Kentucky NASCAR Cup Series Notes: 2017 Quaker State 400

Brad Keselowski won at Kentucky last season, his third at the 1.5-mile track.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts

The Place: Kentucky Speedway

The Date: Saturday, July 8

The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: NBCSN, 7 p.m. ET

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 80),

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on lap 267)

NASCAR XFINITY Series

Next Race: Alsco 300

The Place: Kentucky Speedway

The Date: Friday, July 7

The Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: NBCSN, 7:30 p.m. ET

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 300 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45),

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Next Race: Buckle Up In Your Truck 225

The Place: Kentucky Speedway

The Date: Thursday, July 6

The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 225 miles (150 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 35), 

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on lap 150)

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Stenhouse Surges To Second Victory

NASCAR might have a new restrictor-plate ace. Nearly two months after visiting Victory Lane at Talladega, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. surged past David Ragan in overtime of Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway to win his second career race.

Stenhouse joins Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers with multiple victories this season. The Roush Fenway Racing driver is having a career year. He’s tied his career best with four top fives and already claims a career-high seven top 10s.

The No. 17 Ford driver will attempt to continue his momentum in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He has a high finish of 11th in four starts at the 1.5-mile track.

Kentucky Fried King: Keselowski Goes For Record Fourth Win In The Bluegrass State

Kentucky Speedway has hosted six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. Brad Keselowski has won a track-record three of them, including last year’s race.

Keselowski will go for a fourth career win at Kentucky in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts. In addition to his four victories, the No. 2 Team Penske driver claims three top fives, five top 10s and an 8.2 average finish. He’s led a track record 483 laps.

Keselowski currently ranks fifth in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, 132 points behind leader Kyle Larson. He is tied with Larson for third in playoff points with 13 (via his two wins and three stage wins).

Busch Hopes To Grab First Win Of Season At Kentucky

Kyle Busch sits third in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings, 108 points behind leader Kyle Larson, but he still hasn’t won a race this season. He’ll try to change that this weekend at Kentucky Speedway where he’s visited Victory Lane twice (2011, 2015).

In addition to his two Kentucky wins, Busch boasts four top fives, five top 10s and a 5.2 average finish in six starts there. He has never finished lower than 12th.

Busch’s streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes was snapped last weekend at Daytona after finishing 20th. He has four stage wins, four playoff points, six top fives, nine top 10s and a 13.1 average finish this season.

Larson Looks To Extend Points Lead

Kyle Larson continues to prove the future is now for NASCAR’s young stars. Seventeen races into the season, the 24-year-old Californian leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings by 18 points over Martin Truex Jr.

Larson’s 10.2 average finish is tops in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He ranks second in average running position (8.9) and driver rating (105.8). The No. 42 Chevrolet driver is third in laps led (721, 14.6%).

Larson has struggled at Kentucky throughout his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. In three starts at the 1.5-mile track, he has never finished higher than 19th.

Playoff Watch: Nine Races Left For Drivers To Earn Postseason Berths

Nine races remain for drivers to earn berths in NASCAR’s playoffs.

The following drivers would get in if the season ended today: Jimmie Johnson (three wins, 16 playoff points), Kyle Larson (two, 13), Martin Truex Jr. (two, 21), Brad Keselowski (two, 13), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (two, 10), Kevin Harvick (one, eight), Ryan Blaney (one, eight), Kurt Busch (one, five), Ryan Newman (one, five), Austin Dillon (one, five), Kyle Busch (117 points above Joey Logano on the cutoff line, four playoff points), Chase Elliott (+82, two), Jamie McMurray (+62), Denny Hamlin (+56, 2), Clint Bowyer (+27), Matt Kenseth (+3, two).

The first four out would be: Logano (three points below Matt Kenseth on the cutoff line), Erik Jones (-56), Daniel Suarez (-88) and Trevor Bayne (-91).

