You read that right, the NASCAR Cup Series is bringing all the action to the fans in a mid-week showdown with Thursday night’s Super Start Batteries 400 Presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts race at Kansas Speedway at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. This week’s Kansas race will be the 80th time the NASCAR Cup Series has competed on a Thursday.
Leading up to this season in the Modern Era (1972-Present) racing on a Thursday has been rare; it only happened a few times when Daytona International Speedway held their July race on the fourth (1974, 1985). But, prior to the Modern Era, mid-week racing was quite common – 76 of previous 79 Cup races held on Thursday were prior to the Modern Era from 1949 to 1971.
Below are the last 15 NASCAR Cup Series races held on a Thursday:
| Date | Track | Race Winner | Season | |
| 1 | Thursday, May 28, 2020 | Charlotte | Chase Elliott | 2020 |
| 2 | Thursday, July 4, 1985 | Daytona | Greg Sacks | 1985 |
| 3 | Thursday, July 4, 1974 | Daytona | David Pearson | 1974 |
| 4 | Thursday, July 15, 1971 | Islip | Richard Petty | 1971 |
| 5 | Thursday, April 15, 1971 | Maryville | Richard Petty | 1971 |
| 6 | Thursday, April 8, 1971 | Columbia | Richard Petty | 1971 |
| 7 | Thursday, February 11, 1971 | Daytona | Pete Hamilton | 1971 |
| 8 | Thursday, February 11, 1971 | Daytona | David Pearson | 1971 |
| 9 | Thursday, August 6, 1970 | Columbia | Bobby Isaac | 1970 |
| 10 | Thursday, July 9, 1970 | Thompson | Bobby Isaac | 1970 |
| 11 | Thursday, May 28, 1970 | Maryville | Bobby Isaac | 1970 |
| 12 | Thursday, April 30, 1970 | Columbia | Richard Petty | 1970 |
| 13 | Thursday, February 19, 1970 | Daytona | Charlie Glotzbach | 1970 |
| 14 | Thursday, February 19, 1970 | Daytona | Cale Yarborough | 1970 |
| 15 | Thursday, September 18, 1969 | Columbia | Bobby Isaac | 1969 |
Kansas Speedway has hosted the NASCAR Cup Series 28 times, but this week’s will be the first on a Thursday. The 28 previous Cup events have produced 16 different pole winners and 15 different race winners. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick leads the series in poles at Kansas with five (fall 2013, 2014 sweep, spring 2018, spring 2019). NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (2001, 2002, 2014), Kevin Harvick (2013, 2016, 2018) and Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2011, 2015) are all tied for the series-most wins at Kansas with three each. NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon won the first NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on September 30, 2001; actually, Gordon won the first two series races at Kansas (2001, 2002). The series’ most popular driver Chase Elliott holds the record for the youngest series Kansas winner at 22 years, 10 months, 23 days (October 21, 2018) and NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin is the oldest series Kansas winner at 46 years, 9 months, 0 days.
| NASCAR Cup Series | |
| Kansas Active Race Winners | |
| Active Race Winners | Wins |
| Jimmie Johnson | 3 |
| Kevin Harvick | 3 |
| Brad Keselowski | 2 |
| Denny Hamlin | 2 |
| Joey Logano | 2 |
| Martin Truex Jr | 2 |
| Matt Kenseth | 2 |
| Chase Elliott | 1 |
| Kyle Busch | 1 |
| Ryan Newman | 1 |
In this week’s event, 10 of the 15 former NASCAR Cup Series Kansas race winners are entered; including last season’s winners Brad Keselowski (May) and Denny Hamlin (Playoffs). The May race last year was dominated by Kevin Harvick, who led 104 laps, but it was Brad Keselowski who passed Alex Bowman with 11 laps to go to take the checkered flag and his second career win at the 1.5-mile track.
Of the 10 former Cup Kansas winners entered on Thursday, four of them are still looking for their first win in 2020 – Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman. Of the four, Kyle Busch is the most recent winner at Kansas grabbing his lone victory at 1.5-mile track in 2016.
