Kansas Speedway

Immediately following the 2012 STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, the track will undergo a massive renovation project that includes repaving of the existing track surface, reconfiguration of the oval, and the addition of a new infield road course. “These are significant projects for Kansas Speedway and our fans,” said Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren. “Given the harsh weather conditions in the Midwest, a repave of our existing racing surface was a must.  Repaving a track is a huge undertaking so we decided it was the right time to make the other changes to our facility, which we believe will enhance our fans experience at Kansas Speedway.” ISC Design and Development, International Speedway Corporation's in-house design and construction group, will oversee the repave and road course projects.  The group will utilize state of the art computer modeling to develop track geometry that features up to 20 degrees of variable banking in the turns; the current banking at Kansas Speedway is 15 degree uniform banking in the turns.

NASCAR driver Greg Biffle carefully lined up the numbers on a row of new seats at the Kansas Motor Speedway. The entire row near the start finish line marked with the #16. Biffle turned to the small crowd of local media there for the publicity even and joked, "I plan on doing my victory celebration right there," pointing to the marks left from his victory celebration last year. Biffle was at the speedway Wednesday to help unveil a new section of wider seats being installed at the track.

The new road course at Kansas Speedway finally got its test drive. Sports cars turned laps on the new, 2.36-mile course Wednesday morning. The course was built on the infield during a resurfacing of the outer oval that was completed in time for NASCAR testing a couple of weeks ago. The first Sprint Cup race on the new surface is Oct. 21. There is no date yet for the first sports car race at Kansas Speedway, but track President Pat Warren said...

Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren announced Kansas Speedway's 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule today. “We look forward to hosting two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekends again in 2013 and also returning to our traditional fall race weekend, and hosting the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,” said Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren. Kansas Speedway's first race weekend will be April 19-21 and includes the SFP 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race (April 20)

Brad Keselowksi held off Dale Earnhardt Jr to win Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race atKansas Speedway and pick up his first victory of the year. Keselowski led the final nine laps, conserving just enough fuel to stave off Earnhardt and snap a 75-race winless streak. Earnardt finished second for the second week in a row in a fuel mileage race. Earnhardt appeared to have enough to make a late charge on Keselowski. That push never came - though Earnhardt did move up to third in the points standings.

Every single sporting event in this country has been on high alert since the events that have taken place in Boston following the bombing of the Boston Marathon. The STP 400 is no exception as the Kansas Speedway welcomed nearly 70,000 racegoers for the first big event of their season, and everything went off without a hitch.  The Kansas Speedway brought in extra personel to check trailers and cars in the infield and bomb sniffing dogs searched campers. Security lines were a little longer than normal but according to racegoers, it was fairly normal for the event.

NASCAR has fined team owner Richard Childress $150,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year for his altercation with driver Kyle Busch. Childress approached Busch following Saturday's Trucks race at Kansas Speedway and apparently punched him several times. The car owner was upset that Busch had bumped into Joey Coulter on the cool-down lap after the race. NASCAR said before Sunday's race that Busch was not at fault. Childress was allowed to stay for the race, but his access at the track was restricted to specific areas.

Kansas' third state-owned casino opened Friday. The Hollywood Casino overlooks Turn 2 of the Kansas Speedway. The $411 million facility has already created 1,000 new jobs and is expected to attract 4 million visitors each year. It follows the Boot Hill Casino which opened in Dodge City in early 2010 and the Kansas Star Casino which opened late last year in Sumner County, south of Wichita. The Hollywood Casino, a partnership between International Speedway Corp.

The one word I heard over and over this weekend at the Kansas Speedway is fast. I know you are saying why is that odd...I mean this is NASCAR not golf...it should be fast. But drivers believe the combination of cooler temperatures new pavement and new car has made the Kansas Speedway really fast. The number of track records that fell over the weekend back me up on this one. Which brings us to Matt Kenseth. Until last fall, he would never be a name that you thought of when you thought Kansas Speedway, but after pretty much owning the track since the repave, how can you think of anyone else?

