NASCAR at Kansas City 2018: Start Time, Ticket Info, Lineup, TV Schedule, More
Kevin Harvick is back in the saddle as the headline act for the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series as it next turns to Kansas Speedway for the KC Masterpiece 400, a Saturday night race and focal point of the spring.
Harvick is now a four-time winner this season, with his first three coming in a row before Kyle Busch later pulled off the same feat. Only three different drivers have managed a checkered flag while Harvick and Busch rattled off seven combined wins.
Clearly, parity isn't the theme this season as it was one year ago. But the KC Masterpiece 400 is still a newer event that started in 2011 during the schedule realignment, so it's still 400.5 miles of interesting possibilities on a short week for the drivers.
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Below, let's take a look at everything to know about the event.
Viewing Details
Where: Kansas Speedway
When: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET
Watch: Fox Sports 1
Tickets: StubHub
KC Masterpiece 400
- Kyle Larson
- Kevin Harvick
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kyle Busch
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Note: Qualifying is Friday.
2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Standings
| 1. Kevin Harvick | 426 |
| 2. Kyle Busch | 466 |
| 3. Joey Logano | 444 |
| 4. Clint Bowyer | 380 |
| 5. Martin Truex Jr. | 340 |
| 6. Austin Dillon | 221 |
| 7. Brad Keselowski | 365 |
| 8. Kurt Busch | 358 |
| 9. Ryan Blaney | 346 |
| 10. Denny Hamlin | 344 |
| 11. Kyle Larson | 307 |
| 12. Aric Almirola | 304 |
| 13. Jimmie Johnson | 268 |
| 14. Erik Jones | 253 |
| 15. Alex Bowman | 252 |
| 16. Chase Elliott | 241 |
Drivers to Watch
Martin Truex Jr.
While other names have put together notable streaks this year, Martin Truex Jr. enters Saturday looking to keep a streak of his own going.
Truex won both races at Kansas City last year, leading 104 laps in this particular event before hitting Victory Lane for his second win of the season. He's been similarly hot this year, winning in California and starting on the pole four times.
Granted, Furniture Row Racing's ace has cooled recently, finishing 14th or worse in four of his last five races, two of those at 30 or worse. The exception was a week ago in Dover, where he placed fourth.
He talked with Motosport's Jim Utter about the experience: "Our car was fast in clean air, but I couldn't pass anybody—especially those last 200 laps once we got somewhere up towards the front. So, it was all about where we come off pit road and how we restarted, and it's frustrating."
Now is a great time for Truex to start getting back to form given his history at Kansas City. He doesn't necessarily need a win outright, but a strong showing will go a long way toward keeping him in a good position throughout the summer.
Given the way he put together a fine run this time last year, now isn't the time to forget about Truex.
Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski is another familiar face running into some problems this year.
Keselowski is usually hitting a big stride by this part of the season as the series gets into his sort of events. He seemed like a guy to beat at Talladega but got swept up in a huge wreck and finished 33rd.
Call it a nice summation of his season so far. The No. 2 Ford driver has five top-10 finishes, but four of his last six have been 10th or worse.
Dover a week ago looked like it could be a major turning point thanks to a season-best 108 laps led, but rain swooped in and toyed with the running—not that Keselowski was willing to make an excuse.
"It wasn't a big deal for us," Keselowski said, according to Zach Catanzareti of FrontStretch.com. "It was pretty equal and fair for everyone, NASCAR did a good job of cleaning the track up and getting us back going."
Keselowski is the latest in a long line of drivers who seem like they're due for a win. Such a status doesn't mean as much as it used to, though, given the strong tears by the sport's biggest names.
But this is Keselowski's time of year, and besides a few oddities, an upswing seems in order. His breaking through at an event he won in 2011 when it first started would be a welcome addition to a ho-hum season so far.
Kevin Harvick
Why not five wins?
Harvick already has four to his name. He took three in a row starting in Atlanta back in late February, then he did the same in Las Vegas and Phoenix. One odd 35th-place finish led into another six consecutive top-10 finishes, including last week's win in Dover.
There, Harvick led 201 laps after starting second, hitting Victory Lane almost casually. For some, it's starting to look like another elite season for Harvick, as Fox pointed out:
Even Busch has been quite open about saluting Harvick, the best driver in the series right now.
Busch told NASCAR.com's Holly Cain: "I think we're pretty equal, honestly. I think I've got to give them the notch a little bit. I think they're a little bit better than we are. ... A lot of it all comes down to execution when things are this tight with the 4 (Harvick) and us. They were able to execute better at the start of the year on their streak and also last week And we've been able to execute in order to get our wins."
At this point, a fifth doesn't seem unlikely—and why not right now?
Harvick has a chance to do what few have done in the past, taking the predictable guy winning from boring to interesting as fans start to wonder just how high he can go.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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