After NASCAR drivers attempted to tame Miles the Monster at Dover Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series hit the yellow brick road in search of a win at Kansas Speedway.
The 1.5-mile track is no stranger to entertaining races, and Kansas has some special appearances lined up off the track too. Let’s take a look.
FOX Sports Booth: Replacing Rusty Wallace in the booth this week is the reigning winner of the spring Kansas race: Kurt Busch. The 2004 Cup champion earned what was likely his final career win in the 2022 Kansas spring race, and he was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers earlier in the week.
Grand Marshal: Former NFL defensive end and Kansas City Chiefs great Neil Smith will give the command for the AdventHealth 400. In 13 seasons with the Chiefs, Broncos and Chargers, Smith recorded 104.5 sacks and 625 tackles. He also won two Super Bowls with the Broncos.
Pre-Race Concert: Kansas City-bred band Hudson Drive will perform the pre-race concert prior to the Cup event.
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a news writer before elevating to a columnist, where he served as the longtime writer for The Underdog House. Currently, he is an editor for the site and conducts feature interviews. Glover has covered several forms of racing for the site including NASCAR, CARS Tour, and SRX events.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a promotional writer, elementary athletic director, and basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.
There was no doubt that Kurt would be one of the top 75 drivers.
I want to comment on a selection, that mostly flew under the radar last week.
I was really happy to see that Midwest Short Track superstar, Larry Phillips was selected.
It was my privilege to have probably seen him win over 200 races. And I’ve watched him from the time he drove his very first race at The Springfield Mo. Fairgrounds.
He was not only a top driver but a car builder as well. In the ’70s Mark Martin moved from Arkansas to Springfield, he worked for Larry as a fabricator in his race shop. And raced weekly at the Fairgrounds along with Larry, & Rusty Wallace.
Larry’s win record is incomplete, but he won 13 track Championships. And is the only 5-time NASCAR Weekly Series Championship winner. He won in ’89 ’91 ’92 ’95 & ’96.
He’s been on the NASCAR HOF ballot, but as he never ran Cup, he’s not yet been selected.
We lost him in 2004 from cancer.