{"id":10306,"date":"2022-05-16T15:24:46","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T19:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=10306"},"modified":"2022-07-22T12:08:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T16:08:27","slug":"three-big-stories-kansas-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2022\/05\/16\/three-big-stories-kansas-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Big Stories: Kansas (2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After Sunday&#8217;s race, I&#8217;m driving to Kansas Speedway to cover its NASCAR Cup Series playoff race in September.<\/p>\n<p>The Advent Health 400 gave us 23XI Racing&#8217;s best overall performance, outside of a restrictor plate race. Moreover, a bunch of drivers cut their left-rear tires. Finally, I think it&#8217;s safe to say the NextGen car has saved intermediate track racing.<\/p>\n<p>So without further adieu, let&#8217;s dive into the Three Big Stories of Kansas, 2022.<\/p>\n<h2>Three Big Stories: Kansas (2022)<\/h2>\n<h3>Excellent show by 23XI Racing<\/h3>\n<h4>The post-race emotion<\/h4>\n<p><a id=\"JErvL2p5SXFyy8lR79lqBg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1397431015\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/a%20id=&#039;JErvL2p5SXFyy8lR79lqBg&#039;%20class=&#039;gie-single&#039;%20href=&#039;http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1397431015&#039;%20target=&#039;_blank&#039;%20style=&#039;color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal%20!important;border:none;display:inline-block;&#039;Embed%20from%20Getty%20Images\/ascriptwindow.gie=window.gie||function(c)(gie.q=gie.q||%5B%5D).push(c);gie(function()gie.widgets.load(id:&#039;JErvL2p5SXFyy8lR79lqBg&#039;,sig:&#039;OMTsr0X5LC3MgB8c2N2Z0tZCzggUMiUq4SG3qhjxUuQ=&#039;,w:&#039;594px&#039;,h:&#039;405px&#039;,items:&#039;1397431015&#039;,caption:%20true%20,tld:&#039;com&#039;,is360:%20false%20));\/scriptscript%20src=&#039;\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js&#039;%20charset=&#039;utf-8&#039;%20async\/script\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'JErvL2p5SXFyy8lR79lqBg',sig:'OMTsr0X5LC3MgB8c2N2Z0tZCzggUMiUq4SG3qhjxUuQ=',w:'594px',h:'405px',items:'1397431015',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/a><\/p>\n<p>23XI Racing co-owner <strong>Denny Hamlin<\/strong> walked over to\u00a0<strong>Kurt Busch<\/strong>&#8216;s car on pit road. Then reached in, hugged and congratulated him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Appreciate it, man,&#8221; Busch said. &#8220;We did this! We did it, man! Hell ya!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He continued his post-race interview with FOX Sports&#8217; Jamie Little, with tears in his eyes and a bottle of Coca-Cola in his right hand.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Just can\u2019t thank Kurt enough,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Jordan Brand\u2019s first race. So jealous he gets to drive that car and then to have that thing so fast there.<\/p>\n<p>It was a new feeling for Hamlin. A feeling he hadn&#8217;t experienced with any of his own victories as a driver.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve obviously been excited for the Daytona 500, but I just don\u2019t know why this one just feels bigger to me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think a lot of it is because I watched it live. I think had I been on the other side of the track and just kind of looked at the pylon it would be one thing, but I had a front row seat to it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Especially since he worked his way from the back to the front three different times. He witnessed Busch, an elder statesman of the Cup Series, lead 116 laps, win a stage and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2022\/05\/15\/kurt-busch-makes-late-pass-to-win-at-kansas\/\" target=\"_self\">overtake\u00a0<strong>Kyle Larson<\/strong> in the closing laps<\/a> to score his 34th career victory. Furthermore,\u00a0<strong>Bubba Wallace<\/strong> overcame two mistakes by his pit crew to claw his way back to a 10th-place finish.<\/p>\n<h4>The breaking of a slump<\/h4>\n<p>Sunday was the first time both 23XI Racing cars finished in the top-10. Furthermore, it broke under-performing slumps for both, which relegated them from top-five in points to the mid-20s.<\/p>\n<p>With four races in the playoffs on mile-and-a-half tracks, building upon this success, in the midst of building a new team from scratch, is paramount.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You have to start from the ground up when you are building a brand new car, whether it\u2019s the Next Gen or the No. 45 at 23XI,&#8221; Busch said. &#8220;The Toyota family brought me in; Monster Energy said, &#8216;Let\u2019s go do this.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And did it, he did. At least for one weekend. Whether it translates to success moving forth, only time will tell.<\/p>\n<p>Provided the pit crews cut down on the costly mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>Hamlin acknowledged that the team let Wallace down, as well as almost cost Busch the victory, and that things had to change.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So that part is very, very frustrating,&#8221; Hamlin said, &#8220;but I think fundamentally there will be changes coming and certainly we saw the 45 team in particular really have some good solid stops.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Again, they lost the lead on the last stop, but if this had been five weeks ago, I would pray that they came out in the top-ten. Certainly it sucks because I don\u2019t control it, but certainly I wish that we could make some changes, and I think we will.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Three Big Stories: Kansas (2022)<\/h2>\n<h3>A bunch of cut left-rear tires<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10300\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10300\" style=\"width: 2089px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10300 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2089\" height=\"1318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1.jpg 2089w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1-1024x646.