NASCAR viewer’s guide: Kansas Speedway

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Kansas Speedway.

After a long stretch of unique tracks, highlighted by the tight confines of Martinsville, dirt at Bristol, Talladega Superspeedway, Dover’s concrete and the abrasive Darlington asphalt, teams will face a more traditional track at Kansas, the first non-superspeedway 1.5-mile oval NASCAR has visited since Las Vegas in March.

The Xfinity Series is off, but the ARCA Menards Series races Saturday (2 p.m. ET, FS1) ahead of the Camping World Truck Series (8 p.m. ET, FS1), while the Cup Series headlines the weekend on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1).

Get ready for the weekend with this week’s viewer’s guide:

Hendrick Motorsports has won each of the past four races on mile-and-a-half tracks, a streak which includes Kyle Larson’s victory the last time NASCAR raced at Kansas.

All four of Hendrick’s drivers have won this season, the first time a team has accomplished the feat within the first 11 races. William Byron is tied for the most wins of the year with two triumphs (Atlanta, Martinsville). Larson won at Auto Club, Alex Bowman at Las Vegas and Chase Elliott at Dover. Since the start of 2021, HMS has won 22 races – twice as many as any other organization in that time.

Larson proved impressive at Kansas a year ago, leading a combined 262 laps. All others combined to lead 272 laps last year. Elliott, meanwhile, continues to lead the points. Byron nearly earned his third win of the season at Darlington before late contact from Joey Logano thwarted that.

There may be a new car in play, but Hendrick Motorsports seems sure to be in contention for Sunday’s win.

Neither of Richard Childress Racing’s Chevrolets has visited victory lane in 2022, but anyone watching knows they’ve been