The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the midwest this weekend. The Hollywood Casino 400 will be held at Kansas Speedway as the second race for the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs. There are just two races to go in this round and only three remaining in the 2021 season. That means that there are only a few more opportunities to get a win this season. Sunday’s race at Kansas is also the last 1.5-mile intermediate track on the schedule.
Kansas Speedway Overview
Kansas Speedway opened its gates in 2001. A few months after the track opened, it hosted its very first NASCAR race. Jeff Gordon was the first driver to win here. The track is 1.5 miles in length and takes on the appearance of a D-shaped oval. The turns are banked between 17 and 20 degrees throughout. Kansas Speedway also has progressive banking. This means that the higher up the track you go, the more steeply banked the track is.
In 2011, NASCAR decided to give Kansas a second race date on the annual calendar in the spring. In 2014, the track hosted its first night race. The spring Kansas race was run under the lights every year until this season. Like the spring race, this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event will also take place during the daylight hours of Sunday afternoon.
Last Season Was a Busy One at Kansas Speedway
The NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series have both joined the Cup Series in racing at Kansas Speedway since it opened in 2001. Each year, Kansas gets a second race accompanying the NASCAR Cup Series on the 1.5-mile oval. In 2020, both the Xfinity and Truck Series held multiple races at the track due to NASCAR’s on-the-fly rescheduling around the pandemic. The Xfinity Series held two total races while the Trucks held three, two of which came on back-to-back days.
Spring Cup Series Race Recap
The fan-named Buschy McBusch Race 400 was held at Kansas Speedway back in May. There were no cautions for cause until NASCAR waited for a whole 15 laps to call a caution for a tire that escaped pit road and was sitting in the infield. All hell broke loose after that. Denny Hamlin cut a tire after hitting the wall, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went for a spin and Christopher Bell played pinball with the two JTG Daugherty cars to cause three separate cautions in the last 40 laps. Kyle Busch survived all of that and earned the victory on his birthday.
NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway | Weekend Racing Schedule
Kansas Lottery 300
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date: Saturday, October 23, 2021
Start Time: 3 P.M. EST
Coverage: NBC
Distance: 300 miles
Laps: 200
Hollywood Casino 400
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Date: Sunday, October 24, 2021
Start Time: 3 P.M. EST
Coverage: NBCSN
Distance: 400.5 miles
Laps: 267
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