Welcome to America’s Heartland and to one of the best tracks the country has to offer!
A weathered 1.5-mile trioval, Kansas Speedway allows the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series to chart their own path to victory by using the progressive banking in the turns to find the fastest line for their race cars.
Whether they’re ripping around the apron, ripping the fence, or ripping the seams, drivers often struggle for grip in the midwestern heat, leading to crushing mistakes that could put an early end to their day.
Last spring, the NASCAR Cup Series paid Kansas Speedway a visit where the drivers really lit the world on fire, making moves all around the track that culminated in an overtime photo finish. In the end, 2021 series champion Kyle Larson eked out the closest victory in NASCAR history (.001 of a second) over Chris Buescher.
That finish might be hard to beat, but in the NextGen era, Kansas has never failed to deliver. Let’s see what the next NASCAR race in the month of May has in store.
Last Week at Texas…
Defending champion Joey Logano snagged his first victory of the 2025 season by holding off Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, and teammate Ryan Blaney in overtime at Texas Motor Speedway.
Seven cautions waved in the final stage alone where a rhythm struggled to be established. A great strategy call and an even better pit stop by McDowell’s Spire Motorsports pit crew put him up front for the final run to the finish, taking the restart alongside Kyle Larson.
A caution flew, giving McDowell another opportunity to strike against Larson. The star Hendrick Motorsports racer coughed up the lead on the ensuing restart, handing the lead to the 71 car and dropping more spots to the Penske teammates of Logano and Blaney.
With 10 laps remaining, McDowell sprinted out to an early lead with Logano clearing Blaney for second. The three-time series champion stalked the journeyman driver in search of his third career victory until he forced the 71 car into a mistake.
Logano wasted little time, withstanding McDowell’s defenses by swooping underneath his Chevy and slotting into the lead by the entry of turn 3. On the following lap, McDowell lost ground to Blaney in turn 1, and as Blaney exited the corner, the wake disrupted the McDowell machine, sending it hard into the outside wall.
That final yellow gave Blaney one last shot at his teammate, but he and Chastain were unable to pull up to the back of Logano’s AAA Ford Mustang Dark Horse as he crossed the line for his 37th career Cup Series triumph.
For full race results, click here.
This Week in NASCAR
TNT joins the NASCAR Cup Series to broadcast the second Atlanta race all the way through to Indianapolis, a span of five races that will see some familiar faces on our screens.
NASCAR All-Star Race fan voting remains available. If your driver isn’t a former winner of the event or a race winner this season or last season, we recommend sending in your votes as soon as possible.
NASCAR announced this week that their final race of the season will rotate after moving to Homestead next season, but they kept any further news about a new points system to themselves. NASCAR executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovations officer Ben Kennedy shot down the idea of a Daytona finale.
More courtroom drama came down the pike as NASCAR had their appeal of the preliminary injunction heard where the appellate panel appeared concerned at 23XI and FRM using the injunction to bypass the “no lawsuits” provision in the new charter agreement to attain chartered funds. A ruling will be made next week.
Jey and I decided against crafting a power rankings this week due to the chaotic nature of Texas. However, we have something big in store for the All-Star break, so be on the lookout for that.
In last night’s Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, our talented Gi Lashley has the scoop on how Carson Hocevar claimed his first victory in the series since leaving for Cup after 2023.
The Race
Today’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway airs today on Fox Sports 1 starting at 3pm Eastern Time with Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick in the booth.
The 400 represents the amount of miles in this event around the 1.5-mile intermediate circuit, which will be spread out over 267 laps and split among three stages ending on the following laps: 80-165-267.
As for the typical spring race at Kansas Speedway, it looks something like this: 9 cautions for 44 caution laps, 21 lead changes, and an average duration of 3 hours and 10 minutes.
In the last decade, this race has seen just two instances of NASCAR overtime in 2019 and again last season that set up that narrow finish between Buescher and Larson. The lap of final caution typically waves on lap 249 or with 19 laps to go.
For a look at the full starting lineup for today’s race, click here.
Writer’s Pick
Last week’s writer’s pick was Carson Hocevar, and it appears I was six days too early on that one. He lost control of his Chili’s Camaro late in the race and failed to finish, though he made up for it in a sense by scoring a victory in last night’s Truck race.
As for this week, I have beaten the drum for Ryan Blaney in this section several times this season with nothing to show for it, but that’s never stopped me in the past and won’t stop me again today.
Last fall, Blaney notched one of his best runs in America’s Heartland to date, scoring third in both stages before ending the day one spot lower in fourth. This after a loose wheel threatened to foil a strong run in the final stage.
The track also holds sentimental value for Blaney as it was the site of his first career Cup Series start for Team Penske all the way back in the spring of 2014 where he finished 27th.
The 2023 series champion looks to join his teammates in the playoffs with a Penske Perfect performance today around Kansas Speedway, and right before the All-Star Race is as good of a time as any to get a much-needed race win.
(Top Photo Credit: Colin E. Braley/AP Photo)
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