Good news, bad news for NASCAR teams going into Kansas weekend
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first of two visits this season to Kansas Speedway this weekend.
A year ago, Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by .001 seconds. In last fall's playoff race, Ross Chastain won.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Kansas.
23XI Racing — Good news: The organization has won three of the last six races at Kansas Speedway. … Tyler Reddick has led in each of the last seven Kansas races. … Bubba Wallace ranks third in the series with 100 stage points. … Wallace's pit crew ranks first, according to Racing Insights. … Riley Herbst finished a season-best 14th at Texas last weekend. … Corey Heim will make his first start of the season and fourth in his Cup career this weekend, driving the No. 67 car. Bad news: Wallace has placed 19th or worse in three of the last four races. … Reddick has placed 20th or worse in five of the last seven Kansas races.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has placed 16th or better in four of the last five races. … Gilliland's 11th-place result last week at Texas was his best finish in 24 career starts on 1.5-mile tracks. … Zane Smith finished 10th in last fall's race at Kansas. Bad news: Noah Gragson has finished on the lead lap in only three of the last eight races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer has scored back-to-back top 20s for the first time this season, placing 13th at Talladega and 19th last weekend at Texas. Bad News: Even with those finishes the last two weeks, Custer is 34th in the points.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson has ranked first or second in speed in the previous two races on 1.5-mile tracks. He ranked second in speed at Homestead, a race he won, and first in speed at Texas, a race he finished fourth. … Larson's average finish on 1.5-mile tracks this season is a series-best 4.7. … Larson leads the series with seven top-five finishes and eight top 10s this year. … Larson has scored a series-best 108 stage points. … Alex Bowman's 10 top 10s at Kansas are his most at any track. … Chase Elliott is the only driver to finish in the top 20 in every race this season. … Elliott has four consecutive top 10s at Kansas. … William Byron's average finish this season is 8.91, best in the series. … Byron has scored 107 stage points to rank second to Larson in that category. Bad news: Bowman has three finishes of 35th or worse in the last four races.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s sixth-place finish at Texas last weekend moved him into the the final transfer spot to the playoffs. … That finish also was his best result at Texas in 21 starts. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top 10 finish in 24 Cup starts at Kansas.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell has won the pole for the last three races at Kansas. … Bell has led each of the six Kansas races in the Next Gen era. … Bell has 10 top 10s, including two wins, in the last 14 races on 1.5-mile tracks. … Denny Hamlin has seven consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas. … Ty Gibbs has started in the top 10 in the last three races. Bad news: The organization has led only 16 laps on 1.5-mile tracks this season. … Hamlin has finished outside the top 20 in the past two races. … Chase Briscoe has not finished better than 13th in eight Kansas starts. … Gibbs' average finish of 23.8 at Kansas is his worst among 1.5-mile tracks.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Ty Dillon finished a season-best 12th last weekend at Texas after gaining six spots in overtime. … AJ Allmendinger has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts on 1.5-mile tracks. Bad news: Allmendinger has finished 18th or worse in four of his last five races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Placed both cars in the top 10 last weekend at Texas, marking the first time the team has done that since the season-opening Daytona 500. … Erik Jones finished a season-best fifth at Texas and John Hunter Nemechek was eighth. … The organization's five top 10s this year is one less than what it had all of last season. … Nemechek has two Xfinity wins and one Truck win at Kansas. Bad news: Jones has made 90 starts since his last Cup victory.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon has scored three top-10 finishes in a row, tied for his longest Cup streak. … Jesse Love makes his third start of the season and will be in the No. 33 at Kansas. Bad news: The organization has only one top-five finish this season. … It is now 68 races win Kyle Busch's last Cup win.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Last weekend's race at Texas saw Cody Ware finish 30th, marking the fifth time he's placed between 24th and 30th this season. Bad news: Ware has not started better than 33rd in the last nine races.
RFK Racing — Good news: All three of Ryan Preece's top 10s on 1.5-mile tracks were in the last four races. Bad news: It was this race a year ago that Chris Buescher lost to Kyle Larson by a series-record .001 seconds. … Buescher has finished 18th or worse in four of the last five races. … Brad Keselowski has finished 26th or worse in eight of the 11 races this year. … Preece has had four finishes of 20th or worse this season.
Larson edges Buescher in historic Kansas finish
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher wheel nose-to-nose as the checkered flag waves in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, combining for the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history with a margin of 0.001 seconds.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: The team has won the pole for two of the last three races at 1.5-mile tracks. … Carson Hocevar has scored points in five of the last six stages. Bad news: Justin Haley has not finished better than 18th in eight starts at Kansas. … Michael McDowell has one top-10 finish in the last 21 races on 1.5-mile tracks.
Team Penske — Good news: Team has won the past two Cup races with Austin Cindric winning at Talladega and Joey Logano winning at Texas. … Ryan Blaney placed a season-best third at Texas last weekend. … Logano has three Kansas wins. Bad news: Austin Cindric does not have a top-10 finish in seven Kansas starts in Cup and has finished 31st or worse in each of his last four starts there.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has finished in the top 10 in five of the last seven races, including his runner-up finish last weekend at Texas. … Chastain's last win came at Kansas in last year's playoff race. … Daniel Suarez has scored back-to-back top 10s. Bad news: Shane van Gisbergen has started 33rd or worse in each of the last six races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry's victory this season came on a 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas). … He led 41 laps last weekend at Texas, also 1.5-mile track. Bad news: Berry finished 32nd at Texas due to damage suffered in a crash. … Berry has finished 26th or worse in four of the last five races.
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Nosek handles the guilt of his costly Game 1 penalty with a little help from his Panthers teammates
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