The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams will race under the lights Saturday night in Kansas this week in the KC Masterpiece 400.
The drivers have had to deal with the challenges of racing on the super speedway of Talladega two weeks ago and the “Monster Mile” of Dover last week. This week they will race on one of the many “intermediate” tracks on the Cup Series circuit.
However, don’t think that racing at Kansas Speedway is a walk in the park by any means. There is room to race side-by-side and do it at high speeds. The track can be a challenge for a driver that has a bad handling car.
Added to that fact is the race will start in the daytime and end in the night. That means the track will transition and pose a challenge for the crew chiefs and teams to adjust the cars properly so that the drivers can handle them when the lights come on. This situation typically means we will see some cars do well early and not so well later in the race as well as cars that don’t run well early coming on stronger late.
The Kansas winds can also play a role in the race. If the winds are strong they can affect how a car handles going into, through and out of the turns. This affect can be different on each end of the track posing a difficult situation for the teams on adjustments to the cars and drivers in controlling the cars.
Here is a look at some track data and race data for this weekend’s NASCAR race at Kansas…
Kansas Speedway Data
Track Size: 1.5-miles
Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 17 to 20 degrees
Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 17 to 20 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 10 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 5 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 2,685 feet
Backstretch Length: 2,207 feet
KC Masterpiece 400 Data
Season Race #: 12 of 36 (05-12-18)
Race Length: 267 laps / 400 miles
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 80 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 107 laps
Which active drivers have performed the best in Kansas during their careers? Here’s a look at the top ten…
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Kansas
Jimmie Johnson…………………… 107.7
Kevin Harvick……………………… 106.4
Matt Kenseth………………………. 105.9
Martin Truex Jr……………………. 100.0
Ryan Blaney…………………………. 94.6
Kasey Kahne………………………… 90.5
Brad Keselowski……………………. 89.9
Kyle Busch…………………………… 89.1
Kurt Busch…………………………… 87.8
Denny Hamlin……………………….. 87.3
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2017 races (20 total) among active drivers at Kansas Speedway.
You can see that Jimmie Johnson sits at the top of the list for driver ratings. He also sits at the top of the list for the most wins at the track with three Kansas victories in his career.
Martin Truex Jr. has two Kansas wins and they both came last year as he swept the track in 2017 winning this race and the fall race last year on his way to winning the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
Matt Kenseth is returning to NASCAR as he will share the seat of the Roush Fenway Racing #6 Ford Fusion with Trevor Bayne for the remainder of the season. Matt’s first race is this week at Kansas where he has two career wins in NASCAR’s top division.
Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick also both have a pair of wins apiece at the Kansas Speedway.
The four other drivers to have won at Kansas Speedway each has a single victory and are Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
When the green flag waives to start the KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway at 7PM central time (8PM eastern time) we will find out struggles early, struggles late and which drivers are there in the end with a chance to win.
By: Buck Stevens
