Times have radically changed since the NASCAR Cup Series last visited Kansas Speedway some five months ago. Now, three intermediate-style tracks loom ahead during a crucial moment in The Chase presented by Mobil 1, bringing plenty of pressure to perform at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.
“You guys overstate a lot of things, so what’s new?” 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace said during a midweek availability, offering a smirk and a playful jab at the NASCAR media. That said, Wallace also acknowledged the stakes: “I think the next three races is a good indicator of who your champion will be.”
I think your guys who are going to run good here this weekend are probably going to run up toward the front at Vegas and Charlotte,
Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 marks the fourth of 10 races in this year’s postseason, with subsequent intermediate-track stops scheduled at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Back in April, Tyler Reddick converted with a furious overtime charge that sealed his fifth victory in the season’s first nine races. Meanwhile, Joey Logano struggled to a pedestrian 30th-place finish, his No. 22 Team Penske Ford two laps down at the end and his postseason hopes in limbo.
“I didn’t want to, but I did,” Logano said with a laugh regarding revisiting that result. “Yeah. We try to learn as quickly as possible and move on. Think about the good stuff again.”
The good stuff has arrived in bunches for the No. 22 team since, including three wins in the last nine weeks and a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. Logano will start from the pole position Sunday after a qualifying washout. “We’re on a good little hot streak here over the last 10-plus weeks, where we’ve really scratched and clawed from 20th in points to third, so proud of that,” Logano said.
On the flip side, Reddick has faded with finishes of 25th and 18th the last two weeks. The 23XI Racing driver entered as the Chase’s third seed, but his 35-point deficit has grown to 61 points since the postseason began. Reddick hasn’t visited Victory Lane in the 20 races since his five early-season wins, but he insists panic isn't the answer. “We’ll go do what we need to do, and I don’t think desperation will get me anywhere,” Reddick said.
Ryan Blaney, who made his Cup Series debut here in 2014, expects the form at Kansas to translate to the upcoming tracks. “I think your guys who are going to run good here this weekend are probably going to run up toward the front at Vegas and Charlotte,” Blaney said.
