The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will release the horses around the Kentucky Speedway Saturday night in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts.
Kentucky is a state known for races that involve “single horse power.” However, when the NASCAR Cup Series drivers see the green flag they will be releasing the power of over 700 horses per car. That power will demand skill and focus from the drivers to keep all those “horses” under control.
The “stage racing” this season has already provided some exciting races. I have no doubt that trend will continue in the Quaker State 400 this Saturday night. The Kentucky Speedway race with have 80 laps of racing for stage one and two and third stage will run 107 laps to the end of the race for a total of 267 laps (400.5 miles) of racing.
The crew chiefs will need to set the cars to have the handling the drivers need to navigate around the 1.5-mile track and through the 17 degrees of banking in turns 1 & 2 and 14 degrees of banking through turns 3 & 4. There is room for the drivers to race side-by-side to make passes. However, going more than two and maybe three wide could result in a very bad day for more than one driver.
The Kentucky Speedway began hosting Cup Series races in 2011 so the NASCAR teams really don’t have a lot of notes to guide them with just six races held at the track in the past.
Let’s take a look at what drivers have performed well in Kentucky over the short history of NASCAR Cup Series racing there.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Kentucky Speedway
- Kyle Busch – 125.6
- Brad Keselowski – 119.2
- Matt Kenseth – 107.9
- Kevin Harvick – 102.8
- Jimmie Johnson – 102.1
- Joey Logano – 91.5
- Martin Truex Jr. – 91.3
- Kasey Kahne – 91.0
- Denny Hamlin – 89.1
- Ryan Newman – 89.0
(NOTE: Driver Ratings compiled from 2011-2016 races {six total} among active drivers at Kentucky Speedway.)
While Kyle Busch has the highest driver rating at Kentucky, it is Brad Keselowski that has the most wins. Brad is the defending winner of the 2016 Quaker State 400 which gave him victory on half of all of the NASCAR Cup Series races held at Kentucky Speedway. He is the all-time leader in wins with three trips to Victory Lane at the track.
Kyle is just behind Brad on the wins list. Kyle has won two of the six races held at Kentucky Speedway in NASCAR’s top division.
There is only one other driver (active or non-active) that has won a Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the 2013 race at the track for his only trip to Victory Lane at the track.
The question is, will Brad or Kyle continue to show dominance in Kentucky and win the race this weekend? Perhaps it will be Matt that joins them as multiple race winners at the track.
While these tree drivers have shown that they can close the deal at Kentucky Speedway, my gut says that we will get to see a fourth name added to the NASCAR Cup Series Kentucky winners list this week.
We will get to find out if my gut is wrong or write starting at 6:30 PM central time (7:30 PM eastern time) Saturday night, July 8th when the green flag waives to start the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
By: Buck Stevens
