Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas - KC Masterpiece 400 Preview

brospn (60)in #sports • 6 years ago

KC Masterpiece 400

Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS
Saturday May 12, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FS1
1.5 Mile Tri-Oval
Weather: Chance of Thunderstorms, 76°F

Previous Five Winners and Pole Sitters

Race	Race Winner	Pole Sitter
Fall 2017	Martin Truex Jr.	Martin Truex Jr.
Spring 2017	Martin Truex Jr.	Ryan Blaney
Fall 2016	Kevin Harvick	Matt Kenseth
Spring 2016	Kyle Busch	Martin Truex Jr.
Fall 2015	Joey Logano	Brad Keselowski

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Kansas City Saturday night with the KC Masterpiece 400 Drive at Kansas Speedway. A total of 39 cars are scheduled to enter the event. Who will have the speed to capture the checkered flag on Saturday?

The Favorite

After another dominating performance at Dover last week, it comes as no surprise that Kevin Harvick is once again the favorite to win. The 1.5 mile Kansas Speedway is one of eleven "cookie-cutter" races on the NASCAR circuit, the fourth one to be run this year. Of the three previous cookie-cutter races, Harvick has two wins and a runner-up finish. He is quickly becoming the master of the cookie-cutters this season and that spells big trouble for his fellow drivers.

"Our intermediates have been really good, and we’ve been good everywhere as a company," Harvick said. "As you look at Kansas, in general, it’s been one of my best racetracks through the years. And since I’ve come to SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), it’s probably been one of our top-two racetracks. It’s been a fun place to go to. I feel like we should’ve won more races there than we have, but I think you can say that at a lot of places, and sometimes the circumstances dictate that. I’m confident our Busch Light Ford will be fast. Anything less than a win there is usually a disappointment."

Harvick isn't kidding when he says Kansas is one of his best tracks. In his last nine starts he has two victories and six top-five finishes. He has also claimed three poles and led laps in eight of those races. Other drivers better pray for Harvick to have equipment failure or get caught up in a wreck, because it seems only bad luck can stop him now.

Other Drivers to Watch

If anyone can give Harvick a run for his money this week, it is the tandem of Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch. Truex won both Kansas races last year and has led 713 laps here in his career, which is second only to Matt Kenseth.

"Winning three straight at Kansas would be pretty special," Truex said. "We’ve been so good there the past three or four years but also had some heartbreakers after having the best car and not winning. Getting those two last year meant a lot. It was gratifying to get the job done but still feel the track owes us a few more."

Truex has an impressive track record at Kansas, but he has been a step behind Harvick on the cookie-cutters all season.

Kyle Busch was already won three races this season and also won the spring 2016 race here. Yet again, he hasn't been as strong on the cookie-cutters this year as Harvick. Surprisingly for the usually cocky Busch, even he admits it. Kind of.

"Man, I think we’re pretty equal, honestly," said Busch. "I think I’ve got to give them the notch a little bit. I think they’re a little bit better than we are."

Ryan Blaney has three top-five and four top-ten finshes in only six career starts at Kansas. All that was accomplished while driving for the Wood Brothers, now he has a much stronger car with Team Penske. Blaney should be able to keep up with the leaders, one lucky break could lead him to victory lane.

News Around the Track

Three teams were issued L1 penalties by NASCAR after failing post-race inspections after the race at Dover. The No.14 of Clint Bowyer and the No. 19 of Daniel Suarez were both penalized for rear window violations. Crew chiefs Mike Bugarewicz (Bowyer) and Scott Graves (Suarez) each received $50,000 fines. Car chiefs Jerry Cook (Bowyer) and Todd Brewer (Suarez) will be suspended for the next two Cup Series point races. In addition, each team lost 20 driver points and 20 owner points.

The No. 3 of Austin Dillon was penalized for using a splitter that didn't meet NASCAR specifications. Crew chief Justin Alexander was fined $25,000 and car chief Greg Ebert will be suspended for the next Cup Series points race.

The No. 41 of Kurt Busch was fined, but not penalized for having a loose lug nut. Crew Chief Billy Scott received the $10,000 fine.

On Tuesday NASCAR announced the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be re-titled as the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series beginning in 2019. Camping World signed on as the Truck Series sponsor in 2009 and is currently under contract through 2022. The company purchased Gander Outdoors last May and has reached an agreement with NASCAR to rebrand the sponsorship. No other changes were made to the existing contract.

"Gander Outdoors' customer base has an affinity to the outdoor lifestyle and will transition seamlessly as the title sponsor of our national series in 2019," said Steve Phelps, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer. "The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has a consistent and dedicated fan base that will embrace the Gander Outdoors brand. This expanded agreement demonstrates our partners’ confidence in the on-track product and the power of our brand loyal fan base."

"Nearly a decade ago we felt strongly our entitlement sponsorship would dramatically increase Camping World’s customer base and it’s delivered," said Marcus Lemonis, Chairman of Camping World. "We expect the passionate fans of NASCAR will embrace Gander Outdoors the same way they supported Camping World and we couldn’t be more excited about the future of the series."

Gander Outdoors had previously agreed to be the title sponsor for two NASCAR events at Pocono Raceway this season; the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on July 28 and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on July 29.

Congratulations to Kyle Larson and his fiancee Katelyn Sweet, who announced on Monday the birth of daughter Audrey Lane Larson. She is the couple's second child, older brother Owen Larson was born in 2014. On Sunday, Larson said in an interview that driver John Hunter Nemechek would be on standby to drive the No. 42 at Kansas if he had to miss the race for the birth. Sorry John, Audrey made sure daddy will be at the track this week.