Aric Almirola
Kansas II Advance
No. 10 Farmland/Hy-Vee Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Hollywood Casino 400 (Round 33 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 24
● Location: Kansas Speedway
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 80 laps / Final Stage: 107 laps
● TV/Radio: NBCSN / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● History at Kansas: In 19 starts, Almirola has seven top-10 finishes and has led 69 laps.

● 2021: Almirola locked himself into the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his July 18 victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. He led 46 laps around the flat, 1.058-mile oval en route to his third career NASCAR Cup Series win. After a year full of adversity and bad luck, the victory put the No. 10 team, which was 27th in the standings and facing a must-win situation if it was going to compete for this year’s championship, in prime position to earn one of the 16 coveted berths in the 10-race playoffs. Almirola’s award-winning YouTube series “Beyond the 10” captured his entire race day here.

● This year marked Almirola’s fifth career playoff appearance and fourth in a row since joining SHR. While he didn’t advance beyond the Round of 16, he has set his sights on a top-10 points position after the checkered flag drops at the season finale Nov. 7 at Phoenix Raceway. Fans and media can watch the “Beyond the 10” episode of his playoff run on YouTube here.

● Farmland, which has been bringing great tastes to tables since 1959, will adorn the No. 10 Ford Mustang with a special blue, white and green paint scheme. As part of the paint scheme, Farmland launched a huge prize package valued at $4,750. The prize package includes two tickets to the Kansas Cup Series race May 15, 2022, airfare and hotel accommodations, a rental car, BBQ catering for a tailgate, and an extra $400 after the race if Almirola wins. To enter, follow @FarmlandFoods and comment #Sweepstakesentry.

● Hy-Vee returns to the rear quarterpanels, decklid and bumper of the No. 10 Ford this weekend. Hy-Vee is synonymous with quality, variety, convenience, healthy lifestyles, culinary expertise and superior customer service. Its slogan, “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle,” expresses the foundation of the supermarket chain’s operating philosophy.

● Career Stats: Almirola has career totals of three wins, two poles, 26 top-five finishes, 82 top-10s and 893 laps led in 385 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2021, Almirola continues to share his life beyond the No. 10 Ford with season three of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook. Almirola’s latest Beyond the 10 episode gives a driver’s perspective of the NASCAR Next Gen car.

● Point standings: Almirola is currently 14th in the driver standings with 2,136 points.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Farmland/Hy-Vee Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

What goals do you have for the remaining three races of the season?

“We’re sitting 14th in the standings right now, so finishing here or a spot better would be better than last year and the year before. Overall, our goal is to have a few more clean races without any issues or bad luck. Last weekend at Texas, we didn’t really get to see what kind of speed we had after all the damage in the first stage. We were lucky to make it through the way we did, but we’re usually really good at Texas and didn’t get to show that. Kansas will provide some good redemption if we can run a clean race.”

What are your thoughts when you head to Kansas?

“I’ve always enjoyed Kansas. I know that I did have a really bad accident there, but in my mind I just view that as a bad accident. It just happened at a place. It just so happened to be at Kansas. It could have happened anywhere. I don’t really put that on Kansas and so, every time I’ve been back since then, it’s never really been a thought that’s crossed my mind. I actually enjoy going to Kansas. I have friends in Kansas City who I enjoy spending time with that makes it even more enjoyable to be there and, on top of that, I love the racetrack. The racetrack is a really fun racetrack to run at for me and I’ve had a lot of success there and had a lot of really good runs there.”

What do you think of this weekend’s Farmland/Hy-Vee paint scheme?

“Everything about it just looks fresh. Love the colors. It should be bright on TV. I’m liking the red Hy-Vee on there, too. Let’s see if we can keep it as clean at the end of the race.”

