KANSAS CITY, Kans. — The second round of the Cup playoffs begins today at Kansas Speedway.
USA Network’s coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET.
The last three races at this 1.5-mile track have seen the lead change take place in the final two laps. The most recent race in May saw Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by .001 seconds — the closest finish in series history.
So, what’s in store for today?
Here’s a look at the key storylines
1. Who can control the race?
Ten of the top 12 starters are playoff drivers and the race will be on to control the event when the green flag waves.
Pole-sitter Christopher Bell explained how critical that will be.
“I won the pole here several times and sometimes I’m able to lead and sometimes I lose the start and that’s a big, big part of the run is getting the lead, getting that clean air,” Bell said.
“If you can get the lead and get clean air, you’re going to lead for a period of time, and then just managing it from there. It starts at the wave of the green flag to make sure that you get the launch and get out front and then that’s a big first step of the race.”
Bell is joined on the front row by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs. The second row will have Kyle Busch and playoff driver Tyler Reddick, who won at this track during last year’s playoffs.
2. Talladega is looming
There’s always an emphasis to win the opening race of a playoff round. With Talladega next on the schedule after Sunday’s race, there will be added emphasis on either winning or scoring as many points as possible today to have a cushion heading into next weekend’s race.
“Talladega always is, whichever round that one falls in every year, a bit unpredictable,” Chase Elliott said. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen. When you have those races in the round, it’s always really important to take advantage of what you would call a traditional weekend. I think this is certainly one of them.
Chase Elliott’s team changes engines in the No. 9 car.
“The way I look at that is there’s more in my hands this weekend then there’s going to be at at Talladega next weekend. I would like to take advantage of that and make it to where next week doesn’t matter.”
Elliott will have extra work today. He starts last in the 38-car field after an engine change Saturday. All of the other 11 playoff drivers start in the top 20.
3. Pit road
Pit road often can be a key factor in any race. Stewart-Haas Racing made a pit crew change this week, switching the pit crews for Chase Briscoe, who is in the playoffs, and Josh Berry, who is not.
“I do get where the outside perception of it sometimes is chaos but I think from the inside, the guys that got taken off are obviously frustrated,” Briscoe said. “I get it, but I think at the end of the day, they still want to see us win this championship because they are a part of this team.
Kyle Larson and Joey Logano won in the Round of 16. Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe overperformed. What’s in store in the Round of 12?
“I think that’s the unique thing about our company right now is the total buy-in from top to bottom of everybody having this one goal of us going out as champions. The whole thing is super unfortunate, right?
“But (Berry’s team) has probably been the most consistent pit crew on pit road. Consistency is what it takes right now, so I guess that’s the decision behind it, but from an internal standpoint, it doesn’t feel like chaos at all.”
