NASCAR Cup Series

Joining the festivities surrounding the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, several Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors are scheduled to sign autographs on Sunday, Oct. 21 in Sprint FanWalk beginning at approx. 9:30 AM for one hour.

A fast race track and a loose race car proved to be a bad combination for Trevor Bayne and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion during qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 on the newly repaved Kansas Speedway.

Kasey Kahne earned the pole position for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 by posting a new track record on the newly repaved and reconfigured Kansas Speedway with his No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet of 28.219 seconds, 191.360 mph. This marked Kahne’s 26th NASCAR Sprint Cup career pole and moved him into a tie for 26th on the all-time series poles list with Bobby Labonte. His lap around the 1.5-mile oval was Kahne’s fourth pole of the 2012 season and third in 11 races at Kansas Speedway.

Just a day after I wrote the story, I saw what I call “the letter.” It was a letter to Earnhardt from Amanda Gardstrom. Gardstrom is the daughter of NASCAR legend Fred Lorenzen. In the letter, she also commends Earnhardt. She knows all too well what can happen when proper medical care isn’t given after a concussion. You see, Fred Lorenzen now resides at a nursing home, and dementia rules his day.

2nd, MARK MARTIN 26th, LANDON CASSILL 3rd, CLINT BOWYER 30th, MIKE BLISS 4th, KYLE BUSCH 31st, TRAVIS KVAPIL 8th, JOEY LOGANO 34th, REED SORENSON 9th, DENNY HAMLIN 36th, JOE NEMECHEK 16th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. DNQ, DAVID STREMME 22nd, BOBBY LABONTE

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP: "Our Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was awesome right there. It was great. I tried to get a little...I went into (turn) three, and felt like I could go wide open. So I went back to wide open, and then I started just chattering a little bit. So, I eased off the throttle and back down. I definitely gave up a little time doing that. So far so good though."

MARCOS AMBROSE, No. 9 Black & Decker Ford Fusion (Qualified 18th) – “I’ve got a brand new race suit on with Black and Decker and the first time they have been in the sport with their new tool called the Gyro. It is a nifty screwdriver. I am pretty excited about that plus it is orange and black which is good for Halloween with pumpkins and all. That was a good lap but not good enough. It was better than it was in practice which is a good step for us. We have been through a tough month and we are looking forward to putting it behind us and getting some good results.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET, met with media and discussed his time at Kansas, what he expects to see during Sunday’s race, his qualifying effort, and going to Martinsville next weekend.

Kasey Kahne broke the track record in qualifying on Friday at the newly repaved Kansas Speedway. Kahne captured the pole with a lap of 191.360 mph for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400.

Researchers studying earmarks for the current farm bill were shocked to discover that NASCAR has been receiving subsidies from the Federal Government since 2007, not to help the beleaguered racing organization stay afloat in the worldwide recession, and protect the jobs of as many people as possible, no, these subsidies, which were hidden deep under ‘crop rotation and preservation’ sub-paragraphs, are paying America’s most prominent race series…to keep fans out of the seats.