Remember, a win gets a driver into the playoffs. Below is a list of winless drivers who have visited Victory Lane at upcoming tracks:

Kentucky: Ky. Busch, Kenseth

New Hampshire: Ky. Busch, Kenseth, Bowyer, Hamlin, Kasey Kahne

Indianapolis: Ky. Busch, McMurray, Paul Menard

Pocono: Hamlin, Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Chris Buescher

Watkins Glen: Hamlin, Ky. Busch, AJ Allmendinger

Michigan: Ky. Busch, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, Kahne

Bristol: Ky. Busch, Hamlin, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne

Darlington: Ky. Busch, Hamlin, Kenseth

Richmond: Ky. Busch, Hamlin, Kenseth, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne

Kentucky Betting Preview: 2017 Quaker State 400

Martin Truex Jr. has been the best on 1.5-mile tracks in 2017.

LAS VEGAS -- I can't believe we're already at the halfway point of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Or at least it will be at the conclusion of Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

It certainly has been an unusual season as we slowly get used to not seeing names like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards on the final results sheet, but we're seeing new drivers step up and handle themselves well against the old guard. So far we've had 11 different winners in the first 17 races, including three drivers who captured the first Cup wins of their careers. 

Last week at Daytona, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won for the second time in his four year career. His first win came eight weeks ago at Talladega. That Daytona win paid out at 20/1 odds, a low price showing just how respected he is in Las Vegas. He's turned the corner of his career and is no longer just Danica Patrick's boyfriend. It's also nice to see Roush Fenway Racing matter again. 

Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is still showing the kids how it's done as he leads the series with three wins. Right under him is four drivers each with two wins, including Brad Keselowski who has won three of the six races held on Kentucky's 1.5-mile layout. He won in 2012, 2014 and also last season which was the first race after Kentucky repaved the track and slightly reconfigured turns one and two.

Read More Here...Top-5 Finish Prediction on VegasInsider.com

Kentucky Speedway Data

Season Race #: 18 of 36 (07-08-17)

Track Size: 1.5-miles

Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 17 degrees

Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 14 degrees

Banking/Frontstretch: 8 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 8 degrees

Frontstretch Length:  1,662 feet

Backstretch Length:  1,600 feet

Race Length: 267 laps / 400.5 miles

Stage 1 & 2 Length: 80 laps (each)

Final Stage Length: 107 laps

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Kentucky

Kyle Busch.............................. 125.6

Brad Keselowski...................... 119.2

Matt Kenseth.......................... 107.9

Kevin Harvick.......................... 102.8

Jimmie Johnson...................... 102.1

Joey Logano............................. 91.5

Martin Truex Jr.......................... 91.3

Kasey Kahne............................ 91.0

Denny Hamlin............................ 89.1

Ryan Newman........................... 89.0

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2016 races (six total) among active drivers at Kentucky Speedway.

Kyle Busch won two of first five Cup races at Kentucky Speedway

Kyle Busch is 5/1 to win at Kentucky on Saturday night.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 SNICKERS® Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing: 

What are your favorite moments at Kentucky Speedway? 

“I have a few favorite moments, actually. The first time racing in the ARCA Series, I won that race a long time ago. And then just a few years ago when I was able to win the race at Kentucky in 2015 during my championship season, just coming back from injury, and that was the first of three races we won in a row. We were able to pass Joey Logano that year late in the race and go on to win – that was a fun one, too. The track that year was really wide, we were running four lanes off the bottom and that never happened before. I’m also really excited to have SNICKERS on board with me this weekend and also have ROWDY as one of the new hunger symptoms on their packaging and also on my racecar.” 

Where do you have the Jukebox trophies from winning Cup and Xfinity races at Kentucky? 

“One of our jukeboxes is downstairs in the play area, where we have the downstairs bar and pool table area. And the other one is in (son) Brexton’s playroom. He knows how to turn it on, goes up there and it’s playing whatever music is on. Brexton loves the jukebox, for sure.” 

How big of a challenge do you have with turn one and two versus a completely different turns three and four at Kentucky? 

“I think the biggest thing we saw last year is that the groove goes from being so wide coming out of turn four and down the front straightaway, it kind of narrows up getting into turn one and the racetrack width narrows up, not to mention the groove is probably only one car wide. Then, on the other end getting into turn three, the track kind of widens out down there and you have plenty of room, but again it narrows down and there’s only one groove. We tried our best to get it rubbered in during the test. It seemed, in turns one and two, the rubber laid down well but it was more of a challenge in turns three and four. We’ll see how it is this weekend.” 

