NASCAR Cup PR

Kansas Speedway Preview: The series heads to Kansas Speedway this Sunday for the next cut-off race in the 2019 NASCAR Playoffs that will narrow down the field of contenders from 12 to eight. Hamlin currently sits first in the Playoff point standings and is 56 points above the cut-off line to advance to the Round of 8

With Talladega and the possibility of landing on his lid behind him, Paul Menard is set to run the final five races of 2019 without having a relief driver on standby.

Chase Elliott on racing at Kansas: “We are going to head out to Kansas and try to get a win. That’s about all we can do now. We just have to have the mindset to go out there and control what we can control and do everything we can to get a win. I feel as confident going there as I do anywhere. Just going to hope for the best. That’s all we can do.”

The Travis Mills Foundation has been providing support and respite to combat-wounded veterans and their families since 2013. Next month, Bangor Savings Bank will put the foundation on a literal fast track for growth when it gifts its primary Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car sponsorship to the nonprofit for the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Kansas, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 29.0, an average finish of 27.1 and he’s completed 2,360 of 2,409 (98.0 percent) career laps at the 1.5-mile track.

Newman will make his 28th Cup start at Kansas on Sunday. In 27 prior starts, Newman has an average finish of 18.7 with seven top-10 and three top-five finishes, along with one win.

There will be four drivers eliminated from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs this weekend at Kansas Speedway while the NASCAR XFINITY Series kicks off its Round of 8.  Ford has eight drivers in the two series combined still in title contention.  Here’s a look at where each one stands going into their respective races.

Stenhouse has 13 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Kansas Speedway with an average starting position of 14.3 and average finishing position of 17.9.

Denny Hamlin sustained damage during one of the muliple accidents in today’s rain-postponed race at Talladega, but was able to calculate his moves on the race track to be in position in the closing laps and score a third-place result.

"I'm so glad we were able to bring home a solid finish with our No. 3 American Ethanol / RCR 50th Chevrolet today. We needed that. We were able to avoid all the big wrecks today and managed to be in contention at the end. On that final run, I just needed the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) to pick me up for us to really have a shot at the win."