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

Kyle Larson fastest in final Xfinity practice at Kansas

Kyle Larson led a Chip Ganassi Racing sweep of the top spots in the final Xfinity Series practice at Kansas Speedway.

Larson was fastest at 180.844 mph while teammate Brennan Poole followed at 180.288 mph.

Filling out the top five were Kyle Busch, Brennan Poole and Blake Koch, who was fastest in the first practice session.

Poole recorded the most laps (59) in the session.

Larson had the best 10-lap average at 176.888 mph.

Click here to see full practice report.

Martin Truex Jr. supports decision to skip Miami test: ‘It gives a false sense of security’

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Absence makes the car go faster?

That’s the approach Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn are embracing in electing to skip the critical test Oct. 18-19 at Homestead Miami Speedway, site of the Nov. 20 season finale that will determine the Sprint Cup championship.

Truex, who won two of the first three races in the 2016 playoffs and is among the championship favorites, said the team vacillated on the decision for weeks before Pearn decided last week against making the 2,000-mile track to South Florida from Denver, where the Furniture Row Racing  is based.

“Cole feels good about that, so I’m with him,” Truex said Friday before practice at Kansas Speedway. “I think he’s making the right decision. We went to Homestead and tested the last two years and went back for the race and we were awful. It gives you a false sense of security when you go to a test like that a month ahead of the race. You feel like you’re good, you go back to the race track, and (the weather is) completely different and then you don’t know what to do. You don’t know what direction to head.”

Truex finished 12^th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2015, last among the four championship contenders. He finished 17^th there two years ago – after finishing third, sixth and fourth in the previous three years with Michael Waltrip Racing.

“Homestead is a long way from Denver, so we’re just trying to make sure we’re focused on the right things,” he said. “We feel like testing honestly has not really done anything to help us along. We feel like our time is better spent at the shop getting prepared.”

The No. 78 Toyota also won the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway without having tested.

“Some of our worst races this year have been after tests believe it or not, so it’s an interesting thing,” he said. “I think we’re making the right decision, but we won’t know that until Homestead.”

Truex’s team will be able to feed setup data into its simulations to prepare for the season finale, gleaning the information from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwardsthrough Toyota Racing Development.

Edwards said he could understand why a team might skip the session.

“There’s an opportunity to test for the ultimate race – the race that finishes the year, but it’s also an interruption in your Chase, and it can take away as well,” he said. “We feel like testing at Homestead is going to benefit us. I love Homestead, I like going down to South Florida, so for me I think it’s good and our team is prepared to deal with it. There are two sides to it.”