NASCAR Kevin Harvick

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Stewart Haas Cars have Issues in Final Practice

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet, stands by his car after an on-track incident during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo - Jeff Curry/Getty Images
Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet, stands by his car after an on-track incident during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Jeff Curry/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick, who needs a strong finish on Sunday to climb out of the Chase cellar, brushed the outside wall ever so slightly in Saturday’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Kansas Speedway. But the No. 4 car sustained some appreciable damage after recording the fastest ten-lap average in the session at 183.740 mph.

Kurt Busch, Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, wasn’t as fortunate. After posting the third fastest single lap in happy Hour (185.797 mph), Busch blew his right front tire on the final lap of his closing run and dug the front of his No. 41 Chevrolet into the infield grass. Busch had to go to a backup car and will start Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 with no practice laps in the backup.

Pole winner Matt Kenseth was fastest in final practice at 186.361, an indication his car is equally stout in race trim.

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 →