How does it feel to know you’ll always be the inaugural Cup Series winner at Kentucky for the rest of your career? 

“I think it’s cool. You look at some of the new venues we’ve been to over the years and Jeff Gordon got to win a number of inaugural races, like the Brickyard, Fontana, and Kansas. He was always the guy who was known to figure out places the fastest, but we were able to be the ones to do that at Kentucky. There aren’t many opportunities these days to go to a new venue so, for us, being able to win the first race there was extra special, and we’ve really kept that going there by finishing in the top-10 in all the Cup races that have been run there. We’d certainly like to keep our record going there this weekend with our SNICKERS ROWDY Camry.” 

Is Kentucky a special place for you? 

“I love Kentucky. It was special there in 2011, when we were able to win the first Cup race there, and it stayed that way during our win there two years ago. I look forward to going back every year. It’s a pretty challenging racetrack. It used to be a place that lends itself to different kinds of setups because it was so rough. Fast lap times at Kentucky come from momentum. The place is so round that there’s not a ton of banking compared to some other 1.5-milers. It’s all about how round the corners are and just being able to maintain corner speed and stay on the gas. We certainly think we have as good a shot as any to get back to victory lane there with our SNICKERS ROWDY Camry. It’s a place we get excited about, for sure.”

Odds to win 2017 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

Brad Keselowski has won three of the six Kentucky races.

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK
ODDS TO WIN QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2017

Martin TRUEX JR 4/1
Kyle LARSON 5/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 5/1
Kyle BUSCH 5/1
Kevin HARVICK 8/1
Jimmie JOHNSON 8/1
Chase ELLIOTT 12/1
Denny HAMLIN 15/1
Matt KENSETH 18/1
Joey LOGANO 18/1
Ryan BLANEY 25/1
Clint BOWYER 30/1
Jamie McMURRAY 30/1
Kurt BUSCH 40/1
Erik JONES 50/1
Dale EARNHARDT JR 40/1
Kasey KAHNE 80/1
Austin DILLON 80/1
Ryan NEWMAN 100/1
Ricky STENHOUSE JR 100/1
Daniel SUAREZ 200/1
Trevor BAYNE 300/1
Paul MENARD 300/1
Ty DILLON 300/1
Chris BUESCHER 500/1
Darrell WALLACE JR 500/1
AJ ALLMENDINGER 500/1
Michael McDOWELL 1000/1
Danica PATRICK 1000/1
FIELD (all others) 1000/1

Updated Odds to win 2017 NASCAR Championship following Coke Zero 400

Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick are among five drivers listed at 6.1 to win title.

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

ODDS TO WIN 2017 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP 

Kevin HARVICK 6/1
Jimmie JOHNSON 6/1
Joey LOGANO 8/1
Kyle BUSCH 6/1
Martin TRUEX JR 5/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 6/1
Chase ELLIOTT 12/1
Matt KENSETH 25/1
Dale EARNHARDT JR 80/1
Denny HAMLIN 20/1
Kyle LARSON 6/1
Clint BOWYER 35/1
Kurt BUSCH 50/1
Erik JONES 100/1
Kasey KAHNE 100/1
Austin DILLON 80/1
Daniel SUAREZ 100/1
Ryan BLANEY 40/1
Jamie McMURRAY 40/1
Greg BIFFLE XX
Ryan NEWMAN 80/1
AJ ALLMENDINGER 500/1
Ricky STENHOUSE JR 80/1
Ty DILLON 500/1
Trevor BAYNE 500/1
Aric ALMIROLA 500/1
Paul MENARD 500/1
Danica PATRICK 2000/1
Chris BUESCHER 2000/1
FIELD (all others) 1000/1

Ricky Stenhouse Jr wins second straight plate race

Ricky Stenhouse Jr was 20/1 to win at Daytona.