There are a few things that are certain in this world. The sun will come out tomorrow (even if we haven't seen it much lately in Kansas), you will have to pay taxes (even it you don't want to) and Clint Bowyer will run top ten at a short track. In the last ten short track races, the Kansas kid has a win, five top fives and eight top tens. Which is why comming off a top five finish at the Kansas Speedway, Bowyer has all the momentum in the world as NASCAR heads to Richmond this weekend.

A girl who didn't return home after getting off the school bus in Kansas City has been found. Amia Walker, 6, was reported missing near 78th Street and Parallel Parkway, about five miles east of the Kansas Speedway. CBS affiliate KCTV-5 reports Walker got off the bus at the right stop, but did not make it home. The child was found hours later, and was with police.

After failing a post-race inspection of his Kansas Speedway engine, winner Matt Kenseth has been hit with a massive penalty. Kenseth loses 50 drivers points, his pole will not count toward entry into next season's Sprint Unlimited, nor with the win count toward chase bonus points or a Wild Card spot in the chase. But it's gets worse for his crew chief and owner. Crew Chief Jason Ratliff has been fined $200,000, suspended for six weeks and put on probation until December 31. Owner JD Gibbs also loses 50 owners points and is suspended for six weeks.

The one word I heard over and over this weekend at the Kansas Speedway is fast. I know you are saying why is that odd...I mean this is NASCAR not golf...it should be fast. But drivers believe the combination of cooler temperatures new pavement and new car has made the Kansas Speedway really fast. The number of track records that fell over the weekend back me up on this one. Which brings us to Matt Kenseth. Until last fall, he would never be a name that you thought of when you thought Kansas Speedway, but after pretty much owning the track since the repave, how can you think of anyone else?

Every single sporting event in this country has been on high alert since the events that have taken place in Boston following the bombing of the Boston Marathon. The STP 400 is no exception as the Kansas Speedway welcomed nearly 70,000 racegoers for the first big event of their season, and everything went off without a hitch.  The Kansas Speedway brought in extra personel to check trailers and cars in the infield and bomb sniffing dogs searched campers. Security lines were a little longer than normal but according to racegoers, it was fairly normal for the event.

Matt Crafton charged to the lead in a crash-filled race at Kansas Speedway, and then held off a late run by Joey Coulter to pick up his third career Truck Series victory Saturday. Crafton and Coulter were engaged in a spirited game of cat-and-mouse over the final 20 laps, but Crafton held onto his truck-length lead as they crossed the start-finish line, allowing him to celebrate his first win since Iowa in 2011 with a burnout that tore up one of his rear tires. Coulter chased him across to finish second.

Matt Kenseth took the pole Sunday at one of his favorite places after setting a track qualifying record of 191.864 mph at Kansas Speedway. Kenseth won the fall race at Kansas last season, and hasn't finished outside the top 10 since having engine trouble in the 2009 race. He has finished in the top five at Kansas five times. Carl Edwards will start on the front row for the first time at Kansas after qualifying second with a lap of 191.748. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified third.

Kansas Speedway and several drivers plan to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings during this weekend's NASCAR races. The track is working with NASCAR on a moment of silence before Sunday's Sprint Cup race to remember the three people killed and more than 170 wounded in Monday's blasts. Michael Waltrip, who ran the Boston Marathon in 2000, plans to honor them with special door numbers painted on his three Sprint Cup entries. The numbers will replicate the style of bib numbers pinned on the nearly 30,000 runners in this year's marathon.

The bombings in Boston are prompting security increases for large events across the country. NASCAR fans that will be traveling to the Kansas Speedway this weekend for the STP 400 can expect to see longer lines and bag checks. Pat Warren, Kansas Speedway president, said it is important to have an emergency action plan. "The unfortunate reality is that there are people in our country and outside of our country that want to do harm and do bad things and one of our jobs unfortunately is to do everything we can to make the place safe," Warren said.

We all know about Clint Bowyer's involvement in NASCAR. If you didn't before you started reading this blog, you do now. But the Emporia native who is smack dab in the middle of the Chase for the Championship is not the only connection NASCAR has to the Sunflower State. "I can thing of five guys from Kansas that is working in some form (in racing)," said Bryan Kincheloe who is the tire specialist for the Number 13 car driven by Casey Mears in the Sprint Cup Series. "Maybe not on this level but trucks, ARCA, Nationwide.