NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will race 400.5 miles over 267 laps in the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, October 16th at 2:15 pm ET at Kansas Speedway. Television coverage begins at 1:30 pm ET on NBC with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

What to Watch For: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for its second race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Round of 12. Jimmie Johnson leads the Chase Grid due to his win at Charlotte. He is followed by Matt Kenseth (31 points above Austin Dillon on the cutoff line), Kyle Busch (+27), Brad Keselowski (+25), Kurt Busch (+24), Carl Edwards (+20), Martin Truex Jr. (+19), Denny Hamlin (+3), Austin Dillon (three points behind Denny Hamlin on the cutoff line), Chase Elliott (-3), Joey Logano (-6) and Kevin Harvick (-8).

Jimmie Johnson attempts to take sole possession of the Kansas Speedway wins lead. Johnson and Jeff Gordon both have three victories at the 1.5-mile track. Four drivers each have two wins at 1.5-mile tracks this season – Brad Keselowski (Kentucky and Las Vegas), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta and Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Kansas and Texas) and Martin Truex Jr. (Charlotte and Chicagoland).

Non-Chasers Greg Biffle (twice), Tony Stewart (twice) and Ryan Newman have all won at Kansas and will try to spoil an automatic bid to the next round.

Wild Charlotte Race Leads To Round of 12

Charlotte shook up the Chase Grid as five Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers finished 30th or below while Jimmie Johnson sped to victory to clinch the first automatic berth in the Round of 8. Here’s how the Chase Grid shakes out heading into Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway – Jimmie Johnson (1 win), Matt Kenseth (31 points above Austin Dillon on the cutoff line), Kyle Busch (+27), Brad Keselowski (+25), Kurt Busch (+24), Carl Edwards (+20), Martin Truex Jr. (+19), Denny Hamlin (+3), Austin Dillon (three points behind Denny Hamlin on the cutoff line), Chase Elliott (-3), Joey Logano (-6), Kevin Harvick (-8).

The results for the 12 Chasers at Charlotte: Johnson (first), Kenseth (second), Busch (sixth), Keselowski (seventh), Kurt Busch (eighth), Edwards (12th), Truex (13th), Hamlin (30th), Dillon (32nd), Elliott (33rd), Logano (36th), Harvick (38th).

Johnson Advances to Round Of 8 for First Time Under New Chase Format

Jimmie Johnson advances to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Round of 8 for the first time under the new “win and you’re in” format following his record eighth victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway last Sunday.

The Championship 4 race at Homestead is likely to include Johnson. The Round of 8 features Martinsville where he leads active drivers with 8 wins. It also includes Texas where Johnson boasts a track record six victories and has taken the checkered flag in the last two fall races.

Johnson’s Charlotte triumph snapped a career-long drought of 24 races without a win. After struggling through the summer with only four top-ten finishes from the Charlotte spring race through the regular season finale at Richmond, the No. 48 Chevrolet driver claims three top-ten results in the first four Chase races. In NASCAR’s playoffs, he’s led the most laps at Chicagoland (118) and Charlotte (155).

Although Johnson can’t earn bonus points for the Round of 8 with a win in his next two races, he can block an automatic qualifying spot from a Chase driver. Two of his biggest threats, past Championship 4 participants Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick, are both below the cutoff line in points and would have a lesser chance of making the Round of 8 if Johnson were to win again in the next two races.

Kansas could easily be the site of the next Johnson win. He is tied with Jeff Gordon for the track record with three victories at the 1.5-mile circuit. In 20 starts at Kansas, he also has eight top-fives and 16 top-tens. Among active drivers, he boasts the top Kansas average finish (7.9), average running position (9.5) and driver rating (110.4). 

That Winning Feeling: Chase Drivers Who Have Won at Kansas

It’s been stated over and over again, “win and you’re in” is the name of the game in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, especially during the Chase. Seven Chase drivers have won at Kansas previously: Jimmie Johnson (three times), Matt Kenseth (twice), Joey Logano (twice), Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.

