By the Numbers: Kansas double-dips with Chicago standalone (NASCAR.com)
By the Numbers: Kansas double-dips with Chicago standalone (NASCAR.com)
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval with 15 degrees banking in the turns. The frontstretch is 2,685 feet with 10.4 degrees banking; the backstretch is 2,207 feet with 5 degrees banking. CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES | O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 (2 p.m. ET Saturday) | Tickets 3 — Consecutive poles at Kansas for Ron Hornaday. The record for the most consecutive poles at a track is four, by Mike Skinner at Texas. Hornaday also has four consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas; he hasn’t finished worse than fourth in the past three races and has led more than half of the laps during that span (238 of 466). Skinner, not entered in this week’s race, has six consecutive top-10s at Kansas. 3—First-time winners at Kansas: Ricky Hendrick (2001), Jon Wood (’03) and Erik Darnell (’07). Hendrick is the only rookie to win at Kansas; his crew chief was Lance McGrew. 8—Races at Kansas won from a top-five starting position. The only other two races were won from the 10th starting position. There has been one race won from the pole—Ron Hornaday in 2008. 10 — Different winners in as many races at Kansas: Ricky Hendrick (2001), Mike Bliss (’02), Jon Wood (’03), Carl Edwards (’04), Todd Bodine (’05), Terry Cook (’06), Erik Darnell (’07), Ron Hornaday (’08), Mike Skinner (’09), Johnny Sauter (’10). Very Interesting 400 — Races in the Truck Series when the green waves at Kansas. Truck Series at 400 Top 10 Races (as voted upon by media members) 1. 193 Feb. 14, 2003 Rick Crawford breaks a 120-race winless streak in a three-wide photo finish with Travis Kvapil and Robert Pressley to open the 2003 season at Daytona. 2. 11 July 15, 1995 First photo finish is recorded at Colorado National Speedway. Television replays were used to determine that Butch Miller beat Mike Skinner by the depth of the paint on his front bumper cover. The race pre-dated the use of electronic scoring, so no official margin of victory was available. 3. 1 Feb. 5, 1995 First race, first finish of less than a 10th of a second (0.09) by Mike Skinner over Terry Labonte. 4. 352-356 June 20-July 24, 2009 Ron Hornaday wins a series-record five consecutive races—only third NASCAR national-series driver to do so—at Milwaukee, Memphis, Kentucky, Indianapolis and Nashville. 5. 389 Oct. 30, 2010 Kyle Busch beats Aric Almirola and Johnny Sauter by .002 seconds in a three-wide battle to the finish line producing the closest finish in series history since the introduction of electronic timing and scoring. 6. 366 Nov. 13, 2009 A fourth-place finish at Phoenix gives Ron Hornaday a 215-point advantage over Matt Crafton and a record-breaking fourth series title. 7. 342 Nov. 14, 2008 Johnny Benson finishes seventh at season-ending race at Homestead with Ron Hornaday in eighth. Benson wins the championship over Hornaday by a mere seven points. 8. 123 Feb. 18, 2000 Daytona is added to the series schedule in 2000. The race produces several spectacular accidents, 31 lead changes and Mike Wallace’s slingshot pass of Andy Houston on the final lap to seal the victory. 9. 217 Nov. 14, 2003 Carl Edwards lands a seat in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford and won twice to capture the 2003 rookie of the year honors. 10. 243 Feb. 18, 2005 The 2005 season begins with Jimmy Spencer in Victory Lane at Daytona—only to be replaced by Bobby Hamilton, who drafts past Spencer a split-second before the race was ended under caution. * Truck Series to mark its 400th start at Kansas SPRINT CUP SERIES | STP 400 (1 p.m. ET Sunday) | Tickets 4 — Consecutive top-five finishes at Kansas for Greg Biffle, who hasn’t finished worse than third, including two wins, during that span. Biffle has led the most laps (323) at Kansas and his 8.1 average finish (nine starts) is the best of any driver with at least five starts. 4—Consecutive top-five finishes at Kansas for Jeff Gordon, who leads all drivers with seven top-fives (including wins in the first two races) and eight top-10s. 4 — Consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas for Jimmie Johnson, including a win from the pole in 2008. Johnson leads all drivers with three poles at Kansas; he has started fourth or better in six of his nine races there. 32 — Place of finish for Denny Hamlin in his Cup debut, at Kansas in October 2005. Hamlin is set to make his 200th series start this week. Hamlin has one top-10 (fifth in 2009) and has led two laps in his six starts at Kansas. Very Interesting 210 — Laps led at Kansas by Matt Kenseth, third among all drivers. He is one of three drivers (Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson) to lead in at least six races at Kansas. However, his average finish is 20.6, with as many finishes in the 30s (four—all in odd-numbered years) as top-10s (three in even-numbered years, including a fifth in 2008 and seventh in ’10). * Fantasy Preview: Favorites might not be enough | Preview Show Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval with 18 degrees banking in the turns. The frontstretch is 2,400 feet with 11 degrees banking; the backstretch is 1,700 feet with 5 degrees banking. NATIONWIDE SERIES | STP 300 (8 p.m. ET Saturday) | Tickets 1—Drivers entered in this week’s race who have a series win at Chicagoland—Kevin Harvick is a two-time winner (2005, ’07). 2 — Best place of finish at Chicagoland for Roush Fenway Racing drivers: Carl Edwards (2006) and Matt Kenseth (’07). Chicagoland is one of only three active tracks (Daytona and Watkins Glen) at which RFR has yet to win. 3—Consecutive races in which the driver leading the most laps at Chicagoland has won the race: Kyle Busch (101 laps) in 2008; Joey Logano (96) in ’09; and Busch (110) in ’10. Neither driver is entered in this week’s race. 7—Times in the 10 races at Chicagoland the eventual winner did not lead for the first time until Lap 95 or later. Very Interesting 3 — Best starting position of a Chicagoland winner: Bobby Hamilton Jr. (2003) and Joey Logano (’09). Chicagoland is the only active track that has never been won from the front row. * Nationwide Series: Complete Coverage Powered by Racing Recall