No. 10 Farmland/Hy-Vee Ford Mustang Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Aric Almirola
Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Crew Chief: Mike Bugarewicz
Hometown: Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Jerry Cook
Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engineer: Lee Deese
Hometown: Rockingham, North Carolina

Engineer: James Kimbrough
Hometown: Pensacola, Florida

Spotter: Joel Edmonds
Hometown: Dobson, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder
Hometown: Sioux Center, Iowa

Rear Tire Changer: Michael Johnson
Hometown: Andover, New York

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard
Hometown: King, North Carolina

Jack Man: Sean Cotton
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Fuel Man: James “Ace” Keener
Hometown: Fortuna, California

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Tony Silvestri
Hometown: Sylvania, Ohio

Mechanic: Robbie Fairweather
Hometown: Westbrookville, New York

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller
Hometown: Monroe, New York

Tire Specialist: Russel Simpson
Hometown: Medford, New York

Transporter Co-Driver: Dale Lackey
Hometown: Taylorsville, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Wayne Smith
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Love’s Travel Stops and Speedco Continue Support of No. 34 Program

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (October 19, 2021) – Michael McDowell and the NASCAR Cup Series are heading back to Kansas Speedway this weekend for their second and final appearance of the 2021 season.

McDowell brought home a respectable 13th-place run at Kansas earlier this year and now has his eyes set on capturing a new team and personal-best at the mile-and-a-half speedway by earning a Top-10 finish in his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops / Speedco Ford Mustang.

“Kansas was really good to us in the spring,” explained McDowell. “Our mile-and-a-half program is something that we’ve been trying to make improvements on and I definitely feel like we’re trending in the right direction.”

Throughout his career, McDowell has recorded six Top-20 as well as two Top-15 finishes at Kansas Speedway and looks to break into the Top-10 category this Sunday.

“This past weekend at Texas, another mile-and-a-half race track, our No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops / Speedco Ford Mustang was pretty fast, which is something that our entire team is really proud of because it’s proof that what we’re trying is working,” said McDowell. “Unfortunately, the finish didn’t necessarily show for it as we seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time during most of the on-track incidences on Sunday, which left us with a 17th-place finish.”

McDowell continued by saying, “we definitely felt like we had a Top-10 race car at Texas, which makes me extremely excited about Kansas, because if we can bring that same type of speed this weekend, I’m confident that we can deliver a Top-10 result for our friends at Love’s Travel Stops and Speedco.”

The NASCAR Cup Series race from Kansas Speedway will air live this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

ABOUT LOVE’S TRAVEL STOPS
Love’s Travel Stops is the nation’s leading travel stop network with more than 560 locations in 41 states. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company remains family-owned and operated and employs more than 33,000 people. Love’s provides professional truck drivers and motorists with 24-hour access to clean and safe places to purchase gasoline, diesel fuel, fresh coffee, restaurant offerings and more. Love’s has over 415 truck service centers, which include Speedco and Love’s Truck Care. Love’s and Speedco combined is the largest oil change, preventive maintenance and total truck care nationwide network with over 1,500 maintenance bays and 1,200 emergency roadside vehicles. Love’s is committed to providing customers with “Clean Places, Friendly Faces” at every stop. To learn more, visit loves.com or follow the company on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Camping World Truck Series and the 2021 Daytona 500 champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team– from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

KYLE BUSCH
M&M’S Halloween Costume Party

HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Oct. 19, 2021) – It’s October and, as usual this time of year, M&M’S has brought back its Halloween-themed No. 18 M&M’S Toyota for driver Kyle Busch during the next two NASCAR Cup Series races – this weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City and the following weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway – during one of M&M’S busiest seasons.

Busch and his M&M’S-themed Halloween “costume” first head to this weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas hoping for a win that would lock him into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway Nov. 7. For his part, Kansas hasn’t been nearly as spooky over his last 14 races there as opposed to a vastly stark record in his first 13 starts at the 1.5-mile oval, during which he had eight finishes of 20th or worse.

The two-time Cup Series champion collected two top-five finishes in a row in the fall 2014 and 2015 Kansas races before he broke through for his first Cup Series win at there in May 2016. That’s when the surface finally started to wear and become more agreeable to Busch’s driving style. He now has 11 top-10 finishes in his last 13 starts there, a streak that at one point included five consecutive top-fives.

