The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will head to one of the newest tracks on the circuit to race under the lights Saturday night in the Sponge Bob Square Pants 400 at Kansas Speedway.
There have been 18 Sprint Cup races held at Kansas Speedway which doesn’t give the teams as thick of a notebook to refer to when preparing for this week’s NASCAR race. The 1.5-mile track provides just enough room to get wide open for the drivers, but is just tight enough to create a challenge for the crews to get the cars set for the balance of speed and handling.
The front and back stretch have enough room to get easily three and sometimes four-wide. However, going through the turns even two-wide can create a situation that can end any hopes of winning the race for drivers.
When NASCAR races at Kansas it has been seen that there is not only the room to race, but also the room to make a mistake and end up spinning down to the infield. That mistake can also collect others and take them through the infield grass with the driver that made the mistake.
Kansas Speedway seems to be an equal opportunity car destructive track. A mistake made by a driver can also send the car into the outside wall. The result of that trip cannot only end the chance of winning the race; it can also end the chance of continuing in the race at all.
With the limited experience at Kansas Speedway it could open the door for a driver who has never won at Kansas, or even in the Sprint Cup series, to grab that first checkered flag. With that in mind here are the ten drivers with the best driver rating at Kansas Speedway.
#1 – Jimmie Johnson – 112.1 driver rating – 2 wins
#2 – Matt Kenseth – 105.6 driver rating – 2 wins
#3 – Kyle Larson – 103.9 driver rating – 0 wins
#4 – Greg Biffile – 102.8 driver rating – 2 wins
#5 – Jeff Gordon – 100.5 driver rating – 3 wins
#6 – Kevin Harvick – 100.4 driver rating – 1 win
#7 – Carl Edwards – 96.8 driver rating – 0 wins
#8 – Tony Stewart – 95.3 driver rating – 2 wins
#9 – Kasey Kahne – 92.7 driver rating – 0 wins
#10 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 91.3 driver rating – 0 wins
The two drivers at the top of the list should be obvious threats to win Saturday night. Jimmie and Matt both have two wins at the track and know how to get to the end with a chance to win based on their driver ratings.
However, I am more intrigued by the guy sitting at #5 on the list. Jeff Gordon may not have the best driver rating at the track, but he does have the most wins at Kansas with three trips to Victory Lane. He was obviously the fastest car on the track last week when he was taken out of contention for the win by a mistake entering pit road cause a penalty that took him out of contention for the win.
Jeff won this race last year and it was his first win of the 2014 season. That mistake last week could serve as the extra motivation that Jeff could use to repeat last year by getting his first win of the 2015 Sprint Cup season at Kansas Speedway this Saturday night.
I have two dark horse picks for this week. Neither Kasey Kahne nor Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won a race at Kansas Speedway in their Sprint Cup careers. However, both are in the top 10 for driver rating. Kasey was one of the faster cars last week that could have had a chance at winning before his chances were eliminated when he was collected in a wreck. Like Jeff Gordon, that could be the extra motivation Kasey could use to get to Victory Lane.
Dale Jr. grabbed an emotional win at Talladega last Sunday. Now all but locked in the Chase he can be more aggressive and could ride the momentum of last week’s win to get back-to-back 2015 wins and his first victory at Kansas.
No matter if the inner is a first time 2015 winner or repeat winner, a first time Kansas Speedway winner or repeat winner or even a first time Sprint Cup series winner; races at the relatively new track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit have been exciting for fans to watch. I have little doubt that it will be any different this Saturday night, May 9th when the green flag waives for the Sponge Bob Square Pants 400 at around 6:30pm central time.
By: Buck Stevens