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1-768x485.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1-1536x969.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397421919-1-2048x1292.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2089px) 100vw, 2089px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10300\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">KANSAS CITY, Kan. &#8211; MAY 15: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 UniFirst Chevrolet, spins after an on-track incident during the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 15, 2022, in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo: Sean Gardner\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A timely spin by\u00a0<strong>Daniel Suarez<\/strong> on Lap 64 saved\u00a0<strong>Christopher Bell<\/strong>&#8216;s race, because his left-rear tire went flat, while he was in the lead. While he never made it back to the lead, he brought his car home fifth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>William Byron<\/strong>, however, wasn&#8217;t so fortunate.<\/p>\n<p>He suffered a left-rear flat while leading on Lap 113 and made an unscheduled stop. He finished the day in 16th. Nor did teammate\u00a0<strong>Chase Elliott<\/strong>, who spun out from a cut left-rear, while running sixth, on Lap 197 and finished 29th, several laps down.<\/p>\n<p>Goodyear sent out a media release, last week, saying that the NextGen car&#8217;s design impacted the load put onto the left-rear tires, and that teams should run two more PSI at tracks like Kansas.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">From the Goodyear tire notes this week sent to media about the loads on the left rear: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A5LDciNOuq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/A5LDciNOuq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bobpockrass\/status\/1525599740204826626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Whether Goodyear brought less than ideal tires to Kansas or teams didn&#8217;t run what Goodyear recommended is still in the air. For now, all I can say is keep an eye for this happening at other intermediate tracks down the road.<\/p>\n<h2>Three Big Stories: Kansas (2022)<\/h2>\n<h3>The NextGen car saved the intermediate tracks<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10299\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10299\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10299 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1397424096-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10299\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">KANSAS CITY, Kan. &#8211; MAY 15: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&amp;M&#8217;s Crunchy Cookie Toyota, and Kurt Busch, driver of the #45 Jordan Brand Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 15, 2022, in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo: Sean Gardner\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Almost two years ago, I watched the Coca-Cola 600 with fellow NASCAR writers Chris Knight and Kelly Crandall. After the race, I walked down the stairs with Knight to his car. I told him that that was the worst NASCAR race I&#8217;ve ever sat through.<\/p>\n<p>I won&#8217;t say much about what was said, because a lot of it isn&#8217;t safe for work, but we were all miserable as hell.<\/p>\n<p>Fast-forward to Sunday, Byron makes a power move on\u00a0<strong>Ross Chastain<\/strong> and Truex to take the lead on Lap 89. On Lap 182, Larson pulls a slide job on Busch to overtake him in Turn 2. Then he got loose and clipped the wall on exit.<\/p>\n<p>And it&#8217;s not isolated. We saw moves like this at both Auto Club Speedway and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2022\/03\/07\/three-big-stories-las-vegas-2022\/\" target=\"_self\">Las Vegas Motor Speedway<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I think it&#8217;s safe to say that the NextGen car has saved the racing at intermediate tracks. This would&#8217;ve been un-heard of, just two years ago, or even last season.<\/p>\n<p>No longer is the racing at tracks like Kansas Speedway &#8220;slot car racing.&#8221; Now, driver skill, car setup and tire management make the difference, again.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the kind of racing that puts NASCAR on par with some of the best racing leagues of the auto racing world.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s more? It&#8217;s made races at intermediate tracks fun to watch, again. Now, I feel no dread about NASCAR racing at Texas Motor Speedway, this weekend, or Charlotte Motor Speedway, next weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, it&#8217;s not the style most associated with NASCAR (restrictor plate racing) or what fans have yearned for, year after year (short track racing), but if I may steal a line from former NASCAR Chairman and CEO, Brian France, this is, un-ironically, &#8220;quintessential NASCAR.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>TOP IMAGE: Sean Gardner\/Getty Images<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Sunday&#8217;s race, I&#8217;m driving to Kansas Speedway to cover its NASCAR Cup Series playoff race in September. The Advent Health 400 gave us 23XI Racing&#8217;s best overall performance, outside of a restrictor plate race. Moreover, a bunch of drivers cut their left-rear tires. Finally, I think it&#8217;s safe to say the NextGen car has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3353,"featured_media":10302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,1664],"tags":[1513,1639,827,260,353,14,1550,371,1552,1457],"class_list":["post-10306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nascar","category-nascar-cup-series","tag-23xi-racing","tag-advent-health-400","tag-bubba-wallace","tag-kansas-speedway","tag-kurt-busch","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-2022","tag-nascar-cup-series","tag-nextgen","tag-three-big-stories"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}