Ford Performance – Kansas 2 Advance

CURRENT CUP PLAYOFF STANDINGS

With two races remaining in the Round of 16, there are currently four Ford drivers above the cut line.  Here’s a look at where all six Ford drivers are heading into Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.

4th – Chris Buescher (+27)

8th – Brad Keselowski (+18)

9th – Ryan Blaney (+16)

11th – Joey Logano (+3)

14th – Kevin Harvick (-2)

16th – Michael McDowell (-19)

BUESCHER ROLLING

Chris Buescher is peaking at the right time as he goes into this weekend’s playoff race at Kansas Speedway having registered four top-5 finishes in his last six starts.  That includes three wins (Richmond, Michigan and Daytona) and a third-place run last week in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.  This has been a breakthrough season for Buescher, who has already recorded personal bests for wins (3), top-5 finishes (7) and top-10 finishes (13).  In addition, he’s led a career-high 231 laps this year and has an average season finish of 11.9.  In 15 career starts at Kansas Speedway, he has three top-10 finishes with his best run coming in 2017 when he was sixth.

LOGANO’S KANSAS PLAYOFF SUCCESS

Joey Logano will be looking for his fourth career win at Kansas Speedway this weekend, which would be a personal best.  Logano currently has three career wins at five series tracks, including Kansas, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Phoenix Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. He won for the first time at Kansas in 2014, and then did it again one year later in a well-documented battle with Matt Kenseth that resulted in contact as the two entered turn one with five laps to go.  That controversial finish marked Logano’s second straight playoff win and led to a sweep of the round as he took the checkered flag the following week at Talladega. His last Kansas win came in 2020 when he led the final 45 laps to beat Kevin Harvick across the finish line and clinch a spot in the Championship 4.

TWO MORE MULTIPLE KANSAS WINNERS

Two other Ford playoff drivers who have had their share of success at Kansas Speedway are Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. Both have one Ford victory each at the 1.5-mile track, but have multiple wins overall. Harvick, who has three career wins, notched his Ford win at Kansas in 2018 after passing Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps. His other victories came in 2013 and 2016. Keselowski got by Alex Bowman with seven laps remaining in 2019 for his first Ford win at Kansas and second overall (2011).

HERBST LOOKING TO CLINCH FINAL BERTH

The NASCAR Xfinity Series closes out its regular season this weekend in Kansas with one postseason berth still available. Ford driver Riley Herbst currently holds the final spot on points, but it’s the slimmest of leads as Parker Kligerman trails him by only one. Cole Custer has already clinched a spot after winning at Portland and Chicago.

RHODES ON THE BUBBLE

The final race of the first round is on tap for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and three Ford drivers are currently in transfer positions.  Ty Majeski has clinched his spot in the Round of 8 after winning the playoff opener in Indianapolis while Zane Smith (+29) and Matt Crafton (+9) are above the cut line.  Ben Rhodes is the only Ford driver currently on the outside looking in, but he’s a manageable three points behind Nick Sanchez for the final spot.