KANSAS CITY, Kan. — No doubt a bettor brave enough to take Chase Elliott with one lap left in overtime in last year’s Sept 28 race at Kansas Speedway could have gotten long odds.
Elliott took the white flag in fifth place, behind the Toyotas of Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell. Wallace pulled out to a lead of a half-car-length, with Hamlin in pursuit.
Hamlin steered his No. 11 Camry to the inside of Wallace’s car and forced Wallace wide through the final two corners. That allowed Elliott to dive to the inside of both Toyotas and steal the win for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet.
“It certainly played a factor, kind of in the manufacturer battle as well, right?,” Hamlin said on Saturday before NASCAR Cup Series practice for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I mean, you go from winning one to now your competition actually won.
“There were definitely a lot of negatives to the way that race ended, but it certainly was I just, I feel like, I was trying to go for it, certainly, and used a little bit too much aggression, for sure, in Turn 3.
“But overall, you’re going to have that in racing. When you have teammates, manufacturer guys that you all share information with, we’re going to always be right around each other. So sometimes those racing incidents happen in one out of 20 times.”
Hamlin heads the list of winners at Kansas with four victories, but he’s shocked at his recent failures to find Victory Lane.
“For the last six years, if someone else wins a Kansas race, I’m just trying to figure out how we didn’t win, because we’re always just so fast here,” Hamlin said.
“We found 10 to 12 different ways to not win here, and I thought I saw the stat this week that there has only been. … I think (Kyle) Larson’s been the only repeat winner here in the last 11 races, and it was like, the fact that we haven’t is just criminal. So, hopefully we can change that.”
Now a NASCAR Cup winner, Ty Gibbs wants to make racing more physical
At age 23, Ty Gibbs is feeling his oats after his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory, and he’d like to make the sport tougher and more physical.
“I think we should rip all the cool suits out of everyone’s cars and make it a more physical sport,” Gibbs said on Saturday. “I think that would be very entertaining and bring out more emotion, obviously…
“I think no cool suits — rip ‘em all out. I think, honestly, people would be pumped with that, ‘cause half the time they break on everybody and make it worse. I think we should rip all of it out, make it more physical.”
When cool suits are working properly, they compensate for high temperatures in a car’s cockpit. When they malfunction, however, the water flowing inside the suit can overheat and add to a driver’s discomfort.
Some drivers, such as Gibbs’ teammate Denny Hamlin, choose not to use cool suits at all.
Erik Jones: New LEGACY president should have significant impact
The new president of LEGACY Motor Club isn’t just an administrator, as driver Erik Jones made clear on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, site of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400.
With a background as chief operating officer at Joe Gibbs Racing and as vice president of engineering and R&D (as well as global sales and marketing) at automotive industry supplier Multimatic, Michael Guttilla brings a broad-ranging skill set to LEGACY.
“I didn’t know him beforehand, but I had a chance to sit down and spend some time with him in the last week and a half,” Jones said on Saturday at Kansas Speedway. “I think he’s a super impressive guy. His resume’s really strong, and he’s done a lot of things, in motorsports and in manufacturing and production cars.
“He has a pretty broad range of skills, and I think he has a lot of managerial skills. I think the role he’s in is great, obviously, but I think he can bring a lot to the table and a sense of understanding the engineering side as well. I don’t think he’s a guy that is just well-versed in business, but I think he’s well versed in competition and performance.
“I’m excited to have him. We’ve been kind of waiting to fill that role and find the right guy, and that’s been a role that wasn’t just randomly filled when Michael became available. It was something that’s been in the works, and we’ve been trying to find the right fit for a while. I was excited to do that, excited to have him, and see what he can bring. It’s still super early. It’s been a couple of weeks, but I really, I think his influence is already starting to be felt a bit.”
Female drivers make a statement in ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas
Gio Ruggiero won Saturday’s Tide 150 ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas Speedway, but there were significant stories that unfolded behind him.
Three of the four female drivers in the field finished in the top 10, with Lanie Buice running fifth, followed by Jade Avedisian in seventh and Dystany Spurlock in 10th. Avedisian was competing on a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway for the first time.
The fourth female driver in the race, Isabella Robusto, a former Kansas pole winner, was running just outside the top 10 when the engine in Cleetus McFarland’s car blew and spread oil on the track.
Robusto slid through the fluid, slammed into the outside wall and fell out of the race.
Daniel Dye finished second in his first race since his reinstatement from a suspension for inappropriate comments directed at IndyCar driver David Malukas.
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
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