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Kansas 101: Qualifying order, track history, story lines and more

By
Zach Sturniolo NASCAR.com May 12, 2022 at 11:46 AMThe NASCAR Cup Series heads to the midwest this weekend with a visit to Kansas Speedway.

The sport hasn’t raced at a traditional 1.5-mile track since Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, though the races in between included a trip to Atlanta which utilized the superspeedway rules package.

Kansas will be back on the Cup Series Playoffs schedule this fall, so teams will put plenty of focus on what they can learn on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RACE YOU TO THE POLE

Cup teams will be broken into Groups A and B for practice and qualifying at Kansas. Their Saturday begins with practice at 4 p.m. ET (FS1), where each group will be allotted 15 minutes of practice. Once practice is complete, the groups will head out for single-car qualifying in which each driver will be allowed a single, timed lap. The five fastest drivers from each group will advance to the second round of qualifying, where the 10 competitors will fire off for single-car laps once again. The fastest of those 10 drivers will earn the Busch Light Pole award.

KANSAS HISTORY

– In 1997, Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, were selected as the site for a new Midwestern speedway at the intersection of Interstates 70 and 435. That December, International Speedway Corp. (ISC) announced plans to build a 1.5-mile speedway to seat approximately 75,000.

– Architecture firm HNTB designed the facility and Turner Construction provided construction management. Construction began on the 1,200-acre, 1.5-mile speedway in May 1999.

– In July 1999, 13,750 preferred tickets went on sale and were quickly purchased. The demand prompted ISC to expand the planned 32 suites by an additional 36, increasing capacity from 75,000 to 82,000.

– Completion was targeted for 2000 but was delayed by weather and lawsuits from nearby landowners. Paving began in September 2000 and the speedway was completed in early 2001. Estimated project cost was $250 million.

– The track’s first Cup race was held in September 2001 and won by Jeff Gordon.

– Sunday’s race marks the 33rd Cup Series event at Kansas.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

As teams progress with the Next Gen car, one observation made has been an increased load on the left-rear corner of the car, partially due to the independent rear suspension and partially thanks to the aerodynamic shift to the vehicle’s rear. To accommodate for that, Goodyear has recommended teams set their left-rear tire pressures 2 PSI higher than the left-front tire.

“The amount of air pressure in the tire should directly correlate to the amount of load on that corner of the car,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “If the amount of load increases — like it has on the left-rear of this Next Gen car — you need to increase the load-carrying capability in that tire, which is done via air pressure. If you run below our recommended pressures, the tire can over-deflect, sustain damage and result in an air loss.”

This week’s left-side tires were also used two weeks ago at Dover while the right-side compound was used at Darlington Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas. This tire combination will be used at Texas Motor Speedway for All-Star Race weekend as well as at Nashville Superspeedway.

KANSAS STORY LINES

– Hendrick Motorsports has seen all four of its drivers visit Victory Lane (William Byron, Atlanta and Martinsville; Kyle Larson, Auto Club; Alex Bowman, Las Vegas; Chase Elliott, Dover). This marks the first time an organization has won with four drivers within the first 11 races of the year.

– Hendrick Motorsports won 22 times since the start of 2021, twice as many as any other organization in that time.

– Hendrick Motorsports drivers won the last four races on 1.5-mile speedways, including the most recent race at Kansas. No team has ever won five straight races on 1.5-mile tracks.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images– Tyler Reddick notched his fifth runner-up finish in the Cup Series last week at Darlington but is still looking for his first career win. Only one driver has more runner-up finishes all-time without a win.

– Richard Childress Racing’s 208 laps led this year between Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick are the team’s most circuits led in a season since 2013, which was Kevin Harvick’s last season before departing for Stewart-Haas Racing.

– Nine races in 2022 were won with a pass for the lead in the final 10 laps, the most ever through 12 races in Cup.

– Ten different drivers have won through 12 races in 2022, only the seventh time there were at least 10 winners through 12 races in Cup.

 

Dylan Buell | Getty Images

Analysis: Harvesting new trends at Kansas with Next Gen momentum

By
Sean Montgomery NASCAR.com May 13, 2022 at 8:43 AMThe saying goes, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. But in recent history, drivers starting outside of the top 10 have struggled to reach Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway.

Five of the last six races at Kansas were won from a top-10 starting position, with defending spring winner Kyle Busch starting ninth. And only three times in the last 12 races has a car beginning outside the first five rows at the 1.5-mile track gone on to Victory Lane.

But if you are expecting the trend of dominance to continue in Sunday’s Sunflower State showdown (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), think again. Early 2022 numbers, albeit a small sample size, suggest it isn’t a given.

Both of the races this season on 1.5-mile tracks were won from a starting position outside the top 10: Alex Bowman at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (13th) and William Byron at Atlanta Motor Speedway (12th). In fact, seven of the 12 races this season have seen a winner who started 11th or lower, including multi-race winner Ross Chastain, who started 16th at Circuit of The Americas and 19th at Talladega Superspeedway. Surprising numbers with the return of practice and qualifying sessions, but a healthy nod to the variety already seen with the Next Gen car.

In the last 10 races at Kansas, the track has been an unpredictable wild-card that has produced eight different winners.
YEAR WINNERS (spring / fall) 2017 Martin Truex Jr. / Martin Truex Jr. 2018 Kevin Harvick / Chase Elliott 2019 Brad Keselowski / Denny Hamlin 2020 Denny Hamlin / Joey Logano 2021 Kyle Busch / Kyle LarsonJoe Gibbs Racing has earned the most collective success at Kansas with Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin checking in as the only two-time victors in this span. JGR has also won three of the last five.

Prior to Kyle Larson’s dominant, 3.619-second win last fall, the previous seven races at the track have only had a combined margin of victory of 2.784 seconds.

In some ways, the parity seen at Kansas mirrors the fluctuating field we have seen so far this season. Through the first third of the schedule, 10 unique drivers have been first to the checkered flag. Included in that total were three first-time Cup Series winners: Austin Cindric (Daytona 500), Chase Briscoe (Phoenix Raceway) and Ross Chastain (COTA). For comparison, the series only recorded one first-time winner all of last season: Michael McDowell, in the season-opening Daytona 500.

MORE: Paint schemes for Kansas

Kansas provides an opportunity for teams and drivers to change the entire course of their season.

Historically, the Kansas City track has favored the seasoned veterans of the sport, rewarding drivers who started out front with the ability to stay there. And since being added to the schedule in 2001, Kansas has had 16 different winners in 32 races but has never produced a first-time Cup Series winner.

If the 2022 trajectory continues, Sunday’s race could very well kick some of these old Kansas trends.

Statistical source: Racing Insights

 

Paint Scheme Preview: 2022 Kansas Speedway spring

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By Staff report | Thursday, May 12, 2022
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