SM Archive

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the 1.5-mile track situated in Sparta, Ky., this weekend. And while Bowyer won’t have time to hunt deer or turkey, he and the No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota crew will be hunting something else- victory lane.

Dakoda Armstrong and the No. 43 WinField team head to Kentucky with some good vibes. While the end result doesn't show it, the team gained some momentum at Road America last week with a strong showing until the weather changed their fate.

Rookie of the Year contender Ryan Reed makes his first NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) start at Kentucky Speedway this Friday night. In three starts this season at 1.5-mile tracks, Reed has collected two top-15 finishes.

“Kentucky is a fun track to race on as a driver. It’s got an older track surface which gives it a lot of different characteristics from the normal 1.5-mile tracks we go to. The test session we will have there on Wednesday will be beneficial for us, as it gives us an extra day to get a handle on all of the bumps through the corners.

Kentucky Speedway is the site of Dillon's career-first win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In fact, the 2013 Nationwide Series Champion earned back-to-back Nationwide Series wins at the 1.5-mile track in 2012, sweeping both races and earning the pole award for both the June and September events.

In his Nationwide Series career, Sadler has competed at Kentucky Speedway five times and earned one pole award, three top-five and four top-10 finishes with 114 laps led. He also competed in one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at the 1.5-mile track in 2011, where he started fourth and finished sixth.

What makes Kentucky Speedway unique compared to other 1.5-mile tracks? “It’s the newest, oldest track we go to. Kentucky Speedway is very rough. The corners are longer so they’re not as sharp, but the roughness of the racing surface is really what makes it unique in my mind. There is still a lot of grip, but the track has become rough over the years.”

For the third time this season, Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Reed has a special guest riding along with him during Friday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Kentucky Speedway. The No. 16 American Diabetes Association Drive to Stop DiabetesSM presented by Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang will carry Jacob Hudson’s name above the passenger side window.

Gilliland has three Sprint Cup career starts at Kentucky Speedway. He shocked the racing world with his first Nationwide Series win at the 1.5-mile oval in 2006 in a part-time, unsponsored car. Love's Travel Stops returns as primary sponsor of the No. 38 Ford at Kentucky.

"We've only been running Cup races at Kentucky for the past three years or so. So, by no means is it the type of place that anybody's got totally figured out, especially as the cars and the set-ups change from year to year. It's also a race where we practice during the day and race at night, so that's another factor that can be a challenge as we prepare for Saturday's race."