Information By: TAYLOR SMITH / TEAM PENSKE – KANSAS CITY, KS
Hollywood Casino 400: Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kansas – September 28, 2024
NASCAR TRACKS – KANSAS SPEEDWAY – NASCAR 101
Kansas Speedway, the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval situated just outside of Kansas City, is set to host the NASCAR Cup Series for the second time this year on Sunday after delivering the closest finish in series history (0.001 seconds) earlier this season. A key fixture on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule since its opening in 2001, Kansas Speedway has hosted a postseason race every year since the inception of the Cup Series Playoffs in 2004. This weekend’s race marks just the second time the Round of 12 has opened at Kansas Speedway since 2014.
- Joey Logano, driver, No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang – 5th
- Ryan Blaney, driver, No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang – 7th
- Austin Cindric, driver, No. 2 Menards/Moen Ford Mustang – 17th
LOGANO SAID IT: “It’s nice to start in the top five. I feel like our car was better today than what we have had here the last couple of years. I am proud of the gains we have made to be in the ballpark. We just need to go out there and score stage points and be solid tomorrow, that is what we need to do. I think we are closer than what we have been here in a long time. This has been, maybe, our worst race track. So the fact that we are in the ballpark says a lot.”
KANSAS HISTORY: Team Penske has amassed six NASCAR Cup Series wins in the Sunflower State at Kansas Speedway, with the most recent victory being scored in 2020 by Joey Logano, which marked his third Kansas win for the organization. Across 30 Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile track, Logano has nine top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. Ryan Blaney has an average finish of 15.9 at Kansas with 19 total Cup Series starts, including three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Kansas was also the site of Blaney’s first-ever start in the Cup Series in 2014. Austin Cindric has a best finish of 11th at the Kansas City track, scored in the first Kansas event of the 2022 season.
TUNE IN ON SUNDAY: Coverage of Sunday’s Round of 12 opener at Kansas is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.