O'Reilly Series

DODGE QUOTES: “It’s kind of a new race track for everybody. I think getting a lot of practice Thursday is really going to help us out. I think it’s like four hours of track time. That’s really going to help us out and put us on more equal terms with everybody. It was great the way the No. 22 Dodge ran last week at Charlotte. I’m really, really excited. I think we’ll be good. I think NASCAR does a really good job of giving us enough practice time with a new surface and enough tires. It’s definitely a lot more practice than what we’re used to. The test we did at Nashville a couple weeks ago really helped out. We’re definitely getting there.” --Ryan Blaney

Debut from the Bayou? Martin, a Galliano, Louisiana native, brings his Bayou roots to the Midwest this weekend at Kansas Speedway. A longtime racer of Gulf Coast historic tracks like Mobile Speedway and Five Flags Speedway (home of the Snowball Derby), Martin hails from an area best-known for seafood, beautiful beaches, Mardi Gras and Drew Brees. He hopes to not only make his home state proud, being the only current Louisiana driver in any of NASCAR's elite three series; but also have a learning experience going into his bid for NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2013.

Tissot, a manufacturer of Swiss watches since 1853, will be the primary sponsor on Danica Patrick’s No. 7 Tissot / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

This Week's American Ethanol Toyota ... Kenny Wallace will pilot RAB Racing with Brack Maggard chassis No. 42 in Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway. A workhorse of the RAB Racing stable, this Toyota Camry has raced nine times in 2012, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in March, at Texas Motor Speedway in April, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, at Michigan International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway in June, at Iowa Speedway in August, and at Richmond International Raceway in September.

Kansas Speedway has a newly-repaved track with a change to progressive banking waiting for the NASCAR Nationwide Series upon their arrival this weekend.

Because of a change in partnership status for this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway, JD Motorsports has been forced to not enter Chrissy Wallace in the team’s No. 4 Chevrolet as originally planned.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) will make its first and only trip of the year to the freshly resurfaced Kansas Speedway this Saturday afternoon. This will mark Buescher’s second trip to the Kansas 1.5-mile oval in 2012. In April, Buescher drove his Chevrolet Silverado into victory lane for his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) win.

DREAM NATIONWIDE SERIES SEASON CONTINUES ON: Just last weekend, Joey Logano uttered the words “if you had told me before the year, running a part-time schedule that we could win eight races, I would have probably have told you that you were crazy.”

The 2012 season has been one marked by consistency for the No. 31 BRANDT team. Heading into Kansas Speedway, the team has one win (Montreal), six top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes. This is the same tally the team finished the 2011 season with, meaning there is room to improve upon that mark by the conclusion of 2012. Additionally, Justin Allgaier has led 165 laps thus far in the season.

Stenhouse, Jr. on racing at Kansas Speedway: “We don’t know what to expect at Kansas since the repave. I anticipate the track will be smooth and fast. We have numerous practice sessions to get a better feel of the track and get our No. 6 Sam’s Club Ford Mustang dialed in."