Even better news for Busch and the M&M’S Halloween team is they are the most recent Cup Series winners at the Midwest track in May as they scored their second career Kansas victory and first of two wins so far this season.

Sunday’s Cup Series race at Kansas marks the second race of the Round of 8 of this year’s playoffs. Busch’s stage win and eighth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth last weekend helped boost him to fourth in standings, eight points above the top-four cutline. Kyle Larson won last weekend’s race and is the first driver eligible for the Championship 4 at Phoenix. With a win at either of these next two events, Busch can join Larson at Phoenix for his shot to race for the title for the sixth time in his career.

So, as the Cup Series heads to the Heartland of America Sunday, Busch will aim to make it a 2021 sweep of both Kansas races and the championship implications that come with it. And with Halloween fast approaching, Busch and his No. 18 team would like nothing more than to take their colorful, Halloween-themed M&M’S “costume” to victory lane.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Halloween Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

Have you looked forward to racing at Kansas more after you won there?

“I have. Also, it was – even the last few times before we won there for the first time in 2016, we had some really strong runs there. We finished in the top-10 a lot there over the last 12 or 13 races. We seem to have gotten a setup or a hold of this place, I’d say, and hopefully we don’t screw that up this time around and we can continue our strong runs and our fast pace of being able to have a shot to win. Looking forward to getting back in our M&M’S Halloween scheme and getting them a win in a car that always looks great every year.”

While Texas was somewhat disappointing, how much do you take from that to Kansas this weekend?

“Being able to be fast with the 550 (horsepower) package for the most part his year, Texas was tough, for sure. We obviously won earlier this year at Kansas and really look forward to going back again this weekend. It’s been a good place for us more recently. Excited to have the opportunity to go back there and run up front all day and mind our P’s and Q’s and get some points. Scoring a win would be even bigger, but ultimately having another solid day to keep our point total up will be important, as well.”

Do you think Kansas will be similar to Texas?

“A little bit similar since it’s the 550 package, but it’s not going to be as one groove-ish fighting for the first lane of that (traction) spray, like it was at Texas. You are going to be able to widen out and race all over the track, so hopefully that should be a little better and we can stay up front and have a shot there.”

Talk about this weekend at Kansas Speedway and your expectations on the track.

“Kansas has been a good place for our sport. You know the crowd, the reception, the racetrack, the community has really built up around the racetrack there over the last 10 years, or so. It’s been a lot of fun to see all that happen and I’m looking forward to the race. It’s been a great racetrack for us, lately. We’ve had some good runs there once the track aged. We’ve kind of seemed to maybe have figured out the place a little bit better. And, you know, we’re looking forward to the opportunity of being able to go out there and hopefully get ourselves a win with our M&M’S Halloween Camry.”

Event Overview:

● Event: Hollywood Casino 400
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 24
● Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps, 400.5 miles
● Format: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 80 laps / Final Stage: 107 laps
● TV/Radio: NBCSN / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Meet the No. 18 M&M’S / Joe Gibbs Racing Team

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Kyle Busch
Hometown: Las Vegas

Crew Chief: Ben Beshore
Hometown: York, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Nate Bellows
Hometown: Fairfax, Vermont

Spotter: Tony Hirschman
Hometown: Northampton, Pennsylvania

Over-The-Wall Crew Members:

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Front Tire Changer: Blake Houston
Hometown: Enochville, North Carolina

Jackman: T.J. Ford
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Joe Crossen
Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Jeff Cordero
Hometown: Salem, Connecticut

Road Crew Members:

Race Engineer: Seth Chavka
Hometown: Soldotna, Alaska

Truck Driver: Chris Miko
Hometown: Bronx, New York

Truck Driver: Tom McCrimmon
Hometown: Spicer, Minnesota

Mechanic/Tire Specialist: Justin Peiffer
Hometown: Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Mechanic: Scott Eldridge
Hometown: Warsaw, Indiana

Notes of Interest:

● Above The Cutline: Sunday’s Cup Series race at Kansas marks the second race of the Round of 8 of this year’s playoffs. Busch’s stage win and eighth-place finish at Texas last week helped boost him to fourth in standings, eight points above the top-four cutline. Kyle Larson won last weekend’s race and is the first driver eligible for the Championship 4 Nov. 7 at Phoenix Raceway.

