NASCAR Kansas Sunday, October 17, 2021
KANSAS NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Kyle Busch Kansas May winner – Started 9th, Stage 1 winner & finished 2nd in Stage 2, 20 laps led
First win in 11th race this season
Winner pit stops: Kyle Busch (6 Stops) Lap 27, 83, 121 (Green), 163, 211 (Green), 231
Longest green flag run: 74 Laps (88-161)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Kyle Busch (1st & 2nd), Kyle Larson (2nd & 1st), Brad Keselowski (4th & 4th)
Rear of field: 3 – Chastain 14th, Alfredo 23rd, Jones 25th
Best Hendrick: Chase Elliott 5th
Best Gibbs: Kyle Busch 1st
Best Stewart-Haas: Kevin Harvick 2nd
Best Team Penske: Brad Keselowski 3rd
5 Tire violations at Kansas May
Kansas wins: 8 Drivers – 17 Wins
Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano 3
Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. 2
Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman 1
Kurt Busch only champion competing winless at Kansas – 0 for 31
Denny Hamlin:
Kansas 7/20 winner – Finished 2nd in Stage 1 & 4th in Stage 2, 57 laps led (most)
Joey Logano:
Kansas 10/20 winner – Started 2nd, finished 9th in Stage 1 & 14th in Stage 2, 47 laps led including final 45
2-Brad Keselowski:
Finished 3rd at Kansas May – Started 1st, finished 4th in Stage 1 & 2, 72 laps led, avg. running pos.: 4th
2-Brad Keselowski: 7 Kansas top 5 finishes – 3 Straight top 5 finishes
3-Austin Dillon: 1 Top 10 finish last 9 Kansas races – Finished 10th in May
4-Kevin Harvick: 3 Kansas wins – 1 Childress Chevrolet, 1 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet & 1 Stewart-Haas Ford
4-Kevin Harvick: Finished 9th or better last 4 Kansas races – 3 Straight top 5 finishes (Finished 2nd last 2 races)
5-Kyle Larson:
Finished 19th at Kansas May – Started 32nd, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 9 times led for 132 laps (most), 3rd on final restart
“We’ve got one win. Could have four or five. Just another day where I lead a lot of laps and don’t win. Just got to figure it out.”
9-Chase Elliott:
Finished 5th at Kansas May – Started 17th, finished 6th in Stage 1 & 5th in Stage 2, best Hendrick finisher
9-Chase Elliott: Finished 12th or better last 8 Kansas races – 6 Top 10 finishes
11-Denny Hamlin:
Finished 12th at Kansas May – Started 20th, finished 9th in Stage 1 & 3rd in Stage 2, 7 laps led, lap 243 in wall
12-Ryan Blaney:
Finished 21st at Kansas May – Started 7th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, running 2nd with 2 to go
17-Chris Buescher: 3 Kansas top 10 finishes – All 3 in last 8 races
18-Kyle Busch:
Kansas May winner – Started 9th, Stage 1 winner & finished 2nd in Stage 2, 20 laps led including final 11
“You just gotta keep digging and persevering”
18-Kyle Busch: 9 Kansas top 5 finishes – 4 Top 5 finishes last 6 Kansas races
19-Martin Truex Jr.:
Finished 6th at Kansas May – Started 15th, finished 12th in Stage 1 & 7th in Stage 2
19-Martin Truex Jr.: Finished 9th or better last 4 Kansas races – Average finish: 6.0
19-Martin Truex Jr. won Kansas for first time in 18th try (5/17) – Most of all drivers
21-Matt DiBenedetto: 1 Top 10 finish in 13 Kansas races – Finished 4th in May
22-Joey Logano:
Finished 17th at Kansas May – Suffered from stomach flu, started 29th, finished 20th in Stage 1 & 15th in Stage 2
22-Joey Logano: 3 Kansas Playoff race wins – Most all-time
