NASCAR Denny Hamlin

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Martin Truex Jr Eyes Breakthrough Victory at Kansas Speedway

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota, holds a press conference prior to practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 14, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo - Josh Hedges/Getty Images
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota, holds a press conference prior to practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 14, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Josh Hedges/Getty Images

As well as Martin Truex Jr. has run at Kansas Speedway, it’s nothing short of remarkable that the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota has never won at the 1.5-mile track.

Truex has led laps in seven of his 16 starts at Kansas—in some cases, lots of laps. In the spring of 2012, while driving for Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex was out front for 173 circuits before finishing second to Denny Hamlin.

Most recently, Truex won the pole and led 172 laps at Kansas in May, only to finish 14th after a late-race pit road snafu. But with a berth in the Round of 8 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on the line in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (on NBC at 2:15 p.m. ET), Truex couldn’t think of a better time to get a breakthrough victory. Continue reading →

Matt Kenseth Edges Teammate Kyle Busch for Kansas Pole

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 14: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying in the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 14, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 14: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying in the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 14, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

To learn how to master the track that continued to jinx him, Kyle Busch paid close attention to the way Matt Kenseth drove Kansas Speedway.

Though Kenseth was helpful, he apparently kept a thousandth of a second in his pocket. That was the margin by which Kenseth edged Busch in Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series knockout qualifying session at the 1.5-mile track.

Touring Kansas in 28.112 seconds (192.089 mph) to Busch’s 28.113 seconds (192.082 mph), Kenseth earned the top starting spot for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (at 2:15 p.m. ET on NBC), the fifth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the second race in the Chase’s Round of 12. Continue reading →

Harvick Needs Stellar Performance at Kansas

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Photo - Jerry Markland/Getty Images
Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images

It’s happened again.

Kevin Harvick finds himself in poor position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup following his 38th-place finish at Charlotte, caused by a blown engine.

He’s been able to overcome Chase adversity by winning in a dire situation in each of the past three seasons: New Hampshire this year, Dover last season when he finished championship runner-up and Phoenix in 2014 on his way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Continue reading →

Jimmie Johnson Triumphs at Charlotte as Five Chase Drivers Fall on Hard Times

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News

After Sunday’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson can proclaim justifiably ‘The Boys are Back in Town.’

But for five other Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, all of whom finished 30th or worse in the rain-delayed Bank of America 500, the race ended in a medley of dire straits.

Taking the lead from Matt Kenseth after a restart on lap 317 of 334, Johnson pulled away to win by 1.474 seconds over the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Johnson put his No. 48 Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the third time this season, the eighth time at Charlotte – the third since the repaving of the track in March 2006 – and the 78th time in his career. Continue reading →