Kansas Speedway Data

by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services

At Kansas Speedway:
History
• Groundbreaking was held on May 25, 1999.
• The official opening of Kansas Speedway was in 2001, with the first events being an ARCA race and a NASCAR Camping World Series West race on the same day – June 2.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was Sept. 30, 2001.

Notebook
• There have been eight NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Kansas
since the track opened in 2001.
• All of the races have been scheduled for 267 laps.
• 13 drivers have competed in all eight races at Kansas.
• Jeff Gordon won the first two NASCAR Sprint Cup races.
• Jason Leffler won the first pole in September 2001.
• Six different drivers have won poles, led by Jimmie Johnson with two.
• Seven different drivers have posted victories, led by Jeff Gordon (two).
• There have been six different winners in the last six races at
Kansas Speedway.
• Five of the eight races have been won from a top-10 start.
• Two drivers have won from the pole: Joe Nemechek in 2004 and Jimmie Johnson last season.
• The furthest back in the field that race winner started was 21st, by Tony Stewart in 2006.
• Denny Hamlin made his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup start at Kansas – a 32nd-place finish in 2005.
• Three drivers with more than one start have averaged a top- 10 finish: Greg Biffle (9.9), Clint Bowyer (7.7) and Jeff Gordon (9.8).
• Jeff Gordon leads all drivers in top fives (five) and top 10s
(six).Gordon’s only two non-top 10s were a 39th in 2006 and
a 13th in 2004.
• Three of the last four races that ended under green had a margin of victory under one second. The 2007 race ended under caution.

NASCAR in Kansas
• There have been eight NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Kansas, all at Kansas Speedway.
• 15 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Kansas, including Jim Roper who won the very first NASCAR Sprint Cup race – Charlotte in 1949.
• There have been two race winners in the top three NASCAR series from Kansas: