Kansas Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Martin Truex, Jr. entered the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs riding high on the regular season championship, but after a dismal start to the postseason, his hopes of staying alive in his chase for a second title come down to next week’s elimination race at Bristol. After entering the Playoffs with a surplus of 36 playoff points, Truex and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team stumbled out of the gate at Darlington with an 18th place finish, which dropped him to sixth in the standingsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – With a bold move to the front of the field in overtime, Tyler Reddick won Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and left his car owner frustrated at the end of the second NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race at Kansas Speedway. Reddick beat Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 0.327 seconds. Hamlin led 63 laps and was more than two seconds ahead of Reddick when Playoff driver Chris Buescher blew a right rearRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – There were no mixed feelings on Parker Kligerman’s part — he was ecstatic that John Hunter Nemechek asserted absolute domination over the rest of the field in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Nemechek’s sixth victory of the season assured Kligerman, who finished a strong fourth, of a berth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, which open next Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kligerman outlasted Riley Herbst, who entered the race with a one-point advantage for the final PlayoffRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Christopher Bell earned a second chance on Saturday. For the second straight NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, Bell will start from the pole position after a blistering lap at 180.276 mph (29.954 seconds) in the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell beat last Sunday’s Darlington winner Kyle Larson (179.826 mph) by 0.075 seconds to win his fourth Busch Light Pole Award of theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Denny Hamlin’s commitment to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing featured a lot more moving parts than a run-of-the-mill driver contract. First, Hamlin had to renew the agreement of 23XI Racing, the team he owns with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, with Toyota. Hamlin also had to cement the deal with JGR as a supplier for 23XI. As of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff media day in Charlotte—four days before the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway—Hamlin had not signed his deal withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS City, Kan. – Christian Eckes grabbed the lead on the final restart and stole a victory in Friday night’s Kansas Lottery 200, the Round of 10 elimination race in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In a three-wide battle for the lead against Corey Heim and Zane Smith, Eckes led only the final two laps to secure his third victory of the season, his first at Kansas Speedway and the fourth of his career. In a last-lap scramble that saw Smith get loose, turnRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Noah Gragson has had enough. After he and Ross Chastain had a run-in in the late stages of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series rookie was bound and determined to give Chastain a piece of his mind. Gragson, who finished the day in 29th place, climbed from his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet and made a bee-line down to Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet further up the grid and the tensions just ratcheted up from that point. After a verbal tongue lashing,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Denny Hamlin didn’t tap-dance around the tap that helped him to a much-needed victory at Kyle Larson’s expense in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. On the final lap, after an intense chase that began with a restart on Lap 221 of 267, Hamlin closed in on Larson’s Chevrolet and further loosened an already loose race car. Slight contact from the right front of Hamlin’s Toyota turned Larson into the outside wall as Hamlin streaked pastRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Grant Enfinger stayed ahead of trouble in a race that produced seven cautions for 40 of 134 laps and forged a decisive victory in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. Enfinger crossed the finish line 4.358 seconds ahead of Corey Heim to post his first victory of the season. Enfinger’s eighth career win was his first at Kansas and his first since winning at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in the 17th race of 2022. “ItRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor With the conclusion of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, the first round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is nearly complete, as the first elimination race looms large next weekend. Here’s how the points standings look heading to Bristol Motor Speedway. Only Christopher Bell is safe from whatever carnage may lie ahead at Bristol as the Playoff field is cut from 16 to 12, with the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota accumulating enough points to secure his passage into the nextRead More