FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: KANSAS 2 NOTES
There are two races remaining in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup after Joey Logano won last weekend’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Logano, who is the defending champion of Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, is now assured of being one of eight drivers that will compete in the Eliminator Round while Penske teammate Brad Keselowski looks to join him. Here is a closer look at Ford’s history at Kansas Speedway.
NEW THIS WEEK…Joey Logano became the 21st driver to win at least 10 races driving a Ford after his win Sunday…This marks the second straight year Logano has won the opening race of the Contender Round…Logano comes into this weekend’s race with 12 top-10 finishes in the last 13 races, including nine straight…Brad Keselowski also has one NSCS win at Kansas with that coming in 2011…Aric Almirola has four top-10 finishes in the last five races, including a fourth at Richmond and fifth at Dover.
THE FIRST TIME…Ford went to victory for the first time at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 9, 2005 when Mark Martin took the checkered flag in what was a Roush Fenway Racing runaway with teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finishing second and third, respectively. Martin led a race-high 139 laps, including 81 of the final 83 circuits, to win by one-half second. It marked the second time in as many months that RFR swept the top three spots, a feat it did two more times during that season. In addition, the victory ended up being Martin’s last with Ford. His 35 series wins with the manufacturer ranks third all-time behind leader Ned Jarrett (43) and second-place Bill Elliott (40).
THE LAST TIME…Ford visited Kansas Speedway it was Joey Logano who came away with the checkered flag, winning for the first time at the 1.5-mile track and becoming the first driver to automatically advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase. Logano took the lead from Ryan Newman with 29 laps to go and held off Kyle Larson to get his career-best fifth win of the season.
IN BETWEEN…Besides Martin’s win in 2005, Roush Fenway Racing has three other NSCS victories at Kansas Speedway. Greg Biffle registered the first of his two track wins in 2007 with his second coming in 2010. Matt Kenseth added to the organization’s total when he won the second race at the track in 2012. In addition to Biffle and Logano, Brad Keselowski is another Ford driver who has won at Kansas Speedway, but that came when Team Penske was aligned with Dodge in 2011.
FORD NASCAR SPRINT CUP WINNERS AT KANSAS
2005 – Mark Martin
2007 – Greg Biffle
2010 – Greg Biffle
2012 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2014 – Joey Logano (2)
