A NASCAR doubleheader is on tap this Mother’s Day weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series tackle the 1.5-mile track in the Sunflower State with a pair of races under the lights.
Saturday night’s KC Masterpiece 400 (MRN start time 7 p.m. ET) is the 12th race of the 2018 Cup Series schedule and the first of two trips to Kansas Speedway. Since the series returns in October for what will be a playoff race, running well and learning as much as possible Saturday night brings added importance to this weekend’s race.
“Anytime we have a track that’s in the spring portion of our schedule and it matches up with a playoff race in the fall, it’s very important,” Kurt Busch said. “We’ll definitely have a full run log of what we want to accomplish and understand. And Kansas is in a unique spot, too, because it’s the week before we head home to Charlotte for the All-Star Race and for the 600.”
Kyle Busch is securely locked into the playoffs on the strength of his three wins already this season. Kansas had not been one of Busch’s best tracks during his Cup Series career until a couple of years ago when he finally won. Since that trip to Victory Lane, Busch now looks forward to getting to Kansas whenever it rolls around on the schedule.
“I am,” he said. “Also, it was – even the last few times before we won there two years ago, that we’ve had some really strong runs. We finished in the top-five, I think, six of the last seven or eight races that we’ve had here.
“We’ve seem to have gotten a setup or a hold of that place, I’d say, and hopefully we don’t screw that up this time around and we can continue our strong runs and our fast pace of being able to have a shot to win.”
A win by Busch Saturday night would tie him with Kevin Harvick at four in 2018, after the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s win last week at Dover. Two of those wins came on intermediate tracks and Harvick is optimistic that performance will continue this weekend at Kansas.
“Our intermediates have been really good, and we’ve been good everywhere as a company,” Harvick said. “As you look at Kansas, in general, it’s been one of my best racetracks through the years. And since I’ve come to SHR, it’s probably been one of our top-two racetracks.
“It’s been a fun place to go to. I feel like we should’ve won more races there than we have, but I think you can say that at a lot of places, and sometimes the circumstances dictate that. I’m confident our Busch Light Ford will be fast. Anything less than a win there is usually a disappointment.”
That disappointment might hold true for Martin Truex Jr. as well. The 2017 Cup Series champion swept both Kansas races a year ago and has the second best average finish at the track behind Harvick at 9.9.
The Furniture Row Racing driver is eager to get back to Kansas and try to make it three-in-a-row.
“Winning three straight at Kansas would be pretty special,” Truex said. “We’ve been so good there the past three or four years but also had some heartbreakers after having the best car and not winning. Getting those two last year meant a lot. It was gratifying to get the job done but still feel the track owes us a few more.”
Friday night’s 37 Kind Days 250 (MRN start time 8 p.m. ET) is the sixth Camping World Truck Series race of the season. Johnny Sauter scored his second win of the year last week at Dover. Kyle Busch is entered in one of his KBM Toyota trucks and Bubba Wallace will also return to the series to pilot a truck for Young’s Motorsports.
“I always enjoy racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and am thankful for this opportunity with Young’s Motorsports,” Wallace said. “Kansas is a fast and fun track and I am ready to put our Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevy to the test.”
