NASCAR Race in Kansas: A New Start Mirrors a Record-Breaking Finish

The upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday will kick off just as the previous race concluded last year, with Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher lining up next to each other for the start of the event.

One year later, Larson won the pole over Buescher by just 0.057 seconds, which was actually much greater than his record setting margin of victory in the AdventHealth 400 last year, which was 0.001 of a second.

“It’s certainly ironic and incredibly awesome,” Larson stated during his post-qualifying media interview. “This enhances the narrative from last year and creates more excitement leading into the race tomorrow. However, I won’t dwell on those moments when we’re circling under yellow flags; nonetheless, it remains both ironic, amusing, and impressive.”

Buescher couldn’t overlook the irony either.

I doubt we could have crafted a more perfect narrative even if we had aimed to do so. This lap in the Ford Mustang was truly remarkable,” stated Buescher. “This team deserves recognition; our practice sessions were top-notch, and the performance at Texas last week was impressive. We entered this event with very high expectations, which are clearly being met. Although we fell just short, we find ourselves in an excellent position, ensuring clear air as we begin this race at a track where we’ve consistently performed well.

This marked Larson’s 22nd career pole position at the top tier of NASCAR, though it was his first one at Kansas. This victory means he secures a cherished trophy, particularly significant as he has three children now.

The pedal car.

After getting out of the car on the Prime Video stream, Larson expressed his desire, saying, ‘I really hope they’re still handing out those pedal cars since that’s been my dream gift all along,’ particularly now that he has children and would love for this tradition to continue.

Indeed it was.

Eventful qualifying session

Josh Berry and Kyle Busch both hit the wall, placing them at 35th and 38th in the standings respectively.

The race remains at high speed during qualification when using new tires; however, determining precisely how much to ease off became crucial for the session.

Denny Hamlin came close to hitting the wall but managed to avoid it after drifting towards it; Bubba Wallace faced a comparable situation.

The challenge was clearly expressed by Larson during his post-session press briefing.

Buescher mentioned, ‘As you review the telemetry data, you can see drivers begin to floor it aggressively in turns one and two. However, some racers started tightening up in turns three and four.’ He continued, ‘I managed to maintain control through turns three and four quite well, which gave me an idea of my preferred line. I focused on matching that trajectory with precise use of the gas pedal. Luckily, everything felt smooth, balanced, and resulted in a perfectly executed lap.’

Eventful practice session

To start with, here’s some background: this year, Goodyear has supplied the racing community with a softer left-side tire specifically designed for intermediate tracks. These tires have already been used in races held at Las Vegas, Darlington, Texas, and most recently at Kansas.

However, this was the initial instance where teams had to adjust their setups remotely with this particular tire compound at Kansas, which caused issues for multiple groups during the first segment of practice—a period divided into different team clusters. Goodyear suggested an air pressure of 22 psi, yet teams lowered theirs as much as possible to enhance velocity without risking blowouts.

Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Shane Van Gisbergen, and Chase Briscoe all encountered problems during practice sessions.

Luckily for all of them, there wasn’t any considerable damage, except for some scratches from when the car scraped along the ground while returning to the pit road.

Keselowski stated that the signal from the tire helped prevent things from becoming even more severe.

As I navigated Turns 3 and 4, it seemed somewhat loose. Fortunately, I received a caution, which prevented me from spinning off course or having an accident,” Keselowski stated. “Everyone’s really testing their vehicles to the extreme limits. We weren’t expecting such tight conditions, but we’ll address this issue and improve our setup for Sunday.

Zane Smith had an issue with the right rear.

Smith explained, “We noticed the problems with the initial set of tires, but I believed we were fine regarding the pressure settings. Then suddenly, without warning, our right rear tire burst during Turns 3 and 4, which resulted in us hitting the barrier.” He continued, “That breakdown couldn’t have come at a worse time. Up until that point, however, we had an incredibly quick Horizon Hobby Ford. The performance gave me great confidence in our vehicle; I felt confident that our speed over longer stretches matched anyone else’s.”

I hope we can restore things to how they were… Everyone at FRM will be putting in great effort to fix this situation, but I have complete faith in their abilities.

Starting lineup