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The Big Six: Questions Answered After The STP 400

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_Looking for the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How behind Sunday’s race? Amy Henderson has you covered with each week with the answers to six race day questions, covering all five W’s and even the H…the Big Six._

*Who…gets my shoutout of the race?*

Running for the team that has suffered the most from Penske Racing’s change to Ford this year, *Aric Almirola* posted his second top-10 finish in the last two races on Sunday, coming home eighth. Almirola is a driver who has shown that he can run well if given a stable environment, and he has done that at Richard Petty Motorsports, despite the team being underfunded in comparison to its closest competitors in points.

Kasey Kahne … The Most Underrated Driver In NASCAR?

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I guarantee that if you go on any website that covers the sport of NASCAR—including this one—you’ll see at least one column about how Kenseth’s move to Joe Gibbs Racing was the greatest thing he ever did and that Kansas solidified his dominance and blah, blah, blah…

It’s relevant, no doubt, but what everyone is missing is the second place driver: Kasey Kahne. However, that’s nothing new for the Washington native, who tends to fly under the radar as it is. He’s been in the sport for a while now and has won several races, yet you almost never hear “Kasey Kahne” amongst the weekly favorites to win when all the so-called analysts are making their picks. I’m even guilty of this fact.

Inside The IndyCar Series: Long Beach Race Recap

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*In A Nutshell:* Takuma Sato finally broke through and earned his maiden IndyCar win. Sato ran up front for much of the day and only was truly challenged by Graham Rahal towards the race’s conclusion, marking the first triumph for the Japanese driver for AJ Foyt Racing. Sato cruised to the line over Rahal, with Justin Wilson, Dario Franchitti, and JR Hildebrand rounding out the top 5.

*Key Moment:* Late in the race, Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal had checked out on the field and appeared primed to duel to the finish. However, Rahal was short on fuel and was thus forced to save until the end. Sato capitalized on this shortcoming and drove away with ease down the stretch.

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.

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 …

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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.