Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Kansas Speedway History and Notes


At Kansas Speedway:


History:

· Groundbreaking was held on May 25, 1999.

· The official opening of Kansas Speedway was in 2001, with the first events being an ARCA race and a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race on the same day – June 2.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was on Sept. 30, 2001 – won by Jeff Gordon.

· During the 2012 season, between the April and October events the 1.5-mile track underwent a repave adding variable banking in the corners.

Notebook:
· There have been 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway, one NSCS event from 2001 - 2010 and two races per year since 2011.

· 108 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas; 79 in more than one.

· Nine drivers have made all 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway – Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.

· Jason Leffler won the inaugural Coors Light Pole Award at Kansas Speedway in 2001 with a speed of 176.499 mph.

· 10 drivers have Coors Light poles at Kansas, led by Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne with three each.

· Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to win consecutive Coors Light poles at Kansas Speedway (2007 and 2008).

· Youngest Kansas pole winner: Jason Leffler (09/30/2001 – 26 years, 0 months, 14 days).

· Oldest Kansas pole winner: Mark Martin (10/04/2009 – 50 years, 8 months, 25 days).

· 10 different drivers have won at Kansas Speedway, led by Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson with two each.

· Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are tied for the most wins at Kansas in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with four each; followed by Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske Racing with two each.

· Chevrolet leads the series in wins at Kansas with seven victories; followed by Ford with four wins.

· Two of the 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Kansas Speedway have been won from the pole; Joe Nemechek (2004) and Jimmie Johnson (2008).

· Three starting positions have produced multiple wins at Kansas Speedway: the pole, fifth and 19th each have two wins.

· Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway have been won from the front row: two from the pole and one from second-place.

· Eight of the 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Kansas Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position.

· Two of the 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Kansas Speedway have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Kansas Speedway was 25th, by Brad Keselowski in the spring of 2011.

· Youngest Kansas winner: Ryan Newman (10/05/2003 – 25 years, 9 months, 27 days).

· Oldest Kansas winner: Mark Martin (10/09/2005 – 46 years, 9 months, 0 days).

· Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman are tied for the lead in runner-up finishes at Kansas Speedway with two each.

· Jeff Gordon leads the series in top-five finishes at Kansas Speedway with eight; followed by Greg Biffle with seven.

· Jimmie Johnson leads the series in top-10 finishes at Kansas Speedway with 11; followed by Jeff Gordon (10).

· Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Kansas Speedway with a 10.615.

· Two active drivers have a NASCAR Sprint Cup average finish better than 10.0 at Kansas: Jimmie Johnson (8.0) and Brad Keselowski (9.8).

· There has been one NSCS race resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Kansas Speedway: fall of 2011 (267 scheduled laps/272 actual laps).

· Only one of the 14 races at Kansas Speedway has been shortened due to weather conditions: fall of 2007 (267 scheduled laps/210 actual laps).

· Qualifying has never been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Kansas Speedway.

· Jason Leffler (09/30/2001) is the only driver to post his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Kansas Speedway.

· 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon (10/09/2011) and Denny Hamlin (10/09/2005) made their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career starts at Kansas Speedway.

· Jeff Gordon is the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to have posted consecutive wins at Kansas Speedway (2001 and 2002 – the first two NSCS events at Kansas).

· Nine of the 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners at Kansas Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jeff Gordon won at Kansas in his first appearance.

· Matt Kenseth competed at Kansas Speedway 13 times before winning last fall; the longest span of any of the 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners at Kansas.

· Matt Kenseth is the only driver to have made 10 or more attempts before his first win at Kansas Speedway.

· Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte lead the series with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Kansas Speedway without visiting Victory Lane at 14.

· Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Kansas Speedway was the (10/10/2004) race won by Joe Nemechek with a MOV of 0.081 second.

· Danica Patrick is the only female driver to have competed at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (10/21/2012) – starting 40th and finishing 32nd.

· Jimmie Johnson leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Kansas Speedway with 547 laps led in 13 starts.

Kansas Speedway Data

Season Race #: 8 of 36 (04-21-13)Track Size: 1.5-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 17-20 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 17-20 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 10 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 5 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 2,685 feet
Backstretch Length: 2,207 feet
Race Length: 267 laps / 400 miles

Top 12 Driver Rating at Kansas

Jimmie Johnson........................ 119.5
Greg Biffle................................ 113.0
Matt Kenseth............................. 106.4
Jeff Gordon.............................. 101.5
Tony Stewart............................. 100.8
Carl Edwards.............................. 95.1
Mark Martin................................. 91.3
Kevin Harvick............................. 90.6
Martin Truex Jr............................ 90.5
Brad Keselowski......................... 90.1
Kasey Kahne.............................. 89.8
Denny Hamlin............................. 89.8

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (10 total) among active drivers at Kansas Speedway.


- NASCAR Media Statistics

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