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.
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