The motto for the 24 team in the Challenger Round struck me as simply "survive and advance." While he had a dominant car at Chicagoland, he was a 10th-place car at best in Loudon and Dover. Now that Gordon has moved on to the Contender Round, he'll find the track lineup of Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega to his advantage.
Matt Crafton didn’t have the fastest truck in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway, but he had the best feel for fuel mileage and what his crew chief would call their lucky fuel cell. The result was Crafton’s seventh series career victory.
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway, eight drivers are locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, provided they attempt to qualify for the remaining regular season races. Several prominent drivers are still searching for that elusive victory or the consistency needed to grab one of the eight remaining spots as the Chase approaches.
“I need to learn how to slow down. In everything else I drove, I’ve had to make up for the lack of equipment,” he explained. “You can’t do that in the Nationwide Series. The drivers are too good and the cars you’re racing against are really good.
With Kansas City Royals Manager Ned Yost commanding the drivers to start their engines, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 14th annual Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Kyle Busch took the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway after starting sixth and leading only 34 laps. The turning point came in the closing laps when Busch took command, passing Harvick with 20 laps to go. It was his sixth Nationwide series victory of the year. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney crossed the line in the follow up spots.
Kevin Harvick took the pole for the Hollywood Casino 400 with a speed of 197.621 mph or 27.325 seconds It is his third pole in a row at Kansas Speedway. The pole was Harvicks eighth of the season and his 21st top ten start in 2014.
Racer, self-proclaimed vegan hippie chick, and passionate environmentalist Leilani Munter is continuing her efforts to share her renewable energy message through her racing.
“I know that we haven’t had the best of times but its days like today that we work hard for,” she said. Patrick went on to say, “I’m just proud of everyone for working really hard and believing in me.”
