LDN - Sports

Motivated Harvick, Busch vie for success in Kansas

[May 12, 2017] By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange

In a sport where risk is at a premium, motor racing has often been about motivation.

In NASCAR parlance, being motivated means "getting up on the wheel."

At the Kansas Speedway on Saturday night, there'll be quite a few drivers up on the wheel, looking to guarantee themselves entry to the playoffs with a victory -- especially those drivers who have already proven they can win on the 1.5-mile oval.

Much of the discussion of motivation this season has centered on the new stage format, which offers regular season bonus points and playoff points as well. The stages are having the intended effect of drivers dropping the hammer from the start. But the previous incentive of "win and get in" the playoffs is also still in effect.

Among those still needing to win are last year's victors in Kansas, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

Harvick, who tends to be highly motivated and fast when he comes to 1.5-mile tracks, needed a win to advance in the playoffs last fall and came through in Kansas.

Busch, who won the spring race, tends to be more risk oriented and aggressive than any of his peers. Though he hasn't yet won, and neither have his teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch has led 462 laps, more than any other driver in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Harvick, who also won in 2013 and holds the track qualifying record set in 2014, said the repaving at Kansas helped him gain an edge.

"The repave is definitely what changed and turned things around for us at Kansas," he said. "Really, I liked the racetrack the way it was before with the asphalt really worn out and cars sliding all over. But, once the repave happened, we were able to really hit on some things and, for whatever reason, it kind of fits my driving style and we have gotten some good results out of it."

Harvick's Stewart-Haas Racing team switched to Fords in the offseason and won its first race under the Blue Oval with Kurt Busch capturing the Daytona 500. Harvick then dominated the second race on Atlanta's 1.54-mile track, leading 293 of the 325 laps before a pit road speeding violation derailed him.

While teammate Busch has had niggling issues, going into Talladega last week Harvick had three straight top five finishes before the Big One caught him out.

The Gibbs team has new Camrys -- which have not proven to be as fast and consistent as those of Furniture Row Racing, where Martin Truex, Jr. has led 432 laps.

The early leader in the garage when it came to "skew" in the rear suspension and aerodynamics, the Gibbs team has been caught by competitors in those areas. The problem with inadequate speed with its new cars has shown up particularly at the end of races.

At Talladega, Busch was passed on the last lap by the superior Ford of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and before that Denny Hamlin finished third behind the two Fords of Team Penske -- albeit the one driven by Joey Logano was found to be encumbered.

[to top of second column]

Kansas is as good a place as any for JGR to bounce back.

Matt Kenseth has won at the Midwest oval for both Roush Fenway Racing (2012) and JGR (2013). One of the few drivers who have started every Cup race at the Kansas track, Kenseth has led 774 laps, first among all drivers.

Hamlin is a dark horse for Gibbs. His victory came in the spring of 2012, the last race before the repave. Of the 67 laps he's led at Kansas, 32 were in his lone victory.

Two other drivers are looking for their first Cup win. Last year's sensational rookies, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, have been running at the front of the field but have yet to put together a winning race with their respective Hendrick Motorsports and Wood Brothers Racing teams.

Elliott (fourth) and Blaney (13th) could advance to the playoffs on points, but would be far happier to get the "win monkey" off their backs headed into the postseason.

Blaney was running far higher in the points until hitting a string of bad luck. He had fast cars in Bristol, Richmond and Talladega before equipment failure (a power steering pump at Bristol) and wrecks ruined his day. Before those three events, he led 148 laps in Texas before finishing 12th after a pit road penalty.

It seems a matter of time before Elliott and Blaney win a race, because they are running with the leaders regularly.

"I always like going to Kansas," Blaney said. "I feel like it's a track that suits this team well. It's always been a decent track for me. Kansas really challenges teams and driver skill to run well. It's the fastest intermediate track we go to and tires don't fall off."

Other drivers in the Top 16 in points and still looking for a playoff pass as well as a first victory in Kansas are Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and Trevor Bayne.

There is one odd consideration headed into Kansas. Logano has won twice there for Team Penske -- in 2014 and in the controversial finish in 2015, when he knocked Kenseth into the wall.

Logano may have won at Richmond, but he too needs to get a victory to gain admission to the postseason playoffs after his Ford was found to have a rear suspension violation and his victory was declared encumbered.

-----------------------------------------------

Back to top