Race Track

In spring, the days get longer and so does the grass. But along with the green, people will also see a little bit of yellow. "We're just a big white building right off the side of the road," says engineering manager Ron Lefevre. And Hustler Turf Equipment, in Hesston, keeps getting bigger. Inventor of the zero turn lawn mower, Hustler manufactures thirty-thousand yellow mowers each year. Mowers are stacked high off the ground and hanging in the air. About 400 people work at the Hustler to make the high powered machine for commercial and residential use. "With the assembly line that we have set up its about every five to six minutes that we have a new mower coming off the line," says Lefevre.

The Confederate Flag and NASCAR. It's the 800lb gorilla in the middle of every race track.  And I don't care if it's Phoenix, Daytona, Darlington or Kansas. They are as much apart of the sport as the cars, the the gas cans and race haulers. And as much as NASCAR wants to ignore it...it's there. And it's a part of their image. Then there is the General Lee. A fictional car from a 80's television show. Is it named after a civil war general? Yes. Does it have a large confederate flag on the hood?

Several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams took to the newly reconfigured Kansas Speedway today and the reviews are in - and they have been pretty positive as teams navigate the variable banking for the first time. “I think they did a really nice job repaving,” said Matt Kenseth. “Drivers aren't huge fans of repaves, especially being the first ones on the track, by this afternoon the cars were more comfortable on the track. I think the repave is awesome.” Regan Smith agreed.

The Kentucky Motor Speedway is hoping it is them. Last season, thousands of fans never even made it into the track to see the first cup race there. So the state of Kentucky and Bruton Smith threw millions at increased lanes, a pedestrian tunnel and more parking. We will find out on Saturday night if it will actually work. As for actually racing, Kyle Busch was the winner last year the one and only cup race at Kentucky. "It was a great race for us last year," said Busch  I remember just being pretty quick right off the track and being able to have a fast car during the test that we had and during the practice session.  Qualifying got rained out and then we still got to start up front because of the practice speeds.  Feel good about it again this year.

Follow Heather Williams' NASCAR coverage thie weekend with live updates, video and photos from the race track. ------------------------------------------------------------ Friday 4pm update Hey every one it's Heather. Day one at the track has been hectic. The day is full of press conferences from all the top drivers. Got the morning session up now. Afternoon session soon. ------------------------------------------------------------- Friday 8pm update Day one is in the books.

So Clint Bowyer battled through a nasty summer bug last weakened at Pocono, just another obstacle for this 33 team battling to find its place in NASCAR's chase.  Still Bowyer managed to run pretty decently, before pit strategy shuffled him back to an 18th place finish. "I woke up very sick this morning and struggled to stay hydrated in the car," said Bowyer. "We were better than the 18 th -place finish, but it's so hard to pass on any track lately and track position means everything.

Some call it the tricky triangle. And the nickname alone should give you good insight into what will make this weekend's race so unique. With just three corners instead of the unusual four, there is nothing like the Pocono Raceway on the NASCAR circuit. Things get a little trickier this weekend, because the track has been repaved, so no one really knows what to expect. "Obviously it's going to be really fast and I think they have put a lot of effort into making the race track safer with the barriers all around the track," said Kevin Harvick.

It's nickname is the Monster Mile, but it's Jimmie Johnson that has been a monster at Dover. The five time champ is a seven time winner at the mile long track. That's bad news for the field this weekend as Johnson also come in this weekend as the points leader. “The intensity you have to drive that track with. It really fits my style," said Johnson. It's the closest track we have to being airborne each lap with the drop off into turns one and three. It's just cool you've got to bring your big boy pants every lap there and I love it.” JJ won when NASCAR was at Dover back in June.

This week NASCAR is headed to Las Vegas. And while we all have visions of drivers hitting the casino and living up, they are gonna have to leave that for champions week this year. This weekend there is work to be done. Many of the drivers actually got the the track one day early for an open test, since this is the first time the new Generation 6 car will race on the all important mile and a half track. "Everyone's anticipation of getting to Las Vegas and getting all of the cars on the race track at the same time is pretty high, just for the fact that no one can tell you exactly what's going on," said Kevin Harvick.

New faces with new teams and new cars were on display during Day 1 of Preseason Thunder at Daytona, but one storyline dominated - the Gen-6 car is sleek and fast.   Defending Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth, with new team Joe Gibbs Racing, was fastest in the first practice with a top speed of 192.757 mph and second-fastest in the afternoon session with a top speed of 195.385 mph. Teammate Denny Hamlin topped the speed chart in the second practice (195.712 mph) in his Gen-6 Toyota Camry.

Make no mistake, this trip to the Kansas Speedway will be unlike any other. It's a completely different track. "I think it is a wild card, but it won't be where there's going to be some Chase guys in the 30s because they wrecked and maybe, possibly some that win the race," said Spring Kansas winner Denny Hamlin "I think on strategy you easily could go one way or the other, so it's a wild card in that sense.  You just hope that you're smarter or have things fall your way and cautions when you need them they fall -- things like that.

In my opinion, every NASCAR race, or at least every race in the Chase should be run under the lights. The cars look better, faster and Saturday night racing just feels more like racing at the local dirt tracks. As it is, the only night race in the Chase that we have, is Saturday night in Charlotte. "Once night falls during the October race, Charlotte (Motor Speedway) becomes completely different than what we practice on during the day," said Kevin Harvick.  "You can bet on the fact that the track will be really fast as the temperature drops and we'll gain a lot of grip.

It's nickname is the Monster Mile, but it's Jimmie Johnson that has been a monster at Dover. The five time champ is a seven time winner at the mile long track. That's bad news for the field this weekend as Johnson also come in this weekend as the points leader. “The intensity you have to drive that track with. It really fits my style," said Johnson. It's the closest track we have to being airborne each lap with the drop off into turns one and three. It's just cool you've got to bring your big boy pants every lap there and I love it.” JJ won when NASCAR was at Dover back in June.

So as we head off to Atlanta, I have something I need to get off my chest: frankly my dear I don't give a Danica. The Media needs to stop talking about Danica Patrick. I know that as a member of said media, by writing this blog, I am contributing to the problem. But seriously she is got to be the most talked about 27th place driver in the history of racing. I realize she is a woman and the novalty of that is pretty exciting, but come on the statute of limitations of that have long come and gone with the wind.

If all goes according to plan, then Kansas Speedway president Pat Warren will come out looking like the Wizard of Speed. It was no secret that, at times, the racing at his track lacked a little excitement. Short of flying monkey coming down and snatching cars of the track, some would call it down right boring. Enter the repave, reconfiguration project. The track put in progressive banking. It's much the same as the changes to Homestead Miami Speedway, that got rave reviews a few years back.

Several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams took to the newly reconfigured Kansas Speedway today and the reviews are in - and they have been pretty positive as teams navigate the variable banking for the first time. “I think they did a really nice job repaving,” said Matt Kenseth. “Drivers aren't huge fans of repaves, especially being the first ones on the track, by this afternoon the cars were more comfortable on the track. I think the repave is awesome.” Regan Smith agreed.

There is always something comfortable and familiar about returning home. And although Clint Bowyer had never raced the Rolling Plains Speedway in Hays before Tuesday night, returning to the dirt tracks in his home state of Kansas, was still like a homecoming. "It's what we grew up doing," said Bowyer. "It's always fun to come back an revisit how you grew up, you know. It me I'm like a kid in a candy store. " Ken Schrader agrees. Though he is from Missouri, not from Kansas, he first visited RPM three years ago. And he jumped at the chance to return to his Midwestern dirt track roots.