● All in the Stats: Busch has two wins, nine top-five finishes and 13 top-10s and has led a total of 404 laps in 27 career Cup Series starts at Kansas. Busch’s average Kansas finish is 15.1.

● Alone in Ninth: With Busch’s win at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, the two-time Cup Series champion scored his 59th career win in NASCAR’s top series as he moved past Kevin Harvick into sole possession of ninth on the all-time win list. Next up on the win list is Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer who won 76 races during his storied career.

● 222 and Counting: Busch will be aiming to add to his record 222 overall wins among NASCAR’s top three series this weekend at Kansas. In addition to his 59 Cup Series wins and 102 in the Xfinity Series, Busch has 61 wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 400.5 miles, 267 laps, Stages: 80-80-107
Hollywood Casino 400 – Sunday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

ADVANCE NOTES

Buescher at Kansas Speedway

· Buescher makes his 12th Cup start at Kansas on Sunday where he carries an 18.5 average finish. He’s coming off an eighth-place run there this spring, his second-best result at the 1.5-mile track outside of a sixth-place run in 2017.

· He also finished 10th in the 2019 spring race, and followed that up with a 13th-place finish that fall.

· He made three Xfinity stats at Kansas with a best finish of sixth in 2015 in the No. 60 entry.

Scott Graves at Kansas Speedway

· Graves will call his 11th Cup race from Kansas, where his best finish of seventh came back in 2017 with Daniel Suarez.

· In his first-ever Cup race at Kansas, Graves finished 11th with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He’s coming off a 16th-place run this spring with Ryan Newman.

· He also called three Xfinity races at Kansas – two with Chris Buescher – including a sixth-place run in 2015 and third with Suarez in 2016.

QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at Kansas:
“We’re anxious to get back on track and turn our bad luck around from last weekend in Texas, where we had turned our race into what was going to be a decent outcome. Kansas is a really wide, fast race track all the way around, and we ran well there this spring finishing eighth. We’re coming down to the end here, and hope to keep building positive momentum heading into the offseason.”

Last Time Out
Buescher turned his day around at Texas and had a solid top-15, if not top-10 run going before getting caught up in a late-race incident with under 10 laps remaining. He would finish 21st.

On the Car
Fastenal returns to the fold at Roush Fenway in 2021 for its 11th season. They spent three years on the No. 99 before jumping to the No. 17 Cup Series entry, and were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity team that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.

Fastenal will feature top suppliers Danfoss, Ingersoll Rand, Georgia Pacific, Energizer and Body Guard on Buescher’s Mustang as he competes this weekend. For more information on these suppliers, visit Fastenal.com, and stay up-do-date on social @FastenalRacing, @Fastenal.

In partnership with the NASCAR Foundation and the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation (MTJF), Buescher and the No. 17 team will participate in the second annual Honor a Cancer Hero Campaign this weekend at Kansas.

M. Andrew Phillips, a native of Denver, Colorado, is a cancer survivor and will ride with Buescher on the driver’s side of the No. 17 car at Kansas. Andy’s father passed away 21 years ago due to cancer, and his wife was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Cancer in 2017 and passed away two years later. Six months later, Andy learned he had the same type of cancer. But, after surgery, chemo and radiation, Phillips is on the upswing and has been raising his 8-year-old grandson through all of it, keeping his positive, and fighter attitude.

Caitlin Meaney, a native of Newbury Park, California, will be honored on the passenger name rail of Buescher’s car. Meaney, despite a heroic, five-year battle with bone cancer, which included six chemotherapy drugs, nine surgeries (eight of which were thoracotomies) and one clinical trial, lost her battle on April 24, 2021. Meaney is the cousin of Tyler Ingleston, who along with his wife Stephanie – current Roush Fenway Racing employee – helped put together this special remembrance. She was 18 years old, and will forever be an inspiration to everyone who met her.

