Kevin Harvick scored his fourth win of the season, capturing Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway to advance to the Round of 8.
Carl Edwards placed second, tying his best finish at Kansas and scoring his first top-five result since Kentucky on July 9.Joey Logano was third. He was followed by Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch.
With six remaining races in the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season -- the one in which Bowyer drives the No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet -- it's hard for the veteran not to look ahead to next year, when he'll replace the retiring Tony Stewart.
"Certainly, it's always natural to start thinking about next year. You better be this time of year no matter if you are moving or staying the same and nothing changes," Bowyer said Friday at Kansas Speedway, site of Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400(2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
"That is how far in advance you have to look in this sport and work. All the organizations are lining themselves up and gearing up for next year, all the while, there is a lot of racing left to do in 2016."
It's a trying request for Bowyer not to start licking his chops thinking about his soon-to-be ride when he's struggled with an ill-performing car most of the season and has a mere three top-10 finishes, by far a career low.
It doesn't help to stem the anticipation any when he sees his future teammates battling for wins and titles. Last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a prime example, according to the 37-year-old Emporia, Kansas native.
"I look over and I see all the Stewart-Haas cars up front, qualified well, Danica (Patrick) was fast, all the cars raced well," he said. "Those are the things that you look at and get excited for next year. But, hey, you've got an opportunity to come back home and race and compete in front of your hometown crowd. Like I said, there is plenty of racing to do and things to accomplish this year. We've got to cap it off well and start to get focused on next year.
"It is exciting. … An email came across my phone and I look over and its No. 14 merchandise approvals for next year. You are like 'holy cow,' it's becoming reality. It's fixing to pick up in a big way."
There's basically nowhere to go but up in his impending season with SHR, as a tumultuous 2013 campaign with Michael Waltrip Racing set his career on the path of a winless downward spiral in which his performance declined from every measurable aspect -- a year after finishing runner-up to Brad Keselowski for theSprint Cup Series title. Last year’s announcement that he’d replace the three-time champion Stewart at season’s end was the first good news he’d had to share publicly since the birth of his son, Cash.
Apart from the increase in performance he can expect from an organization that took home the 2014 title with driver Kevin Harvick, that has five wins this season and put three drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, SHR offers Bowyer a welcoming environment in which he's already comfortable with their top-tiered talent, many of which are longtime friends of his.
"Just a great outfit over there, everybody from the top to the bottom; the teammates, I've worked with Kevin (Harvick) for many years. I'm looking forward to Kurt (Busch). Kurt is the one that I've never really known a lot about. Always raced against him, but never worked with him in any way, shape or form. Danica, I'm closer to her than probably some of the others, so I'm just looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be a neat atmosphere and something that 10 years into this thing one of the best opportunities ever is at your doorstep and fixing to happen.
" … Just looking forward to being in a situation where you can go out and know that if the equipment is there that you will have a good weekend. That is all you can ask for as a race car driver.”
While it's likely that Bowyer will have to wait until next year to finally win a Sprint Cup race at his home track, he knows that there were valuable lessons he'll take away from a frustrating season.
"I think I've learned a lot from the racing on the race track and I’ve learned a lot about myself (this year)," he said. "This isn't easy and I think hopefully we can get back in (the media center) and there are going to be these seats filled again.
"And I've got a beer in my hand because the trophy is sitting right there, right? That is what we do this for."
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.
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.
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 Gaughangot loose from side drafting withRoss Chastainand 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.
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 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.
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