Coke Zero 400 Results

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona

- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 2nd win in last 8 Cup Series races; winless in his first 157 races

- Stenhouse Jr.: 5th driver with multiple wins this season

- 3rd straight year a driver has won multiple plate restrictor-plate races in a season (2015: Dale Earnhardt Jr.; 2016: Brad Keselowski)

- Stenhouse Jr.: 126th driver in series history with multiple wins

- Stenhouse Jr.: 1st Roush Fenway Racing driver with multiple wins in a season since Carl Edwards in 2014

- Clint Bowyer: finished 2nd; 6th runner-up finish since last win in October 2012

- Bowyer: 4th top-5 finish this season; had 2 in last 2 seasons combined

- Michael McDowell: finished 4th; first top-5 finish in 230 career Cup Series races

- Daniel Suárez: finished 17th; led 11 laps (had led 1 in 16 career Cup Series starts entering race)

- Dale Earnhardt Jr.: finished 32nd in last race at Daytona before retirement

- Earnhardt Jr.: winless in 14 career starts when winning pole

- Earnhardt Jr.: was 2 laps down after flat tire; raced back into top 10 before getting involved in wreck

- Earnhardt Jr.: finished outside top 20 in 4 Daytona races over last 2 seasons (31.5 Avg finish in those races)

- Stage 1 winner Brad Keselowski finished 31st; Stage 2 winner Matt Kenseth finished 27th

- 14 cautions were 2nd-most ever in a Cup Series race at Daytona

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - NASCAR Cup Series Career
1st 157 Races Last 8 Races
Wins 0 2
Top 10 pct 13.4 37.5
Laps led 44 39

Dale Earnhardt Jr. At Daytona - Since 2012
2012-15 2016-17
Races 8 4
Best finish >>1st 21st
Avg finish 5.8 31.5
DNF 0 3
>>2 wins (including in July 2015)



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The major story of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final run at his beloved Daytona International Speedway in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – turned out to be a footnote to Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s masterful victory in a war of attrition that produced a race-record 14 cautions.

The driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, who got his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in his 158th career start two months ago at Talladega, established himself as a restrictor-plate wizard with his second straight superspeedway win, this one after three laps of overtime.

Stenhouse lined up behind race leader David Ragan for a restart on Lap 162, after a caution for a backstretch collision involving Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones slowed the action for the 14th time and sent the race to overtime.

Ragan pulled out to a two-car-length lead after the restart, but Stenhouse surged past him near the end of the backstretch and protected the top spot the rest of the way. Clint Bowyer charged into the runner-up position at the finish, beating third-place finisher Paul Menard to the stripe.

After the Talladega victory, Stenhouse talked team owner Jack Roush into letting him keep the winning car. So the No. 17 team built another superspeedway car that was just as fast.

"I kept my Talladega car and told them to build a new one," said Stenhouse, who locked himself into the postseason playoff with his second victory of the season. "They built a Fifth Third Ford that was really fast…

"This is awesome! I’ve been coming here since 2008. I actually came in 2006 one time with Bobby Hamilton Jr., and it’s cool to put it in Victory Lane and get our second win this year. I love it! Thank you to the fans for coming out here. Everyone at NASCAR. What a great weekend. America! 1776! We are the champs!... This validates what we did at Talladega."

A succession of multicar wrecks crippled or eliminated more than a handful of contenders, the most notable of which was Earnhardt, the polesitter.

On Lap 52, Earnhardt felt his right front tire losing air but was trapped in the outside lane. Inadvertent contact from Menard nudged the No. 88 into the outside wall near the entrance to Turn 1, obliterating the top third of the car number on the right side.

Earnhardt lost two laps on pit road but returned to the lead lap as the highest-scored lapped car after eventual seventh-place finisher Brendan Gaughan scraped the wall on Lap 90 to cause the seventh caution. Earnhardt restarted 31st but drove up to sixth before Kevin Harvick blew a tire and spun in front of Earnhardt in Turn 2 on Lap 106.

In a wreck that involved five cars and also eliminated the Ford of Stage 1 winner Brad Keselowski, Earnhardt hit Harvick’s Ford broadside, effectively ending the evening for both drivers.