24-William Byron: 4 Straight Kansas top 10 finishes – Average finish: 8.0
15 Different winners in 31 NASCAR Cup Series Kansas races
11 Different winners 17 Kansas Playoff races
2 Won Kansas Playoff race & championship in same season – Jimmie Johnson (2008) & Martin Truex Jr. (2017)
Non-Playoff driver won 3 of 17 Kansas Playoff races
Kevin Harvick & Joey Logano lead all with 3 wins each on Kansas reconfigured track (18 Races)
Joe Gibbs Racing won 3 of last 4 Kansas races
Hendrick Motorsports & Joe Gibbs Racing lead with 7 Kansas wins each
Team Penske: 6 Kansas wins
Roush Fenway Racing: 4 Kansas wins
Stewart-Haas Racing: 3 Kansas wins
Richard Childress Racing: 1 Kansas win (10/13)
Kevin Harvick leads all with 5 Kansas poles – 2 Wins from pole (10/13 & 5/18)
Kevin Harvick: 3 Straight Kansas poles (10/13, 5/14 & 10/14)
6 of 31 Kansas races won from pole
Worst starting position of Kansas winner: 25th – Brad Keselowski 6/11
4 Won back-to-back Kansas NCS races –
Jeff Gordon (2001 & ’02), Matt Kenseth (10/12 & 4/13), Martin Truex Jr. (5/17 & 10/17) & Denny Hamlin (10/19 & 7/20)
3 Won Kansas race & championship in same season – Jeff Gordon 2001, Jimmie Johnson 2008 & Martin Truex Jr. 5/17 & 10/17
Leader of most laps won only 11 of 31 Kansas races
Leader of most laps failed to win 10 of last 13 Kansas races
Margin of victory less than 1 second 21 Kansas races
4 Kansas Overtime finishes – Johnson won 10/11, Logano won 10/15, Keselowski won 5/19 & Hamlin won 10/19
Only 1 Stage 1 winner went on to win Kansas race – Kyle Busch 5/21
Only 1 Stage 2 winner went on to win Kansas race – Denny Hamlin 2019 Kansas Playoff race
KANSAS NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
19-Brandon Jones: 2 Wins last 3 Kansas races – Finished 9th in 2020 Kansas Playoff race
16 Different winners in 21 NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas races
Kyle Busch (4), Brandon Jones (2) & Joey Logano (2) only drivers to win more than 1 Kansas race
7 Different winners in 10 races on reconfigured Kansas track – Kyle Busch won 3
First career win for 3 of last 5 Kansas winners – Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek & Brandon Jones
First Kansas win for 4 of last 5 Kansas winners (Brandon Jones 2 Kansas wins)
Joe Gibbs Racing won 10 of last 14 Kansas races with 6 different drivers – Bell, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, B. Jones Kenseth & Logano
Only 1 Stage 1 winner went on to win Kansas race – Chase Briscoe 10/20
Leader of most laps won only 4 of 21 Kansas races
Mid-race leader won only 3 of 21 Kansas races
Leader with 10 to go failed to win 3 of last 5 Kansas races
4 Kansas Overtime finishes
4 Kansas races settled by last lap pass
Winner took lead for first time on lap 102 or later in 10 Kansas races
Kansas winner took lead for final time with 6 or fewer laps to go 8 times
Toyota leads all manufacturers with 10 Kansas wins
Christopher Bell, Jeff Green & John Hunter Nemechek only drivers to win Kansas in first try
3 Won back-to-back Kansas NXS races – Joey Logano (2009 & ’10), Kyle Busch (2014, ’15 & ‘16) & Brandon Jones (2019 & 7/20)
Only 2 of 21 Kansas races won from pole – Joey Logano (2010) & Kyle Busch (2016)
Worst starting position of Kansas winner: 19th – Denny Hamlin 2008 & Joe Nemechek 2004
2 Won Kansas NXS race & championship in same season – Kevin Harvick 2006 & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2012