Kansas Speedway sets the stage for the NASCAR Cup Series

On a short week following the postponement of the Dover Motor Speedway race to Monday, May 1, the NASCAR Cup Series turns its attention to Kansas Speedway for this Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at 2 p.m. CT on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the 12th race of the season. The quarter mark of the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

In the heartland of America, groundbreaking for Kansas Speedway was held on May 25, 1999. The official opening of Kansas Speedway was in 2001, with the first NASCAR Cup Series race being held on September 30, 2001. The first Kansas Cup event was won by Hendrick Motorsport’s driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet). Gordon would actually win the first two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Kansas (2001, 2002).

During the 2012 season, between the April and October events, the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway track underwent a repave, adding variable banking in the corners bringing them to 17-20 degrees. The advancement has opened up racing lanes from the apron to the wall and has become a driver favorite.

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“I think Kansas has been a great race track and from a driver’s standpoint, a fun race track because of the fact, it’s worn in so well,” said veteran Kevin Harvick, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver who has competed in every Cup race since the track opened.

“Kansas has become one of the more unique race tracks because of the fact the asphalt and the shape of the race track is so driver-friendly, as far as where you can drive on the race track,” he continued. “You can literally drive from the wall to the apron all the way around the race track. So, it’s a fun race track.”

In total, there have been 34 NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway; one event from 2001 – 2010 and two races per year since 2011. The 34 Cup Series races have produced 18 different pole winners and 18 different race winners (2001-2022).

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick leads the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at Kansas Speedway with five (fall 2013, 2014 sweep, spring 2018, spring 2019).

This weekend, eight of the 16 NASCAR Cup Series Kansas pole winners are active this weekend.

Active Kansas Pole Winners (8) Poles Seasons
Kevin Harvick 5 2019, 2018, 2014 sweep, 2013
Joey Logano 2 2018, 2015
Martin Truex Jr 2 2017, 2016
Tyler Reddick 1 2022
Christopher Bell 1 2022
Ryan Blaney 1 2017
Brad Keselowski 1 2015
AJ Allmendinger 1 2012

Jeff Gordon (2001, 2002, 2014), Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2011, 2015), Kevin Harvick (2013, 2016, 2018), Joey Logano (2014, 2015, 2020) and Denny Hamlin (2012, 2019, 2020) lead the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Kansas Speedway with three victories each.

This weekend, nine of the 18 NASCAR Cup Series Kansas winners are active.

Active Kansas Race Winners (9) Wins Seasons
Denny Hamlin 3 2020, 2019, 2012
Joey Logano 3 2020, 2015, 2014
Kevin Harvick 3 2018, 2016, 2013
Kyle Busch 2 2021, 2016
Brad Keselowski 2 2019, 2011
Martin Truex Jr 2 2017 sweep
Bubba Wallace 1 2022
Kyle Larson 1 2021
Chase Elliott 1 2018

This weekend’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway is scheduled for 267 laps (400 miles) and will be broken up into three stages. The first stage is 80 laps, the second stage is 85 laps, and the final stage will be 102 laps.

The NASCAR Cup Series on-track activity at Kansas Speedway is scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 6 with practice and Busch Light Pole Qualifying from 4 – 6 p.m. CT – both events will be televised on FS1.

23XI Racing returns to Kansas Speedway to keep the winning streak alive

Last season, 23XI Racing drivers’ Kurt Busch (May race) and Bubba Wallace (Sept. race) swept the NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway, and now the young organization returns looking to keep the winning streak alive and become the first organization to win three-straight at Kansas Speedway.

23XI Racing became the fourth different organization to win consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas joining Hendrick Motorsports (Jeff Gordon, 2001-2002), Furniture Row Racing (Martin Truex Jr., 2017 sweep), and Joe Gibbs Racing (Denny Hamlin, 2019-2020).

This year, 23XI Racing brings back Bubba Wallace – the most recent winner at Kansas – this time in the No. 23 Toyota. And new to this season, Tyler Reddick will be in the No. 45 Toyota – the car/team that won both races last season. Wallace is still looking for his first win of 2023, but Reddick has already won, grabbing his first victory of the year at Circuit of The Americas. At Kansas, Wallace has made 10 starts in the series posting one win, one top five and two top 10s. Reddick has made seven series starts at Kansas posting two top 10s.

Wrestling winless streaks in the Cup Series

With veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. snapping a 54-race winless streak on Monday, who else is wrestling a long winless streak this season that might get to Victory Lane this weekend?

Looking at the entry list for the AdventHealth 400, a total of 17 different drivers are riding winless streaks that date back to prior to the start of the year and five of the 17 are former Kansas Speedway winners heading into Sunday’s race at 2 p.m. CT on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR Cup Series Drivers On A Winless Streak That Started Prior To 2023

Driver Track Date Races Since Attempts Since
Justin Haley Daytona Sunday, July 07, 2019 137 80
Michael McDowell Daytona Sunday, February 14, 2021 82 82
Brad Keselowski* Talladega Sunday, April 25, 2021 73 73
Aric Almirola Loudon Sunday, July 18, 2021 61 61
AJ Allmendinger Indianapolis RC Sunday, August 15, 2021 59 30
Ryan Blaney Daytona Saturday, August 28, 2021 57 57
Austin Cindric Daytona Sunday, February 20, 2022 46 46
Chase Briscoe Phoenix Sunday, March 13, 2022 43 43
Ross Chastain Talladega Sunday, April 24, 2022 37 37
Denny Hamlin* Charlotte Sunday, May 29, 2022 33 33
Daniel Suárez Sonoma Sunday, June 12, 2022 31 31
Kevin Harvick* Richmond Sunday, August 14, 2022 23 23
Austin Dillon Daytona Sunday, August 28, 2022 21 21
Erik Jones Darlington Sunday, September 04, 2022 20 20
Bubba Wallace* Kansas Sunday, September 11, 2022 19 18
Chris Buescher Bristol Saturday, September 17, 2022 18 18
Chase Elliott* Talladega Sunday, October 02, 2022 16 10

