Kansas trends and notes
• This is the 29th race of 36 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008 and the third race of the "Chase for the Championship."
• This is the 15th of 21 intermediate track races of the season.
• This is the eighth time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has competed at Kansas Speedway since 2001.
• Kansas is a 1.5-mile oval with 15-degree-banked corners, a 10.4-degree backstretch, and a four-degree frontstretch.
• There are 45 drivers on the pre-entry list to compete for one of the 43 starting slots in Sunday's 267-lap, 400.5-mile race. Of those 45 entrants, 10 must get into Sunday's field based on qualifying times. They are: Johnny Sauter, Patrick Carpentier, Kyle Petty, Marcos Ambrose, Michael McDowell, Sam Hornish, Bill Elliott, Joey Logano, Tony Raines and Joe Nemechek.
• These teams are NOT locked in past the next race because the owners points change after each race:
32. Dave Blaney/Bill Davis Racing: 2,220 +98
33. Scott Riggs/Haas CNC Racing: 2,195, +73
34. AJ Allmendinger/Red Bull Racing: 2,133 +11
35).Robby Gordon/RGM: 2,130 8 points ahead of 36th
These teams/drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top 35:
36. Michael McDowell/Waltrip Racing: 2,122, 8 points out of 35th
37. Sam Hornish/Penske Racing: 2,052 -78
38. Patrick Carpentier/GEM: 1,877 -253
• Greg Biffle has won the past two races and is the defending champion of this event. In six previous starts, he has three top-3 finishes and an average finish of 11th. Those three top-3s have come in the past four races with a 12th being the worst finish in that stretch. In the past five races at Kansas, Biffle has earned the most points (794).
• Kyle Busch has gone from first to worst in the Chase; he is now 12th in the standings, 210 points behind Carl Edwards. Don't look for things to change for Busch here. In four starts, he has only one top-10 and an average finish of 26.5, the worst mark of the 12 Chasers.
• While he doesn't have a win this season, Jeff Gordon is the only driver with multiple victories here, having visited Victory Lane in the first two races at this facility. In addition to the two wins, Gordon has five top-10s, four top-5s and an average finish of 10.6. He also finished fifth here last year. Gordon has scored 984 points in seven previous events at Kansas, the most of any driver. Tony Stewart, the 2006 winner, is second with 966.
• A dark-horse pick for this weekend would be Casey Mears, who has three consecutive top-10s here and has outscored all drivers at Kansas in the past two races with 330 points, just ahead of Biffle's 322.
• Of the drivers guaranteed to make Sunday's show, Michael Waltrip has the worst average finish of all drivers with five or more starts (31.3). Of the go-or-go-homers with five or more starts, Joe Nemechek has the best average finish (19.1). He is also the 2004 winner of this event.
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kyle Petty has the worst average finish of the go-or-go-homers with a 25.8. That's still better than his teammate, Bobby Labonte (26.0), as well as two Chasers: Busch and Denny Hamlin (26.3).
There are six previous Kansas winners entered this weekend with seven victories among them:
| Driver | Kansas wins |
| Jeff Gordon | 2 (2001, 2002) |
| Greg Biffle | 1 (2007) |
| Joe Nemechek | 1 (2004) |
| Ryan Newman | 1 (2003) |
| Mark Martin | 1 (2005) |
| Tony Stewart | 1 (2006) |
| POS | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| 1 | Greg Biffle | Tony Stewart | Mark Martin | Joe Nemechek |
| 2 | Clint Bowyer | Casey Mears | Greg Biffle | Ricky Rudd |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | Mark Martin | Carl Edwards | Greg Biffle |
| 4 | Casey Mears | Dale Jarrett | Tony Stewart | Elliott Sadler |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | Jeff Burton | Matt Kenseth | Jeremy Mayfield |
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | Carl Edwards | Jimmie Johnson | Kurt Busch |
| 7 | Reed Sorenson | Kyle Busch | Rusty Wallace | Jamie McMurray |
| 8 | Elliott Sadler | Brian Vickers | Casey Mears | Dale Jarrett |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne | Clint Bowyer | Ricky Rudd | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 10 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Jeff Gordon | Brendan Gaughan |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | Martin Truex Jr. | Brian Vickers | Michael Waltrip |
| 12 | Mark Martin | Greg Biffle | Elliott Sadler | Kasey Kahne |
| 13 | Scott Riggs | Ken Schrader | Sterling Marlin | Jeff Gordon |
| 14 | J.J. Yeley | Jimmie Johnson | Kurt Busch | Tony Stewart |
| 15 | Dave Blaney | Kevin Harvick | Mike Bliss | Jeff Burton |
