Kansas Speedway Is Next For the Cup Teams              

From a NASCAR Fan’s View

Yeah, the Cup Teams take on the Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon. From this fan’s view, there are questions to be answered by the time the race gets started. Some of them were answered by the practice and qualifying sessions. Some will be answered when the race begins, and others will be answered as the race progresses and ends.

So, what are some of those questions?

Well, it was pretty obvious to this fan that the Toyotas showed up to the track ready to race. Especially the JGR and 23XI Toyotas. The top three qualifiers are Toyotas and one of them has been a dominating force since the first race of the season. Of course, you know that is Tyler Reddick of the 23XI camp. He has four wins this season and just took another pole for this race at Kansas Speedway.

Man! Talk about a strong start to a season. He seems to have the field covered so far, and this fan thinks he is a definite contender for the Cup Championship at the end of the season. He could go all the way and end up as the Champ when the season is over. (Yeah, he is running strong enough for me to say that now, even though there is still a long way to go before we get to that point. Oh, and by the way, when he starts on the pole, he seems to win a lot, so far.)

The other two Toyotas in the top three are Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs, both from the JGR camp. Denny has four wins at this track and could take another trip to Victory Lane when this one is done. Not saying he will, just saying he could.

Ty Gibbs starts third on the second row and he has been very consistent so far this season and took his first Cup Win last weekend at Bristol. I’m not saying he won’t, but he could make it two in a row here at Kansas. With the speed these two Toyota camps have been showing, I don’t think a second win for him is that far-fetched. I guess you could say that is one of the questions that will be answered when the race is done.

I don’t want to go too far out on a limb here, but the Chevys of Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez are probably two of the biggest surprises to this fan. Both of them have been showing speed at times, and both of them qualified in the top eight for today’s race. I don’t know what their chances are when it comes to winning today, but what they have been showing as a team deserves to be noticed.

We all know Hocevar is very aggressive, and Suarez can be, too. I don’t want to overstate the possibilities for them in how this race goes, but I will say they both show moments of greatness at times. They just haven’t shown they have what it takes to end up in Victory Lane lately. I mean, they’ve shown good speed in qualifying and even in the races, but they just haven’t been there at the end of one yet. Perhaps today could be the day for one of them.

When it comes to the Fords, at least for this weekend, they do seem to be struggling a bit. Though there are others, the Penske and RFK Fords show a mixed bag of speed and struggle so far. The RFK Fords seem to have a better grip on their situation, but then, we just can’t rule out Ryan Blaney and how his Penske Ford has been running as a possible winner in today’s race. Of all the Fords, he seems to be the one who shows up at the front, contending for the win almost every week. If his pit crew gets its act totally together, look out. Even with all the spots they’ve cost him this season, he is often right there contending for the win.

It does appear to this fan that the Chevy Teams as a whole have been lacking something since the season started. Of course, we all know they changed their body style for this season, and many attribute that to their lack of performance. I don’t have a problem with that assessment since we have seen the other manufacturers struggle through the same thing. In fact, the Toyotas went through this same thing a couple of years ago, and the Fords a couple of years before that. The Toyotas seemed to really get a grip on theirs late last season, and it has carried over to this season with their obvious advantages of speed and handling. The Fords still appear to be struggling, at least a bit.