Playoff picture is taking shape; two new winners in last two races
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff picture is starting to become clearer over the last two weeks as two new drivers – Cole Custer (Kentucky) and Austin Dillon (Texas) – have locked themselves into the postseason on wins. Now just six spots are left to make the Playoffs as the series heads to Kansas Speedway for Thursday night’s Super Start Batteries 400 Presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Drivers with wins that are locked into the Playoffs are Kevin Harvick (four wins), Denny Hamlin (four), Brad Keselowski (two), Joey Logano (two), Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, and Cole Custer (each have one win).
With just eight races left in the regular season, each event will ratchet up the pressure on the drivers to win; especially the six drivers clinging to their points in Playoff contention.
Heading into this week’s race at Kansas, Aric Almirola (109 points up), Kurt Busch (108) and defending series champion Kyle Busch (95) all have sizable points leads over 17th place William Byron. Almirola is the highest ranked driver in the standings without a win. He has made 16 starts at 1.5-mile track posting six top 10s. Kurt Busch leads the series in the most starts at Kansas without a win at 28, but he has had some success putting up four top five and 11 top 10s. Of the three with sizeable points cushions heading into Thursday night, Kyle Busch has had the most success at Kansas posting one win (2016) and seven top fives. In last season’s May Kansas race Kurt Busch finished seventh, Almirola finished 12th and Kyle Busch was 30th.
Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto is next in the driver standings and is having a career year, currently 14th in the Playoff outlook with a 51-point cushion up on 17th place William Byron – the first spot outside the Playoff cutoff. This season DiBenedetto has collected two top fives and five top 10s. He has made 10 series starts at Kansas posting an average finish of 25.6; including his career-best finish in last season’s Playoff race of 15th.
Next up in the Playoff outlook is Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, currently 15th just 36 points up on postseason cutline. This season Bowyer has amassed two top fives and five top 10s. But the Emporia, Kansas, native is hoping a trip to his home track can get him his first win of 2020 and locked into the Playoffs. Bowyer has made 23 series starts at Kansas posting three top fives and eight top 10s. He finished fifth in the May Kansas race last season.
Just like last week, Jimmie Johnson continues to teeter along the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s cutline, currently 16th in the driver standings a mere two points up on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron in 17th – the first spot outside Playoff transfer spots. Johnson is riding a winless streak that has reached 113 races – dating back to Dover in 2017 – but all that could change this Thursday at Kansas, a track at which Johnson shares the series lead for wins. Johnson has made 27 series starts at Kansas posting three poles, three wins, nine top fives and 19 top 10s. His average finish at Kansas is a strong 10.3.
Johnson finished sixth in the May Kansas race last season.
| Rank | Driver | Points | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | Pts From Cutoff |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | 534 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 109 |
| 12 | Kurt Busch | 533 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 108 |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 520 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 |
| 14 | Matt DiBenedetto | 476 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 461 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 36 |
| 16 | Jimmie Johnson | 427 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | William Byron | 425 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -2 |
| 18 | Tyler Reddick # | 413 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -14 |
| 19 | Erik Jones | 403 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -24 |
| 20 | Bubba Wallace | 351 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -76 |
| 21 | Chris Buescher | 341 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -86 |
| 22 | Christopher Bell # | 325 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -102 |
| 23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 321 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -106 |
| 24 | Michael McDowell | 320 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -107 |
| 25 | John Hunter Nemechek # | 307 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -120 |
| 26 | Ryan Newman | 300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -127 |
| 27 | Ty Dillon | 255 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -172 |
| 28 | Matt Kenseth | 253 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -174 |
| 29 | Corey LaJoie | 243 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -184 |
| 30 | Ryan Preece | 190 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -237 |
Of the five drivers outside the Playoffs but within a 100 points of the cutoff, Tyler Reddick (9.0) has the best average finish at Kansas Speedway; followed by Erik Jones (16.9), Chris Buescher (17.8), William Byron (24.0) and Bubba Wallace (28.2).
