Sprint Cup series back on track this weekend at Kansas Speedway. As the race weekend approaches fans are putting in their bets for
which driver will come away with the victory in the STP 400 at Kansas
Speedway. Will it be one of the drivers who have previous wins at Kansas
or will we see a new winner at the 1.5 mile tri-oval this Sunday?
Since the Speedway opened in 2001, there have been 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup
races and seven different Sprint Cup winners.
If we see a new winner this weekend at Kansas Speedway, who could it be?
Surprisingly enough in 30 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Kansas
Speedway, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has only three top-five and
eight top 10 finishes. Could this be the race where RCR finally gets
into victory lane at Kansas Speedway, if so which RCR driver will come
out on top?
Which leads us to local favorite, Clint Bowyer who gave RCR their
best finish here, second, in 2007 and he could be the driver to get RCR
to victory lane for the first time at Kansas Speedway. Bowyer’s season
is off to a strong start, he is currently eighth in the point standings.
He is a driver fans should keep their eye on for a victory this
weekend.
After a third-place finish last year, his best-ever finish at
Kansas Speedway, “The Closer” Kevin Harvick could come away with a
victory for RCR this weekend. He has already posted three wins this
season, and he is a definite contender to dethrone Jimmie Johnson as the
NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.
Another first time winner could be another local favorite, Carl
Edwards. Edwards has one NASCAR Camping World truck series victory, but
is yet to find victory lane in the Sprint Cup series at Kansas. Edwards
is leading the points and is definitely a contender to win this weekend.
Fresh off a Nationwide Series victory last weekend at Charlotte,
Matt Kenseth could be the next new Sprint Cup winner at Kansas. Kenseth
already has two wins this season at Texas and Dover and he will be one
of the drivers fans should expect to be fast this weekend at Kansas
Speedway.
Or it could be Red Bull driver Kasey Kahne. Kahne has been
running strong in recent weeks. Last week at Charlotte, Kahne was
leading on the final restart, but fell two laps short running out of
fuel. Kahne has already seen victory lane at Kansas in a NASCAR
Nationwide Series race, and has won the pole for a Sprint Cup race at
Kansas twice. He is familiar with the fast groove around the speedway,
and fans should watch for a strong run from Kahne this weekend.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., came close to ending his losing
streak last week at Charlotte, but fell 500-feet short, running out of
fuel after leading the field to the white flag. He comes to Kansas
sitting fourth in the standings, his best ranking at this point since
2008, his first year with Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt Jr. is getting
closer and closer to ending his losing streak and his first victory of
2011 could come at Kansas Speedway this weekend.