Staff picks for the Sprint Cup’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

NBC Sports’ NASCAR writers once again put their heads together to predict who will win today’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Here’s our picks and be sure to follow each of our staff members on Twitter.

Dustin Long (@dustinlong)

Matt Kenseth

He wins the race that got away from him last year.

Nate Ryan  (@nateryan)

Kyle Larson

His 2016 turnaround showed its first signs of life here and he always seems a factor on 1.5-mile tracks.

Daniel McFadin (@DanielMcFadin)

Martin Truex Jr.

After a nearly silent run up front at Charlotte, Truex will finally conquer a track that’s slipped from his grasp too many times to count.

Jerry Bonkowski (@jerrybonkowski)

Kyle Busch

My gut tells me Carl Edwards will finally win at Kansas, but my better judgment tells me Kyle Busch. In a sense and by his standards, the younger Busch brother is long overdue to reach victory lane. His last win was in July at the Brickyard 400, meaning he’s winless in  the last 10 races.

Kelly Crandall @kellycrandall

Matt Kenseth

I’d bet he hasn’t forgotten about last year and with starting on the pole, it wouldn’t surprise me if Kenseth doesn’t give anyone the chance to get close to him late on Sunday.

Justin Allgaier, Darrell Wallace Jr. in multicar wreck in Xfinity race

The eighth caution of the Kansas Lottery 300 could have big implications in the Xfinity Chase. A six-car accident on Lap 165 involved Chase drivers Justin Allgaierand Darrell Wallace Jr.

Brandon Jones appeared to make contact with Allgaier entering Turn 1. Allgaier’s No. 7  shot up the track and collected a few cars, including former Chase driverRyan Sieg and Cole Custer.

Ryan Reed, another Chase driver, was scored as being involved, though he did not receive any serious damage.

Wallace was shown wincing as he got out of his No. 6 Ford in the garage.

“Pretty hard hit, just unfortunate,” Wallace told NBCSN. “We were making some good calls and leading some laps and trying to run our own race. People want some wild race in the next three. Here you go. Took out some Chase drivers.”

The Chase received another twist with 24 laps to go when Brendan Gaughan got loose from side drafting with Ross Chastain and went careening through the infield grass.

The Kansas Lottery 300 is the first race in the second round of the Xfinity Chase. The series will be off the next two weeks before resuming at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 5.

KURT BUSCH GOING TO BACKUP CAR AFTER LATE PRACTICE SPIN

RELATED: Chase Grid | Starting lineup for Sunday's race 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch was dealt a blow -- literally -- to his Chase hopes in Saturday's final practice for Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
 
With mere seconds left on the clock in the third and final practice session of the weekend, Busch's right front tire blew out, sending his No. 41 Stewart-Haas RacingChevrolet careening into the infield grass. The front end of his entry took significant damage, enough that he'll be forced to drive a backup in the Hollywood Casino 4000 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App), the middle race of the Round of 12.

The 2004 Sprint Cup champion qualified 15th for the race, but will start from the rear as a result of moving to a backup.
 
The car had shown speed in practice, landing second on the leaderboard in the opening session at 194.119 mph and was third in the final go-about at 185.797 mph before settling in the grass.
 
Busch, fifth in points, is one of the 12 Chase drivers vying for a spot in the next round, set to begin after the elimination race on Oct. 23 at Talladega Superspeedway. Only Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson has secured a spot into the Round of 8, thanks to his win last week at Charlotte.
 
While it's a disappointing turn of events for the veteran, the team tweeted out a pretty encouraging statistic for him.

Busch's overall history at Kansas isn't favorable, however, as he has just seven top-10 finishes in 21 career starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, leading just 20 laps since 2011. That said, he does have three straight top 10s and placed third here in May.

Busch's teammate Kevin Harvick also found trouble during the 50-minute practice session, as his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet brushed the wall and brought out the caution. Harvick got back on track after repairs, coming up 13th-fastest in the field

Kyle Busch wins Kansas Lottery 300, few Xfinity Chase drivers left unscathed

 Kyle Busch led 150 of 200 laps Saturday in winning the Xfinity Series’ Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Busch earned his 85th Xfinity win and ninth of the year.

Busch did it in a race where only three of the eight remaining Chase drivers finished on the lead lap. Busch had been a lap down and took a wavearound after a caution came out in the middle of green-flag stops.

“There was a lot of things trying to work against us there towards the end,” Busch said. “We just persevered and made it through everything.”

Busch has won the past three Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway.

All five Chase drivers who finished off the lead lap were involved in accidents with less than 35 laps left in the race.

Busch was followed by Elliott Sadler,Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson. The third Xfinity Chase driver on the lead lap was Blake Koch (ninth).

MORE: Race results

MORE: Point standings

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Elliott Sadler finished second, earning his 15th straight top 10 … Daniel Suarez led six laps and finished third, his seventh top five in eight races … Regan Smith finished sixth for his first top 10 in three Xfinity starts this year … Matt DiBenedetto finished 11th. In 15 Xfinity starts this season, it’s only the second race he’s finished.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Cole Custer was involved in three cautions, including a five-car wreck on Lap 165 that collected Chase drivers Darrell Wallace Jr and Justin Allgaier. Custer finished 35th, Wallace 33rd and Allgaier 14th … Brendan Gaughan was another Chase causality, spinning out of Turn 4 with 23 laps left and slid through the grass, receiving significant damage. After being cleared in the medical center, Gaughan dashed back to his car, returning to the race with less than 10 laps left and finishing 31st … Erik Jones raced up front most of the day until contact with Kyle Larson on a restart with 24 to go sent him into Ty Dillon. Jones’ Toyota began smoking from damage, and he pitted before finishing 15th, one lap down.

NOTABLE: If Team Penske’s No. 22 car does not win the Nov. 5 race at Texas Motor Speedway, it will have been a full year since the team’s last victory.

NEXT:  O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET

Results and stats for Xfinity Series race at Kansas

Kyle Busch once again dominated to win a Xfinity Series race, claiming victory in the Kansas Lottery 300 for his ninth win of 2016.

Busch was followed by Elliott Sadler,Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.

Only three Xfinity Chase drivers finished on the lead lap.

The race had 10 cautions for 51 of the 200 laps.

Click here for full race results

Today’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas: Start time, weather, TV/radio info

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will play host Sunday to the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the middle race of the Round of 12.

Here are the particulars (all times are ET):

START: The command for drivers to start engines will be given at 2:22 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled for 2:31 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 267 laps (400 miles) around the 1.5-mile oval.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Sprint Cup garage opens at 8:30 a.m. The drivers meeting is at 12:15 p.m. Driver introductions are at 1:35 p.m.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: It will be performed by Samantha Dawn at 2:16 p.m.

TV/RADIO: NBC will broadcast the race. Motor Racing Network will broadcast the race on radio and at MRN.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry MRN’s broadcast.

FORECAST: The wunderground.com site predicts 78 degrees at race time with a 3% chance of rain.

LAST TIME: Kyle Busch led the final 37 laps, scoring his first victory in 17 starts at Kansas Speedway.

LAST YEAR: Joey Logano bumped Matt Kenseth from the lead in the closing laps and scored his second of three consecutive victories.

Click here for the starting lineup at Kansas

Elliott Sadler, Daniel Suarez tied for points lead after Kansas

Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez are tied for the Xfinity Series points lead after the Kansas Lottery 300. Sadler finished second, and Suarez was third.

Each has 3,039 points after the opening race of the second round of the Xfinity Chase.

Filling out the top five is Blake Koch (-7),Justin Allgaier (-12) and Erik Jones (-12).

Click here for the full Xfinity Series point standings