MENCS: Hollywood Casino 400 Race Preview

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The event at the 1.5-mile oval will serve as the 32nd stop on the series tour with five races left. Kevin Harvick, who will be piloting the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford, enters the event as the defending race winner.

The entry list for Kansas Speedway features 41 entries. That means one team will not qualify for Sunday’s event. Some of the fresh faces this weekend include 00-Derrike Cope, 15-Reed Sorenson, 23-Corey LaJoie, 51-B.J. McLeod, 55-Gray Goulding, and 83-Brett Moffitt.

Many key playoff drivers enter Kansas Speedway needing a good run in order to advance into the ‘Round of Eight’. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth both come into the 1.5-mile oval outside of the cut line. Busch, a native of Las Vegas, sits seven points out of the box while teammate Matt Kenseth sits eight points behind.

“We’re going to do the same things we’ve always done – same preparation, nothing different. I think we need to go in there and do our best to be prepared and when it comes to race time, try to limit our mistakes,” said Busch. “I think that helped out there over the years and that has turned our team into a contender every time we race there, now. We’ll just do the same things this time around. It’s no different than what we typically do each and every week, though. I know Adam (Stevens, crew chief) will have a good M&M’S Halloween Camry and we will keep doing what we’ve been doing well all year long and see where the points fall for us if we can’t get a win.”

“I think the main key to success there is to be fast on both sides of the run.  We’ve been really fast there before on the front side, but then maybe not as strong on the backstretch, while some people can be the other way around, said Kenseth. “I think to get restarted fast is important there in today’s world, but you also have to be versatile enough to move around the race track to be good at the end of the run as well.  Kansas is a place that you really need to be fast enough to pass, restart fast, and be good at the end of the run.  Looking ahead to this being a cut-off race this weekend, I really just take it one race at a time trying to get a win, and if you can’t get that, you just try to run the best you can to collect as many points as possible.”

Ryan Blaney and Jimmie Johnson are the last two drivers inside the cut line. Blaney enters the 400-mile event nine points to the good. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie McMurray are the last two drivers in the Round of 12 playoff grid and sit 22 and 29 points back.

One driver looking to play spoiler at Kansas Speedway will be Joey Logano. Despite missing the playoffs this year, Logano is still hungry looking to score a last-minute win of the season.

With 16 starts at the midwest oval, Logano holds two victories, six top five and boasts an average finish of 18.9. Each of these top five finishes came in his last eight races there.

The driver from Connecticut has momentum coming into the weekend after finishing fourth last weekend at Talladega and leading the field for 59 circuits.

If Derrike Cope makes the race in qualifying, he’ll make his 14th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start of the season. Cope will be piloting the No. 00 Chevrolet for StarCom Racing — marking their debut in the premier racing series.

The driver from Washington State has 422 career starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Since his debut in 1982, Cope has two victories, six top five and 32 top 10 finishes.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. live on NBCSN. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Ch. 90 will carry the live radio broadcast.

Brett Winningham
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