About Fastenal
Fastenal [Nasdaq: FAST] is North America’s largest fastener distributor and a ‘one-stop’ source for hundreds of thousands of OEM, MRO and Construction products. With more than 2,600 stores worldwide, the company supports B2B customers with tailored local inventory and dedicated personnel, who visit regularly, quickly respond to emergency needs, and provide efficient inventory management solutions. Fastenal’s service-oriented business network includes the world’s largest industrial vending program, 14 regional distribution centers, 8 custom manufacturing facilities, thousands of delivery vehicles, and industry-leading sourcing, quality and engineering resources.

Team: No. 6 Violet Defense Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @Roush6Team, @RoushFenway and @RyanJNewman
Race Format: 400.5 miles, 267 laps, Stages: 80-80-107
Hollywood Casino 400 – Sunday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

ADVANCE NOTES

Newman at Kansas Speedway

· Newman makes his 32nd Cup start at Kansas Speedway this weekend, a track he won at back in 2003. Overall he has seven top-10s, three of which were inside the top five, with a 19.7 average finish.

· Newman is coming off a 16th-place finish this spring after starting 14th. Last fall he ran 22nd.

· One of his eight wins in 2003, Newman held off Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield at Kansas and led the final 28 laps en route to the victory.

· Prior to that, he finished runner-up in each of his first two races at the track (2001, 2002). He also finished top-10 in 2010 (ninth), 2014 (sixth), 2015 (10th) and 2016 (seventh).

· He also made one Truck start at Kansas with a second-place run in 2015.

Luke Lambert at Kansas Speedway

· Luke Lambert will be on the box for his 18th Cup race at Kansas this weekend. He has an average finish of 19.2 with three top-10s, including an eighth-place finish with Chris Buescher earlier this spring.

· Lambert led Daniel Hemric to the pole position in the 2019 fall race, and overall has a 14.9 average starting position.

· In a stretch from 2014-16 (five races), Lambert and Newman finished no worse than 12th together.

· Lambert also called one Xfinity race with Elliott Sadler in 2012, finishing fourth after starting seventh.

QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Kansas:
“More than anything else, we’re ready to turn our luck around this weekend coming off two early ends the last couple weeks. Kansas is a fast race track and one that I was fortunate to be successful at in my first few trips early on in my career. We’re hopeful for a solid run Sunday with Violet Defense back on board the No. 6.”

Last Time Out
Newman was caught up in the largest crash in Texas Motor Speedway last week on lap 31, which ended his day early for the second week in a row.

On the Car
Violet Defense, who made its NASCAR debut with Chris Buescher on the No. 17 machine a few weeks ago in Las Vegas, returns this weekend as the primary on the No. 6 team. They will continue to serve as a partner through the 2023 season as part of the multi-year partnership.

In partnership with the NASCAR Foundation and the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation (MTJF), Newman and the No. 6 team will participate in the second annual Honor a Cancer Hero Campaign this weekend at Kansas.

Jack Sherman, a native of Christiansburg, Virginia, will be honored on Newman’s car on the name rail. Sherman, nominated by his parents Alan and Shannon, lost his four-year battle with cancer at age 17 in 2006. He loved NASCAR and attended races when possible, and Ryan was one of the few drivers left who Jack had seen race in person.

About Violet Defense

Violet Defense uses UV disinfection to protect everyday spaces from harmful pathogens by killing up to 99.9% of E. coli, Salmonella, MRSA, C. diff., Norovirus, C. auris, and coronavirus. Violet Defense’s technology is the only known Pulsed Xenon solution that can be installed into a room full-time, creating a continuous way to address disinfection needs of all types of settings. For more information, visit www.violetdefense.com or follow us on Facebook (@violetdefense) or LinkedIn (@violetdefensetechnology).

FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: KANSAS PLAYOFF ADVANCE

The Round of 8 for the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series continues this weekend at Kansas Speedway with Ford drivers Ryan Blaney (Cup) and Austin Cindric (NXS) holding down Championship 4 transfer spots in their respective series with two races remaining. The NASCAR XFINITY Series starts off the race weekend on Saturday while the Cup drivers take to the track on Sunday afternoon.

