This weekend marks the fourth race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase. The drivers head to the 1.5 mile track at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400.
Matt Kenseth won the first two Chase races before Jimmie Johnson dominated at Dover last Sunday. Johnson’s win brought him within 8 points of Kenseth for the points lead.
Kyle Busch sits in third, -12 points out, while both Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon gained positions to be within -39 points of the lead, in fourth and fifth places. Greg Biffle sits -41 points out, in sixth place.
Kansas is a track that treats the Chase drivers well. Kenseth, Johnson, Biffle and Gordon all have won at the track twice in their careers. While, Johnson holds the key for the best average finish.
Johnson has momentum off his win at Dover, but can the team keep it together after scoring their fifth win of the season?
Below are five drivers to watch at Kansas Speedway:
Jimmie Johnson
Johnson in 14 starts at Kansas Speedway has 12 top tens, six top fives, and two wins. His average finish is 7.6. He has finished 10th or better at Kansas every race since 2007. Johnson is coming off a win last weekend.
Matt Kenseth
Kenseth in 15 starts at the track, has nine top tens, six top fives and two wins. His average finish is 14.8. Both of his wins have come back to back over the last two races at the track. (Oct 2012, and April 2013)
Greg Biffle
Biffle has nine top tens, seven top fives, and two wins at the speedway. Biffle has an average finish of 10.1. Biffle hasn’t seen much success over the past two races, but Biffle is a driver that is capable of pulling out a win. A win for Biffle at Kansas could help his Chase hopes with Texas, another track Biffle can certainly win at coming up on the schedule. Biffle sits sixth place in the Chase.
Jeff Gordon
Gordon sits sixth in the Chase, tied with Kevin Harvick -39 points behind the leader. In 15 starts, Gordon has finished in the top ten, ten times. He has eight top fives, and two wins at the track. Gordon’s wins came way back in 2001 and 2002. His last finish inside the top five was in 2o11, when he finished fourth. But Gordon has found himself in a groove since the start of the Chase, and anything is possible.
Brad Keselowski
Keselowski is our “non Chase driver” to watch for at Kansas. Last years Sprint Cup Champion did not make the Chase, and has no wins this season. He does however have twelve top tens. Keselowski has a single win at Kansas in his seven races at the track. He has finished in the top ten four times. His average finish is 9.3, second behind Johnson. Keselowski seems to have been the bearer of bad luck and the question remains, will last years Champion get a win before the season is officially over?
What to you think, who are you watching this weekend at Kansas?
