NASCAR Chase Winds Blow into Kansas

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images)

The NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup will ride the winds of Kansas Speedway this week in the Hollywood Casino 400. For 11 of the Chase Grid drivers in the Round of 12, it will be an “all-in” bet for the win to advance to the Round of Eight.

The elimination race in this round will follow this week’s race at Kansas Speedway. That race will be at the completely unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway. With the looming threat of being caught up in “the big one” at Dega, winning this week at Kansas would remove the possibility of disaster for the Chase Grid drivers in their hopes of winning the championship.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedai.com/Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

That is not to say that Sprint Cup racing at Kansas does not have challenges and dangers of its own. The 1.5-mile track in Kansas has plenty of room to race side-by-side which also means there is plenty of room of make mistakes or be collected by another driver’s mistakes. As always when NASCAR races on the intermediate tracks there is the need for speed, handling and mistake free pit stops to have a chance to win the race. Remember that this is the race from last year that Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth had the incident that began the feud between the two drivers in last year’s Chase.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Go Bowling 400
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedai.com/Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

The one driver that has no added pressure this week or next is Jimmie Johnson. He won last week’s race in Charlotte and earned an automatic advance to the Round of Eight as a result. The drivers with the most added pressure are the four currently below the cut line on the Chase Grid; Austin Dillon, Chase Elliot, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick. Denny Hamlin is just three points above that cut line, so he too will have pressure to perform in Kansas.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Grid heading to Kansas race
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com)

Which drivers have the best odds of winning in the Hollywood Casino 400 based on past performance at the track? Let’s take a look.

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Kansas
*Jimmie Johnson – 110.4
*Matt Kenseth – 107.4
*Kevin Harvick – 103.4
Greg Biffle – 96.8
*Martin Truex Jr. – 95.5
*Carl Edwards – 95.4
Kasey Kahne – 91.8
Kyle Larson – 91.8
*Brad Keselowski – 91.8
Tony Stewart – 89.1
(* = Chase contender)
(NOTE: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2016 races {17 total} among active drivers at Kansas Speedway.)

Jimmie Johnson may not need the win to advance in The Chase, but he has the most wins at the track with a total of three. Jeff Gordon also has three wins at Kansas, but this is a race that Alex Bowman will fill-in for Dale Jr. in the #88 Chevrolet.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Chase contenders Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano have a pair of wins each at the track. Had last year’s incident in the race between the two drivers not happened Matt would have three wins and Joey would not have won this race last year to have the two career wins at Kansas. Non-Chase contenders Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart also have a pair of wins each at the track.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images)

Kyle Busch scored his first win at the track in May of this year and sweeping the track for 2016 would not only give him two career wins at Kansas, it would also give him that automatic advance to the next round of The Chase. Chase Grid drivers Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski have all also won a single race at the track as has non-Chase driver Ryan Newman.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Go Bowling 400
(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images)

The 11 Case Grid drivers without a win in this round will be pushing hard to earn that automatic advance to be able to sleep better before heading to the elimination race at “Dega.” Jimmie Johnson will be pushing hard to keep the pressure on ALL the remaining contenders by winning this week and moving up to hold to most wins at track by himself. For Jimmie, the only thing he has to lose is momentum in The Chase.

Of course, the non-Chase drivers will be pushing hard to win just to win. That is what they do and really they have absolutely nothing to lose.

Who will cash in on the win in Kansas? We will all find out after 267 laps (400 miles) of racing in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway Sunday, October 16th starting at 1:15 PM central time (2:15 PM eastern time).

By: Buck Stevens