (flag) and I was pretty happy with it through (Turns) 3 and 4 … I got down into 1 and 2 … I arced it in there just the way I wanted to and got to the yellow line and started picking up the throttle.”

That’s when, he said, the back end of the car “just slowly came around.”

"It puts you behind, but it’s not the end of the world."

— Jeff Gordon

“For a second I thought I was going to save it. … Now we have a car and an engine that are pretty much done and it’s been a while since I wrecked qualifying,” Gordon said.

Saturday, the No. 24 team logged 33 laps over the course of two practice sessions, ending the day 35th on the speed chart — well off the pace of those atop the scoring pylon.

Despite his struggles this weekend, Gordon has a strong history at the track. He won the first two Cup races (in 2001-02) contested at the 1.5-mile track located just west of Kansas City, and has six additional top-five finishes in 14 career starts there.

Before this weekend, his worst start at Kansas was 30th in 2004. He finished that race in 13th. The deepest from which he has won in any Cup race is 34th at Talladega in 2000.

Crew chief Alan Gustafson said Saturday’s practice times weren’t indicative of how the No. 24 Chevrolet should perform in Sunday’s race. 

“It’s kind of ‘cycle tires, cycle tires, cycle tires,’" Gustafson said of Saturday’s practice sessions. "So, I’m not overly concerned about that lap tracker.

“I thought we made some good gains (Friday), took a big step back and now we’re making some small gains to get back there.” 

The team’s biggest concern was the change in emphasis when having to go to a backup car.

“Instead of focusing on the handling characteristics of your car, you’re worried about the mechanical attributes,” he said.

“And these (weekend) schedules are so tight anymore; and then the inspection process is so long, it’s tough to get it all done and balance everything out to where you can do it all correctly.

“It puts you behind, but it’s not the end of the world.”

Fifteenth in points, Gordon is looking to rebound from a disappointing 38th-place finish a week ago in Texas. He has one top-five finish (third at Martinsville) and only two top-10s so far this season.

“We just have to be smart,” Gustafson said. “It’s a long race. The thing is, this race last year had a lot of cautions and you’re seeing it now (in Saturday’s truck race). No doubt in my mind. That could work to our advantage or our disadvantage.”

Other notes: 

• Gordon wasn’t the only driver going to a backup car. Contact with the wall on Friday forced Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch into a backup as well. However, since the team made the call prior to qualifying, the move won’t affect Busch’s No. 5 qualifying position.

• Dave Blaney will also be heading to the rear of the field prior to the start, due to an engine change Saturday for the Tommy Baldwin Racing team.

READ MORE:

READ: Kenseth
wins pole

READ: Kansas
viewer’s guide

WATCH: Fantasy
Showdown: Kansas

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Sunday’s STP 400: Sprint Cup results | Saturday’s SFP 250: Truck results

NASCAR returned to Kansas Speedway for the first time this season, and both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series were on the track.

Here is complete coverage from NASCAR.com following victories by Matt Kenseth and Matt Crafton.

Conquering Kansas

Matt Kenseth won his second consecutive race at Kansas Speedway, and he did so in dominant fashion. Kenseth led 163 of 267 laps and held off Kasey Kahne to claim his second victory of the 2013 season. | Read the full story

Pleased with progress

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s finish at Kansas Speedway wasn’t the top-10 (or top-five) he desired, Junior was pleased at the end of the day. After a rough showing at Texas, the No. 88 team bounced back with a strong car. | Read the full story

Early exit

The curse at Kansas continued for Kyle Busch. In a backup car, Busch spun out twice in the first 103 laps, the second of which sent his No. 18 Toyota into the wall, then collected Joey Logano down on the apron in a violent collision. | Read the full story

Overcoming obstacles

Brad Keselowski’s rough week spilled over into the start of Sunday’s race when his No. 2 Ford experienced trouble. But as he has so many times, Keselowski and his team rallied from the adversity for a top-10 finish. | Read the full story

Top-10 sweep

Michael Waltrip Racing had three drivers in Sunday’s STP 400; all three finished in the top 10. But Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin took drastically different routes to get there. | Read the full story

Turning it around

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. isn’t used to poor — or even middling — performances. A two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate has had a great start at Kansas. His Roush Fenway Racing teammates look strong, too. | Read the full story

Uneasy feeling

It’s been a rough road so far for Jeff Gordon, and that continued when he wrecked his No. 24 Chevrolet during qualifying. He’ll start at the back Sunday, and the four-time champion said he doesn’t feel good about it. | Read the full story

Crafton wins Truck race

Matt Crafton set the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record for consecutive starts last week. This week, he found himself in Victory Lane after a record-breaking race on the repaved surface at Kansas Speedway. | Read the full story

Kenseth leads final practice

Matt Kenseth was still fast a day after winning the pole for the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Kenseth led final practice with a speed of 188.712 mph. Aric Almirola was second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, who led the previous practice session. | Read the full story

Buescher wins Trucks pole

Despite his concerns about racing on the new pavement at Kansas Speedway, James Buescher swept both practices, then went on to win the pole for the SFP 250. Miguel Paludo and Jeb Burton will follow, making a strong start for Turner Scott Motorsports. | Read the full story

Montoya tops second practice

Juan Pablo Montoya held off rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to hold on to the top speed in Saturday’s early Sprint Cup Series practice. Aric Almirola took the third-best speed of the morning. | Read the full story

Kenseth earns pole

With a track-record lap at 191.864 mph (28.145 seconds), Matt Kenseth knocked former Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards off the provisional pole at the 1.5-mile intermediate track and held the top starting spot for Sunday’s STP 400. | Read the full story

France’s Green vision

As part of NASCAR’s Race to Green Initiative this month, the sport’s executives and star drivers will participate in tree-planting ceremonies across the country. This weekend at Kansas Speedway, fans will see green-colored hybrid pace cars, hear about solar farms and celebrate recycling milestones. | Read the full story

Hitting home

The tragic events that have unfolded in Boston have impacted those in the NASCAR community, especially for Hendrick Motorsports. Jimmie Johnson and others discussed the events with NASCAR.com reporter Holly Cain. | Read the full story

Not it

Jimmie Johnson met with the media for the first time since NASCAR announced Brad Keselowski‘s punishment for his failed pre-race inspection. The five-time champion denied any involvement in the process. | Read the full story

Viewer’s guide

Ready for the STP 400 and SFP 250? Whether you’re at Kansas Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races or watching from home, check out our viewer’s guide to follow along. | Viewer’s guide

Champ speaks out

Penalized 25 points and without his crew chief for six races, Brad Keselowski responded to sanctions handed down by NASCAR. He says not to write him off this weekend just yet. | Read the full story

Power rankings

Kyle Busch was a big mover in NASCAR.com’s latest power rankings. But has he done enough to pass Jimmie Johnson for No. 1? Checking out this week’s list may give you a boost on your fantasy team, too. | Power rankings

Logano in trouble?

Most of the spotlight surrounding the Penske punishment has been on defending series champion Brad Keselowski. Chase hopeful Joey Logano may have been impacted even more. | Read the full story

Driver reports

Carl Edwards was a big winner Saturday night in Texas, driving his No. 99 Ford to a third-place finish. This week’s driver reports include news and notes on 25 Sprint Cup drivers. | Driver reports

Paint scheme preview

Aric Almirola‘s No. 43 Ford is just one of several cars in this week’s paint scheme preview. Check out new colors and schemes for Kansas in both the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series. | Paint scheme preview

 

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