Next Race: Hollywood Casino 400
The Place: Kansas Speedway
The Date: Sunday, October 18
The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 267)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Kansas Lottery 300
The Place: Kansas Speedway
The Date: Saturday, October 17
The Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 6:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Next Race: Clean Harbors 200
The Place: Kansas Speedway
The Date: Saturday, October 17
The Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: FOX, 3:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
NASCAR Cup Series
Playoff’s Elite Eight to roll the dice in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas
Just eight drivers remain in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as the series heads to Kansas Speedway for the first race of the Round of 8, the Hollywood Casino 400, this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
| NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Outlook Following Race No. 32 | |||||||||||||||
| Rank | Driver | Points | Starts | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | Pts From Cutoff | ||||||||
| 1 | Kevin Harvick (P) | 4,067 | 32 | 9 | 7 | 67 | 45 | ||||||||
| 2 | Denny Hamlin (P) | 4,054 | 32 | 7 | 9 | 54 | 32 | ||||||||
| 3 | Brad Keselowski (P) | 4,035 | 32 | 4 | 7 | 35 | 13 | ||||||||
| 4 | Chase Elliott (P) | 4,027 | 32 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 5 | ||||||||
| 5 | Joey Logano (P) | 4,022 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 22 | -5 | ||||||||
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. (P) | 4,017 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 17 | -10 | ||||||||
| 7 | Alex Bowman (P) | 4,009 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 9 | -18 | ||||||||
| 8 | Kurt Busch (P) | 4,006 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -21 |
The 2020 season marks the first time Kansas Speedway has hosted the seventh race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the first race of the Round of 8. Since the inception of the Playoffs in 2004, Kansas Speedway has occupied five different positions on the Playoff schedule – from 2004, 2005, 2011, 2013 and 2014 Kansas hosted the fourth race in the Playoffs, from 2006-2010 Kansas hosted the third race in the Playoffs, from 2015 to 2016 Kansas hosted the fifth race of the postseason and from 2012, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Kansas hosted the sixth race of the Playoffs. Kansas Speedway is the fourth different track to host the seventh race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs; joining Atlanta Motor Speedway (2004-2008), Talladega Superspeedway (2009-2010) and Martinsville Speedway (2011-2019).
| NASCAR Cup Series | |||
| Kansas Playoff Race Winners | |||
| Race Winners | Wins | ||
| Greg Biffle | 2 | ||
| Jimmie Johnson | 2 | ||
| Joey Logano | 2 | ||
| Kevin Harvick | 2 | ||
| Tony Stewart | 2 | ||
| Chase Elliott | 1 | ||
| Denny Hamlin | 1 | ||
| Joe Nemechek | 1 | ||
| Mark Martin | 1 | ||
| Martin Truex Jr | 1 | ||
| Matt Kenseth | 1 |
A total of 11 different drivers have won the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races at Kansas Speedway. Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2011), Kevin Harvick (2013, 2016), Joey Logano (2014, 2015), Greg Biffle (2007, 2010) and Tony Stewart (2006, 2009) lead the series in Playoff wins at Kansas Speedway with two each.
Twice the winner of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway has gone on to win the title that same season:
- In 2008, Jimmie Johnson won the Kansas Playoff race from the pole, leading 124 laps, and then went on to win his third consecutive series title later that season. Kansas was the third race of the Playoffs in 2008.
- In 2017, Martin Truex Jr. won the Kansas Playoff race from the pole, leading 91 laps, and then went on to win his first NASCAR Cup Series title later that season. Kansas was the sixth race of the Playoffs in 2017.
Three non-Playoff drivers have won a Playoff race at Kansas Speedway:
- In 2004, Joe Nemechek was ranked 21st in the points at the time of the win.
- In 2006, Tony Stewart was 11th in the points at the time of the win.
- In 2007, Greg Biffle was 14th in the points at the time of the win.
The worst finish in a Playoff race at Kansas Speedway by a driver that went on to win the title later that same season was 15th by Tony Stewart in 2011. Last season’s champion, Kyle Busch, finished third in the Kansas Playoff race.
| NASCAR Cup Series | |||
| Playoff Race No. 7 Winners | |||
| Race Winners | Wins | ||
| Jimmie Johnson | 4 | ||
| Carl Edwards | 2 | ||
| Jeff Gordon | 2 | ||
| Tony Stewart | 2 | ||
| Clint Bowyer | 1 | ||
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 1 | ||
| Jamie McMurray | 1 | ||
| Joey Logano | 1 | ||
| Kyle Busch | 1 | ||
| Martin Truex Jr | 1 |
A total of 10 different drivers have won the seventh race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, led by Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Jimmie Johnson with four victories (2004, 2007, 2012 and 2016).