How Chasers Fared in the Spring Kansas Race

There are only two tracks in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup are venues the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits just once a year – Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Here’s a look at how the drivers in the Round of 12 performed at the first Kansas race of the season in May: Kyle Busch (first), Kevin Harvick (second), Kurt Busch (third), Matt Kenseth (fourth), Austin Dillon (sixth), Chase Elliott (ninth), Brad Keselowski (10th), Carl Edwards (11th), Martin Truex Jr (14th), Jimmie Johnson (17th), Denny Hamlin (37th), Joey Logano (38th).

Truex led a race-high 172 laps, while Busch paced the field for the second-most go-arounds (69).

Chase Drivers at Intermediate Tracks in 2016

Kansas marks the third intermediate track of the Chase. Four drivers have two wins each in the eight races on intermediate tracks this season – and all are still alive in the Chase – Brad Keselowski (Kentucky and Las Vegas), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta and Charlotte), Kyle Busch (Kansas and Texas) and Martin Truex Jr (Charlotte and Chicagoland).

Here’s how the Chase drivers rank in average finish at 1.5-mile tracks (including 1.54-mile Atlanta) this season: Keselowski (7.0), Kurt Busch (7.0), Truex (7.9), Kyle Busch (8.5), Johnson (9.1), Carl Edwards (11.0), Kevin Harvick (11.75), Matt Kenseth (12.13), Austin Dillon (14.4), Chase Elliott (16.88), Denny Hamlin (17.4), Joey Logano (17.6).

Here’s how the Chase drivers stack up in driver rating at 1.5-mile tracks (including 1.54-mile Atlanta) this season: Truex (119.90), Johnson (109.39), Harvick (106.39), Kyle Busch (105.99), Keselowski (103.53), Kenseth (101.90), Edwards (97.08), Elliott (96.40), Logano (93.01), Kurt Busch (92.90), Hamlin (86.69).

Truex’s 817 laps led are more than double the laps led of the next-best driver (Johnson, 406). The two are followed by 3. Harvick (273), 4. Elliott (179), 5. Kyle Busch (165), 6. Edwards (125), 7. Keselowski (109), 8. Kurt Busch (103), 9. Kenseth (87), 10. Logano (82) and 11. Hamlin (64). Austin Dillon is the only Chase driver outside the top 11 in laps led at intermediate tracks. He ranks 18th with three. 

Elliott Looks to Continue Strong Chase Run

Chase Elliott’s 33rd-place finish was not indicative of his of his overall performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 20-year-old Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner led 103 laps before a wreck on Lap 258 ended his day. He also posted the second-best driver rating on the afternoon (116.4). As a result of the wreck, he sits three points behind Denny Hamlin for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8.

In the Chase, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver has finishes of third (Chicagoland), 13th (Loudon), third (Dover) and 33rd (Charlotte). He has led 176 laps in NASCAR’s playoffs, accounting for more than half of his 342 laps led on the season.

Elliott will attempt to continue his strong Chase at Kansas where he finished ninth in his lone start there this spring.

Past Kansas Winners Attempt to Spoil Chase Berth

A few non-Chasers have experienced success at Kansas and will attempt to spoil a berth in the Round of 8. Of the non-Chasers, Greg Biffle (twice), Tony Stewart (twice) and Ryan Newman have all won in the Jayhawk State.

Biffle (96.8, fourth), Kasey Kahne (91.8, seventh), Kyle Larson (91.8, eighth) and Stewart (89.1, tenth) are non-Chasers who rank in the top-ten in active Kansas driver rating.

Kahne (fall of 2011 and spring of 2013) and Larson (fall of 2014) have both finished runner-up at Kansas.

Ryan Blaney (fifth), Ryan  Newman (seventh) and AJ Allmendinger (eighth) were the only non-Chase-eligible drivers to finish  in the top-ten at Kansas this spring.

Truex Set for 400th Career Start

Martin Truex Jr. will make his 400th career start in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. For his career, he owns seven wins, 47 top-five and 132 top-ten finishes.