| 16 | David Ragan | Bill Elliott | Jeremy Mayfield | Bobby Labonte |
| 17 | David Stremme | Bobby Labonte | Ken Schrader | Matt Kenseth |
| 18 | Tony Raines | Denny Hamlin | Jamie McMurray | Rusty Wallace |
| 19 | Robby Gordon | Travis Kvapil | Kasey Kahne | Brian Vickers |
| 20 | Jeff Green | Sterling Marlin | Joe Nemechek | Mark Martin |
| 21 | Kyle Petty | Dave Blaney | Kyle Busch | Terry Labonte |
| 22 | Jeremy Mayfield | David Gilliland | Travis Kvapil | Carl Edwards |
| 23 | Johnny Sauter | Matt Kenseth | Ryan Newman | Bobby Hamilton Jr. |
| 24 | Jamie McMurray | Ryan Newman | Kevin Harvick | Shane Hmiel |
| 25 | Joe Nemechek | Kurt Busch | Dave Blaney | Jimmy Spencer |
| Pos | Chicagoland | Charlotte | Texas | Atlanta |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | Kasey Kahne | Carl Edwards | Kyle Busch |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | Greg Biffle | Jimmie Johnson | Tony Stewart |
| 3 | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 4 | Greg Biffle | Jeff Gordon | Ryan Newman | Greg Biffle |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Denny Hamlin | Jeff Gordon |
| 6 | Brian Vickers | Jeff Burton | Jeff Burton | Clint Bowyer |
| 7 | Matt Kenseth | Matt Kenseth | Tony Stewart | Kevin Harvick |
| 8 | David Ragan | Elliott Sadler | Mark Martin | Matt Kenseth |
| 9 | Martin Truex Jr. | Carl Edwards | Matt Kenseth | Brian Vickers |
| 10 | Ryan Newman | David Reutimann | Clint Bowyer | Jeff Burton |
| 11 | Jeff Gordon | Bobby Labonte | Kevin Harvick | Kurt Busch |
| 12 | Elliott Sadler | David Ragan | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Bobby Labonte |
| 13 | A.J. Allmendinger | Sam Hornish | David Ragan | Jimmie Johnson |
| 14 | David Reutimann | Kevin Harvick | Jamie McMurray | Ryan Newman |
| 15 | Kasey Kahne | Mark Martin | David Gilliland | Denny Hamlin |
| 16 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Kurt Busch | Brian Vickers | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| 17 | Mark Martin | Dave Blaney | Paul Menard | Casey Mears |
| 18 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Tony Stewart | Travis Kvapil | Scott Riggs |
| 19 | Jeff Burton | Regan Smith | Juan Pablo Montoya | Paul Menard |
| 20 | Scott Riggs | AJ Allmendinger | Bobby Labonte | David Reutimann |
| 21 | Jamie McMurray | Ryan Newman | Dave Blaney | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 22 | Clint Bowyer | Reed Sorenson | Casey Mears | Mark Martin |
| 23 | Dave Blaney | Jamie McMurray | Kurt Busch | David Ragan |
| 24 | J.J. Yeley | Denny Hamlin | Reed Sorenson | Robby Gordon |
| 25 | Robby Gordon | Clint Bowyer | Kasey Kahne | Sam Hornish |
- Carl Edwards (5,390 points) was the third-place finisher at Dover and remains first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. In four starts at Kansas, Edwards has two top-10s and a top-5 with an average finish of 17.0.
- Jimmie Johnson (-10) was fifth at Dover and maintains his second-place position in the Cup Series standings. Johnson has six starts here with four top-10s, a top-5 and an average finish of 12.0.
- Greg Biffle (-10) was the winner at Dover and remains third in the Cup Series standings. In six starts here, Biffle has three top-5s and a win, with an average finish of 11.0.
- Jeff Burton (-82) finished ninth at Dover and moves up one spot to fourth in the Cup Series standings. Burton has seven starts at Kansas with a top-5 and an average finish of 19.6.
- Kevin Harvick (-101) was sixth at Dover and moves up five places in the Cup Series standings to fifth. Harvick has seven starts here with two top-10s and an average finish of 16.1.
- Clint Bowyer (-106) was eighth at Dover and moves up three places to sixth in the Cup Series standings. In two starts here, Bowyer has two top-10s, a top-5 and an average finish of 5.5.
- Tony Stewart (-113) was 11th at Dover and remains seventh in the Cup Series standings. Stewart has seven starts here with five top-10s, three top-5s, a win and an average finish of 11.1.
- Jeff Gordon (-118) was seventh at Dover and moves up three places in the Cup Series points to eighth. Gordon has seven starts here with five top-10s, four top-5s, two wins and an average finish of 10.6.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-129) was 24th at Dover and falls five places in the Cup Series standings to ninth. Dale Jr. has seven starts here with four top-10s and an average finish of 17.1.
- Matt Kenseth (-167) was the runner-up at Dover and moves up two places to 10th in the Cup Series standings. In seven starts here, Kenseth has two top-10s, a top-5 and an average finish of 22.1.
Mark Garrow covers fantasy racing for ESPN.com.
