Race Weekend Central

By Frontstretch

Kenseth’s Sweet Success: When A Change Really Does Do You Good

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Throughout much of last season, speculation abounded that Matt Kenseth would be leaving Roush Fenway Racing for Joe Gibbs Racing, and once September rolled around, the pair confirmed the decision. And what a decision it was for Kenseth. It took just three races for the 31-year-old and the No. 20 team to get to Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, succeeding in a race where he led just 42 laps.

Fast forward to the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday where Kenseth headed to victory lane, with Kasey Kahne in tow, for the second time in just six races.

Kenseth Dominates in the Heartland, Wins at Kansas

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by Justin Tucker Matt Kenseth sent a message on Friday Afternoon during Sprint Cup Series Qualifying to the field. Kenseth rocketed his No. 20 Husky Tools Toyota to a track qualifying record of 191.864 MPH in earning the pole for Sunday’s STP 400. On Sunday Afternoon, Kenseth would prove to be the dominator, leading 163 …

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Never Fear, the Underdogs are Here: Kansas I Edition

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Never Fear, the Underdogs are Here: Kansas I Edition by Amy Henderson Editor’s Note: This year, we’re going to switch things up a little bit. Instead of just focusing upon one underdog (or underreported) car in the Secret Star section, we will point out three smaller teams that put up good finishes each week. Underdog …

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STP 400 Quotes

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“We tightened up a little bit on that final run and putting two on, and zero, I knew we were going to be a little loose but didn’t think it would be quite that bad. Matt (Kenseth) was fast and I just did everything I could and he would go to those spots and I …

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Sidebars

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Keselowski Faces Adversity in Kansas, Finishes Sixth Following a week of harsh penalties due to illegal rear end housing in Texas, 2012 champion Brad Keselowski was already starting from behind over the weekend in Kansas Speedway. A tough day began when the green flag flew for the first time in the STP 400. During the …

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Tracking the Trucks: SFP 250

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*In a Nutshell:* Matt Crafton took the checkered flag 0.167 seconds ahead of Joey Coulter to score his third career victory in Saturday afternoon’s SFP 250 from Kansas Speedway. Crafton took the lead with fresher tires for the second and final time on lap 138, and despite numerous challenges from Coulter, he led the final 30 laps to become the 13th different winner in 13 events at the speedway. Rookie Ryan Blaney, Brendan Gaughan and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top 5.

Snitching: It’s the “Self-Policing”

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“If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.”

It’s a mantra you hear echoed in NASCAR rather often, and some people actually mean it! I mean, after all, a sport built on moonshine and running away from police _has_ to be built on integrity, right?

Alas, teams bending and twisting the rules to find an advantage over their competitors is as old as racing itself, NASCAR or otherwise. Yet somehow every time a team is found to have either been out of bounds in NASCAR’s rulebooks or at least close to it, everyone reacts with, well, shock. They’re called a series of nasty names and noses are slightly turned up at their audacity to even think about trying to make their cars faster. How _dare_ they.

Matt Crafton Wins SFP 250

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Matt Crafton scored his third career Camping World Truck Series victory Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway when he took the checkered flag 0.167 seconds ahead of Joey Coulter. Rookie Ryan Blaney, Brendan Gaughan and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top 5. In a race that slowed by 11 cautions and a 12 minutes 46 second …

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Matt Kenseth Fastest in Final Practice

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice ended the same way qualifying ended on Friday: With Matt Kenseth on top. Kenseth paced final practice at a speed of 188.712 mph. Aric Almirola was second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya. Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five. Practice went incident free until the final …

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James Buescher on Pole for SFP 250

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Turner Scott Motorsports swept the top three spots for this afternoon’s Camping World Truck Series race from Kansas Speedway. James Buescher, who led both practice sessions on Friday, will start on the pole (178.306 mph) alongside Miguel Paludo. Rookie Jeb Burton, Johnny Sauter and Ty Dillon round out the top 5. Speeds increased throughout the …

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Juan Pablo Montoya Quickest in Second Practice

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Juan Pablo Montoya paced Saturday’s first practice session at Kansas Speedway, clocking in at 28.321 seconds at 190.671 mph. Rookie Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was second quickest, followed by Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle, and Carl Edwards. Pole-sitter Matt Kenseth was 15th fastest. Full results: 1. Juan Pablo Montoya 2. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 3. Aric Almirola 4. …

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Beyond the Cockpit: Can James Buescher Repeat? He Talks Kansas And Title Expectations

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_Turner Scott Motorsports driver James Buescher is running his fifth full-time season in the Camping World Truck Series. After showing solid improvement throughout the years, last season he finally broke through to victory lane at Kansas Speedway and followed that win up with three more before closing on the season as the 2012 champion. This season hasn’t quite started out the way the driver of the No. 31 team had hoped for, but with top-15 results in all three events so far, Buescher looks to improve upon that performance today._

_Buescher, who led both practice sessions from Kansas, took some time out on Friday afternoon to sit down with Frontstretch.com’s Beth Lunkenheimer to talk about coming back to the site of his first career victory._