Four times the winner of the seventh NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race has gone on to win the title later that same season:
- In 2007, Jimmie Johnson won from the sixth starting position at Atlanta Motor Speedway and went on to win his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship.
- In 2011, Tony Stewart won from the fourth starting position at Martinsville Speedway, and went on to win his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.
- In 2016, Jimmie Johnson won from the third starting position at Martinsville Speedway, and went on to win his record tying seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship.
- In 2018, Joey Logano won from the 10th starting position at Martinsville Speedway, and went on to win his first NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Three non-Playoff drivers have won the seventh race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs:
- In 2006, Tony Stewart won the seventh race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he was 11th in points at the time of the win.
- In 2009, Jamie McMurray won the seventh race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Talladega Superspeedway, he was ranked 22nd in the points at the time of the win.
- In 2010, Clint Bowyer won the seventh race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Talladega Superspeedway, he was 12th in the points at the time of the win.
The worst finish by a driver in the seventh NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race that later went on to win the title that same season was a 42nd-place finish by Kurt Busch in 2004 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The finish was due to engine failure.
In total Kansas Speedway has hosted 29 NASCAR Cup Series races dating back to inaugural event on September 30, 2001. The race was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon driving a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. The 29 Cup Series races at Kansas have produced 16 different pole winners and 15 different race winners. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick leads the series poles at Kansas with five (Playoff race 2013, 2014 sweep, spring 2018 and spring 2019). Four drivers are tied for the series-most wins at Kansas Speedway with three wins each – Jeff Gordon (2001, 2002, 2014), Kevin Harvick (2013, 2016, 2018), Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2011, 2015) and Denny Hamlin (2012, 2019, 2020).
Looking ahead to Sunday, Hendrick Motorsport’s driver and last weekend’s winner Chase Elliott will start on the pole and Team Penske’s Joey Logano will start on the outside front row. Both drivers are previous winners at Kansas, and both are looking to advance to Championship 4 this season.
Playoff driver outlook heading into the Round of 8
Entering the first race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Kansas Speedway this weekend, none of the postseason contenders can clinch a spot in the Championship 4 round on points, making this week’s win and automatic bid to advance that much more important.
Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) enters the Round of 8 seeded first in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with 4,067 points. Harvick is 45 points ahead of the Championship 4 cutoff and is looking to make the final round for the sixth time in his career (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019). Harvick has made 29 series starts at Kansas posting five poles (series-most), three wins (tied for series-most), nine top fives and 16 top 10s. He also leads several key categories in the pre-race Loop Data at Kansas with an Average Running Position of 8.906, series-best, a Driver Rating of 108.6, series-best and 5,351 Laps in the Top 15 (80.6%), series-most. He finished fourth at Kansas earlier this season.
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) enters the Round of 8 seeded second in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 4,054 points. Hamlin is currently 32 points ahead of the Championship 4 cutoff and is looking to make the final round for the third time in his career (2014, 2019). Hamlin has 24 series Kansas starts under his belt having posted three wins (tied for series-most), eight top fives and nine top 10s. He also ranks in the top 10 of several key pre-race Loop Data categories with an Average Running Position of 13.004, ninth-best, a Driver Rating of 90.4, ninth-best and 4,359 Laps in the Top 15 (68.4%), fifth-most. Hamlin has won the last two consecutive races at Kansas Speedway (2019 Playoffs, 2020) and enters this weekend looking to become first driver in series history to win three in a row.
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Ford) arrives in the Round of 8 seeded third in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with 4,035 points. Keselowski is currently 13 points ahead of the Championship 4 cutoff and is looking to make the final round for the second time in his career (2017). The Michigan native has made 21 series starts at Kansas Speedway posting one pole, two wins, five top fives and 11 top 10s. He also ranks in the top 10 in several key Loop Data categories with an Average Running Position of 12.645, eighth-best, a Driver Rating of 92.8, seventh-best and 4,057 Laps in the Top 15 (72.1%), eighth-most. Keselowski finished runner-up to Denny Hamlin at Kansas Speedway earlier this season.