But that was just a prelude to the intense action that would follow, as an unlikely cast of characters claimed positions in the top 10. Michael McDowell came home fourth, scoring his first top-five in 230 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

Ryan Newman was fifth, followed by Ragan, Gaughan, AJ Allmendinger, Jones (whose No. 77 Toyota survived a succession of incidents) and Chris Buescher.

A second-place finisher at Sonoma last Sunday, Bowyer was already growing weary of the runner-up role.

"This bridesmaid deal sucks," Bowyer said. "I want to win. We’re in this business to win. That’s what (owners) Tony (Stewart) and Gene (Haas) pay me to do. I’m proud of everyone on the Mobil 1 Ford team."

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race - Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Florida

Saturday, July 1, 2017

                   1. (6) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 163.

                   2. (11) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 163.

                   3. (24) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 163.

                   4. (23) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 163.

                   5. (22) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 163.

                   6. (30) David Ragan, Ford, 163.

                   7. (32) * Brendan Gaughan(i), Chevrolet, 163.

                   8. (27) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 163.

                   9. (17) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 163.

                   10. (29) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 163.

                   11. (36) Corey LaJoie #, Toyota, 163.

                   12. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 163.

                   13. (28) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 163.

                   14. (8) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 163.

                   15. (31) Darrell Wallace Jr.(i), Ford, 163.

                   16. (34) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 163.

                   17. (20) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 163.

                   18. (4) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 163.

                   19. (26) Landon Cassill, Ford, 163.

                   20. (16) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 163.

                   21. (33) * Elliott Sadler(i), Chevrolet, 163.

                   22. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 162.

                   23. (14) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 160.

                   24. (18) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 157.

                   25. (10) Danica Patrick, Ford, Accident, 154.

                   26. (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 154.

                   27. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, Accident, 154.

                   28. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, Accident, 153.

                   29. (21) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 153.

                   30. (37) * Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 147.

                   31. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 113.

                   32. (1) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 106.

                   33. (5) Kevin Harvick, Ford, Accident, 105.

                   34. (25) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, Accident, 73.

                   35. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 71.

                   36. (19) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 70.

                   37. (39) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Engine, 57.

                   38. (40) DJ Kennington, Toyota, Engine, 14.

                   39. (35) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, Engine, 9.

                   40. (38) * Ryan Sieg(i), Toyota, Engine, 7.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  123.986 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 17 Mins, 12 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.213 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  14 for 51 laps.

Lead Changes:  33 among 16 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   D. Earnhardt Jr. 0; C. Elliott 1-4; B. Keselowski 5-28; K. Harvick 29-30; B. Keselowski 31-33; K. Harvick 34; B. Keselowski 35; D. Earnhardt Jr. 36; B. Keselowski 37-43; E. Jones # 44-47; D. Hamlin 48; E. Jones # 49-53; D. Hamlin 54-67; M. Kenseth 68-69; T. Bayne 70-71; M. Kenseth 72-78; D. Hamlin 79; M. Kenseth 80-81; K. Harvick 82-85; R. Stenhouse Jr. 86-91; D. Suarez # 92-101; M. Kenseth 102; J. Johnson 103-106; C. Bowyer 107-110; R. Stenhouse Jr. 111-117; M. Kenseth 118-126; R. Blaney 127-135; K. Kahne 136-137; D. Suarez # 138; K. Kahne 139-148; R. Stenhouse Jr. 149-150; T. Dillon # 151-157; D. Ragan 158-161; R. Stenhouse Jr. 162-163.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  B. Keselowski 4 times for 35 laps; M. Kenseth 5 times for 21 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. 4 times for 17 laps; D. Hamlin 3 times for 16 laps; K. Kahne 2 times for 12 laps; D. Suarez # 2 times for 11 laps; R. Blaney 1 time for 9 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 9 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 7 laps; T. Dillon # 1 time for 7 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 4 laps; C. Elliott 1 time for 4 laps; D. Ragan 1 time for 4 laps; J. Johnson 1 time for 4 laps; T. Bayne 1 time for 2 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,88,21,14,22,95,1,41,20,38

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,11,48,41,38,4,5,13,43,21