This Week’s Schedule:

Saturday, October 23 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 3 p.m. ET (NBC)
Sunday, October 24 – NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (NBCSN)

ROUND OF 8 NCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Martinsville)

2nd – Ryan Blaney (+17 ahead of cutoff)
6th – Brad Keselowski (-15)
8th – Joey Logano (-43)

FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT KANSAS

· Ford has nine all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins at Kansas.
· Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano all have multiple Cup wins at Kansas.
· Mark Martin registered Ford’s first Cup win at Kansas in 2005.

ROUND OF 8 NXS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Martinsville)

2nd – Austin Cindric (+26)

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT KANSAS

· Ford has four NASCAR XFINITY Series wins at Kansas.
· Jeff Green won the inaugural series race in 2001 while Jeff Burton won the following year.
· Chase Briscoe has Ford’s last series win at the track (2020).

KANSAS RANKS #2 ON FORD CUP PLAYOFF WIN LIST

Ford has had a great deal of success at Kansas Speedway in the playoffs, going into this weekend’s race with seven post-season victories. That figure is tied for second with Homestead-Miami Speedway on the all-time playoff win list for Ford. Joey Logano leads the way with three Kansas playoff wins while Greg Biffle registered two. Ford’s winningest track in playoff competition is Talladega Superspeedway with nine.

BLANEY SHOWING CONSISTENCY

Ryan Blaney finds himself second in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, 17 points above the Championship 4 cutoff and is coming off a solid sixth-place run last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. That continued a stretch which has seen Blaney finish 10th or better in 12 of the last 16 races, which includes back-to-back wins at Michigan and Daytona, for an average finish of 8.1. He’ll look to keep that consistency going on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, where he has six top-10 finishes in 13 career starts.

KEEP AN EYE ON KESELOWSKI

Brad Keselowski comes into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race 15 points behind fourth-place Kyle Busch for the final Championship 4 spot, but the next two stops in the Round of 8 have statistically been among his best. On tracks where Keselowski has made at least 15 career starts, Kansas ranks as his sixth-best with an average finish of 11.3 (23 starts) while Martinsville is fifth at 11.2 (23 starts). Keselowski, who owns two wins at both places, heads to Kansas having finished fourth or better in four of his last five starts, but Martinsville has been even better as he boasts nine finishes of fifth or better in the last 11 races.

LOGANO GOING FOR FOURTH KANSAS VICTORY

Joey Logano will be looking for his second straight Kansas playoff victory this weekend and fourth overall at the 1.5-mile track after he took the lead from Kevin Harvick with 45 laps to go and won last year’s event to advance to the Championship 4. Logano, whose three wins at Kansas is tied for a personal best at one track with Michigan International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, comes into the weekend 43 points below the final transfer spot. He won for the first time at Kansas in 2014, and then did it again one year later in a well-documented battle with Matt Kenseth that resulted in contact as the two entered turn one with five laps to go. That controversial finish marked Logano’s second straight win in the Chase and led to a sweep of the Contender Round as he took the checkered flag the following week at Talladega Superspeedway.

CINDRIC PEAKING AT RIGHT TIME?

Austin Cindric’s fifth-place finish in Saturday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway continued a streak in which the Team Penske driver has five top-5 efforts in the last seven races. Overall, Cindric leads the NASCAR XFINITY Series with 19 top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes in 30 starts while his five victories is tied for the most among series drivers. Cindric goes into this weekend’s action at Kansas Speedway second in the standings and 26 points above the Championship 4 cutline.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT KANSAS

2005 – Mark Martin
2007 – Greg Biffle
2010 – Greg Biffle
2012 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2014 – Joey Logano (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1)
2019 – Brad Keselowski (1)
2020 – Joey Logano (2)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT KANSAS

2001 – Jeff Green
2002 – Jeff Burton
2012 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2020 – Chase Briscoe