NASCAR’s NextGen car has proved after 12 races that parity is thriving in the 2022 Cup season as its produced 10 different winners. Most of the races have been thrilling with lots of different lap leaders and choosing the winner after the first two stages aren’t as simple as it used to be.
Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway will be the third race of the season on a 1.5-mile layout, but only the second time using the standard NextGen package with engines producing 670 horsepower because the Atlanta race in late March used the superspeedway package.
The March 6 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the best comparison we have to Kansas despite a bit steeper banking in Vegas. Perhaps we can throw in February’s Fontana race on the 2-mile layout as well, but let’s talk about the Vegas race that had 25 lead changes among 15 drivers. It may have been the best race I’ve ever seen there since its first Cup race in 1998 just because of the passing.
ADVENTHEALTH 400 PICKS & PREDICTIONS
The Pennzoil 400 went into overtime due to a late crash. Kyle Larson was leading and a hard-charging Alex Bowan was able to pass him for the win. Ross Chastain led the most laps (83) on the day and finished third. Kyle Busch led three times for 49 laps and finished fourth, and William Byron led eight laps and finished fifth. Larson would lead three times 27 laps and finish second. A week before, Larson won at Fontana which remains his only win of the season. Expect Larson to be rim-riding around the top of the Kansas layout again.
"At Fontana, we were able to run really close to the wall, so I would imagine it’s pretty easy to run next to the wall at Kansas,” Larson said. “I love Kansas – it’s definitely one of my favorite tracks. It does have multiple lanes, typically. If that top lane gets going really fast, it does make it hard to pass. I hope we can run the bottom, middle and top."
Larson won the last race run at Kansas in the fall leading a race-high 130 laps for his first win at Kansas and fourth top-five in 14 Cup starts. Between all the recent data we have of Kansas, Fontana, and Las Vegas, we’re looking at two wins and a runner-up which is of course the reason Caesars Sportsbooks have posted him as the 9-to-2 favorite to win.
We have all the data but it still doesn’t change the fact that this will be Larson’s first time at Kansas in the NextGen car as his crew chief Cliff Daniels explains.
"We had success there last year, but this weekend is another track we are visiting for the first time with the NextGen car so there is still a lot to learn,” Daniels said. “Kansas is just one of those tracks where you have to respect the track because it can draw you into thinking it’s pretty straightforward, but the lanes can change a lot throughout the race. Everybody thinks you can run up top, then everybody does and it’ll fall off, so you have to be good enough to move down the track. And right as you think the strategy will be simple, a caution will come out and change everything you’re doing. You really have to be on your game in the moment and respect the track and the race. Past success always gives you confidence, but it’s still the new car at a track we haven’t competed on with it yet."
READ MORE HERE....TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION ON VEGASINSIDER.COM
No comments:
Post a Comment