Justin Haley (187 races) and Michael McDowell (82 races) hold the two longest active winless streaks, but among the three drivers with a winless streak that have previously won at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series – RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski has the longest winless streak to overcome this weekend at 73 races; dating back to Talladega Superspeedway in 2021. Keselowski has been running well this season putting up to top fives and five top 10s. This Sunday, the Michigan native is hoping to get his first points-paying race win with his new team – RFK Racing. Keselowski has made 24 series starts at Kansas posting one pole, two wins (2011, 2019), seven top fives and 13 top 10s.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin has the longest winless streak among previous Kansas winners to overcome this weekend at 33 races; dating back to Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2022. But Kansas is a track at which he has excelled. In 29 starts, he has put up three wins (2012, 2019, 2020), 11 top fives and 12 top 10s.

The last three drivers with winless streaks dating back to prior to the start of this season but have career wins at Kansas are Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott. Harvick, with three career Kansas wins (2013, 2016, 2018), is on a winless streak that has reached 23 races, dating back to Richmond (Aug.) of last season. And last year’s Kansas victor Bubba Wallace, who last reached Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 11, 2022 has a winless streak of 19 races. And the 2018 Kansas Speedway winner Chase Elliott’s winless streak dates back to Talladega last season – 16 races ago.

Trackhouse Racing drivers bookend the Playoff outlook

Following the 11th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, nine drivers are currently qualified for the Playoffs either by being the points leader or by virtue of their wins this season. With nine spots occupied, that leaves just seven spots up for grabs as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway.

At one end of the Playoff outlook sits Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, the current points leader, and at the other end, teetering the cutoff line, is Chastain’s teammate Daniel Suarez just three points up on Joe Gibbs Racing’s rookie Ty Gibbs in 17th – the first spot outside the postseason cutoff.

2023 NASCAR Cup Series Driver Playoff Outlook Following Race No. 11
Rank Drivers Points Starts Wins Stages Playoff Pts Points From Cutoff
1 Kyle Busch 306 11 2 0 10 In On Wins
2 Kyle Larson 300 11 2 2 12
3 William Byron 297 11 2 6 11
4 Christopher Bell 367 11 1 0 5
5 Martin Truex Jr. 330 11 1 0 5
6 Tyler Reddick 319 11 1 2 7
7 Joey Logano 274 11 1 1 6
8 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 270 11 1 0 5
9 Ross Chastain 370 11 0 4 4 Pts. Leader
10 Kevin Harvick 332 11 0 1 1 104
11 Ryan Blaney 326 11 0 0 0 98
12 Denny Hamlin 317 11 0 1 1 89
13 Brad Keselowski 303 11 0 1 1 75
14 Chris Buescher 277 11 0 0 0 49
15 Chase Briscoe 250 11 0 0 0 22
16 Daniel Suarez 231 11 0 0 0 3
17 Ty Gibbs # 228 11 0 0 0 -3
18 Austin Cindric 224 11 0 1 1 -7
19 Michael McDowell 217 11 0 0 0 -14
20 Bubba Wallace 216 11 0 0 0 -15
21 Corey LaJoie 208 11 0 0 0 -23
22 Todd Gilliland 201 11 0 0 0 -30
23 Erik Jones 186 11 0 0 0 -45
24 Aric Almirola 181 11 0 1 1 -50
25 Justin Haley 177 11 0 0 0 -54
26 AJ Allmendinger 171 11 0 0 0 -60
27 Ryan Preece 169 11 0 1 1 -62
28 Chase Elliott 148 5* 0 1 1 -83
29 Harrison Burton 138 11 0 0 0 -93
30 Austin Dillon 133 11 0 0 -5 -98
31 Noah Gragson # 111 11 0 0 0 -120
32 Ty Dillon 82 11 0 0 0 -149
Note: Must compete in every race of the season to be eligible for the Playoffs or be granted a waiver by NASCAR (*).

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Derek Nester
Derek Nesterhttp://www.sunflowerstateradio.com
Derek Nester was born and raised in Blue Rapids and graduated from Valley Heights High School in 2000. He attended Cowley College in Arkansas City and Johnson County Community College in Overland Park studying Journalism & Media Communications. In 2002 Derek joined Taylor Communications, Inc. in Salina, Kansas working in digital media for 550 AM KFRM and 100.9 FM KCLY. Following that stop, he joined Dierking Communications, Inc. stations KNDY AM & FM as a board operator and fill-in sports play-by-play announcer. Starting in 2005 Derek joined the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network as a Studio Coordinator at 101 The Fox in Kansas City, a role he would serve for 15 years culminating in the Super Bowl LIV Championship game broadcast. In 2020 he moved to Audacy, formerly known as Entercom Communications, Inc. and 106.5 The Wolf and 610 Sports Radio, the new flagship stations of the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network, the largest radio network in the NFL. Through all of this, Derek continues to serve as the Digital Media Director for Sunflower State Radio, the digital and social media operations of Dierking Communications, Inc. and the 6 radio stations it owns and operates across Kansas.

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