KANSAS CITY, Kan. – As the fifth season of the elimination era of NASCAR’s playoffs draws closer to its end, history could be made during Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Through the first five races of this year’s playoffs five different drivers – Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola – have visited victory lane.
Keselowski kicked off the playoffs with a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, followed by Busch’s romp at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. Blaney made a last-corner pass to win on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL, while Elliott got redemption at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway and Almirola was victorious last weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Since the elimination era of the playoffs first kicked off in 2014, a series of six different winners in the first six playoff races has yet to occur, but that statistic has a solid chance to change on Sunday afternoon, thanks to two powerhouses who have both yet to win in the playoffs.
Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., who finished first and second in the spring Kansas race in May, have combined for four of the last five wins at the 1.5-mile oval and 11 victories overall in Cup Series action this season.
While he’s far from in a must-win scenario, only needing a 26th-place finish to advance to the third round of the playoffs, Harvick still has more clutch moments than any driver in the elimination era.
A win on Sunday at Kansas, after an eight-race dry spell, would mark yet another one for Harvick, who passed Truex coming to the white flag for his Kansas win in May.
“Clutch moments – there’s nothing like them. It’s one thing to dominate a race all day and win – that’s great. But, making a last-lap pass, an end-of-the-race pass or winning on a day when you’re not supposed to, there is just no better feeling than getting out of the car and looking at those guys,” said Harvick. “It’s having the rest of the field asking, ‘How was he able to win today?’ Those are the types of moments I love to be a part of.
“We’ve been fortunate to experience a lot of those. That’s the adrenaline rush that comes with what we do. There is no better feeling than those particular moments.”
For Truex, who enters Sunday on the bubble for advancing in the playoffs, he’s won two of the last three races at Kansas and carries confidence into Sunday’s 400-mile event.
“As far as why we’ve been good there (at Kansas) over the years, I’m not really sure, to be honest,” Truex said ahead of this weekend’s race. “It’s a place where I really feel comfortable and have had chances to win multiple races there over the years with different teams even. It was one of the places I was successful at before Furniture Row … so for whatever reason, it just points towards my driving style and my comfort level, with what I like in my race car.
“Things just seems to work out well there for me.”
The last three races in Cup Series competition have marked the second-career series win for each of the drivers involved, while only one of the five playoff races has been won by a member of this season’s Big Three – Busch’s late-race ride to victory at Richmond Raceway.
In the opposite vein, Truex is riding a 12-race winless drought since scoring at Kentucky Speedway in July, the last series race on a true 1.5-mile track. Harvick’s most recent win was at the two-mile Michigan Int’l Speedway in August.
