By Reid Spencer / NASCAR Wire Service
Close competition and high drama typify NASCAR Cup races at Kansas
Even though Chevrolet driver Kyle Larson won last year’s spring race at Kansas Speedway by the closest margin in NASCAR Cup Series history over Ford driver Chris Buescher, Larson still thinks Toyota drivers have an edge at the 1.5-mile track.
Depending on your point of view, you could make an argument for all three manufacturers entering Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at the intermediate speedway in Wyandotte County, Kansas (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Whether I won or I didn’t, it was really neat to be a part of a finish like that,” said Larson, who edged Buescher by 0.001 second last May. “So obviously, I was happy to come out a thousandth ahead, but still, to be a part of a finish like that was pretty neat.
“The Toyotas—they’re still the best there, I think, anyways. We’ve chipped away at it and gotten better, I think. I’ve led lots of laps there since we’ve gone there with the Next Gen. I just hadn’t gotten the win until last year. But you always work to get better every time you go to a track.”
Even though Chevrolet drivers swept last year’s Kansas events, with Ross Chastain winning in the fall, there’s ample reason for Larson to look to the Toyotas as fierce competition. Before 2024, four different Camry drivers—Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick—won four straight races at the track.
Wallace, however, acknowledges that his No. 23 23XI Racing team has lost a bit of the magic that propelled him to the second and most recent of his two career wins in 2022.
“I don’t know where we got off pace there, but we did,” said Wallace, who finished 17th in both Kansas races last year. “But I think we know what we need to do there, so it’s just a matter of getting back on the horse and doing it…
“It’s not like we’re way out in left field from what we had a couple years ago. It’s maybe one thing that’s giving us the wrong feel. It’s crazy. We just have to show up and, like I said, get back on the horse and get out there and ride.”
Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Christopher Bell has won the last three poles at Kansas Speedway, which is hosting the second of three straight Cup Series points races on 1.5-mile intermediate speedways.
The last driver to win four straight poles at a track was Larson at Sonoma Raceway from 2017 through 2022.
On the flip side of Larson’s win, Buescher prefers not to dwell on his runner-up finish last year.
“When it does come up, I try to make a joke about being the closest loser ever,” he said. “Ultimately, we’re trying to look further ahead… Ultimately, don’t look back, just because, one: it’s not going to change anything; two: to relive that moment in that race and study it, I would do things differently going back, but no time wasted in that.”
Joey Logano, last week’s winner at Texas Motor Speedway, is the only Ford driver to visit Victory Lane at Kansas in the last 12 races there.
However, with Josh Berry winning for the Wood Brothers at Las Vegas, Ford drivers have claimed victory in two of the three 1.5-milers so far this year. Larson’s victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway accounts for the other.
No matter whom you might favor, Kansas Speedway is a venue likely to produce high drama. Not only does the track have the closest Cup finish in Cup history to its credit, but it also featured 37 lead changes in the spring race of 2023—most on a 1.5-mile speedway in series history using a conventional downforce competition package.
Note: When Chastain triumphed from the 20th starting position last year, it broke a string of nine straight winners from the top 10 positions on the grid.
Corey Heim goes for third straight NASCAR Truck Series win at Kansas
Even with NASCAR Cup Series drivers in the field, it’s hard to argue against NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular Corey Heim as the favorite for Saturday night’s Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
In three previous races on 1.5-mile speedways this season, Heim has two victories—at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 14 and most recently at Texas Motor Speedway on May 2.
Heim is the only multiple winner in the series so far this season with three victories.
Moreover, driving the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, Heim is seeking his third straight victory at Kansas, having swept last year’s races.
At age 22, Heim is the youngest driver to reach 14 wins in the series. He’s one victory away from tying 48-year-old three-time series champion Matt Crafton for 10th on the all-time victory list.
But it’s not that Heim will have an easy time on Friday. Challenging his quest for a Kansas trifecta are Cup drivers William Byron and Carson Hocevar, both doing double duty in Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverados.
“I’m excited to get back in a truck this weekend, especially at Kansas,” said Byron, who finished 14th in his only other start this season, at Martinsville. “This is a track where I’ve run well at during my career, but extra laps are always helpful no matter where it is.
“I appreciate Spire giving me the chance to run a truck again this year and hopefully we can have a good showing for them and (sponsor) HendrickCars.com.”
Coincidentally, Byron picked up his first career Truck Series victory at Kansas in 2016.
Hocevar is one of four drivers in the field who have finished second at Kansas but have never won. The others are two-time champion Ben Rhodes, defending champion Ty Majeski and Layne Riggs.
