NASCAR NEXT RACE Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 CUP SERIES NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE n 3 P.M. AUGUST 2 n TV: NBCSN STANDINGS Through 19 of 36 races FINAL PRACTICE: No practices will be held Fast fact: Driver (wins) Points QUALIFYING: No qualifying* *Lineup will be determined With Thursday night’s race at through owner points and being the previous event, 1. (4) 763 LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Kevin Harvick random drawing. this will be the longest layoff 2. (2) 666 QUAL. RECORD: Brad Keselowski (2014), 140.598 mph for the Cup drivers since racing 3. (1) 663 RACE RECORD: (1997), 117.134 mph restarted in May. … 4. (5) 634 has 12 top-five finishes in New 5. (1) 630 RACE LENGTH: 318.5 miles, 301 laps Hampshire, the most of any active 6. (2) 609 MOST WINS AT TRACK: Jeff Burton, Keving Harvick, 4 driver. * All times EDT 7. Martin Truex Jr. (1) 602 8. 576 9. Kyle Busch 562 Drivers hoping 10. 561 11. (1) 539 to make the 12. 484 13. Matt DiBenedetto 477 14. William Byron 452 running * (1) 438 * (1) 322 out of laps PLAYOFF CUTOFF 15. 442 By Nascar Media 16. Jones 440 and Lee Newspapers reports * Qualified for playoffs with A late-race crash at Kansas race victory. Speedway on Thursday and UP NEXT a variety of mixed fortunes August 8 tightened the pursuit for the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR playoffs, with just Mich. International Speedway 50 points now separating the six drivers — the last three in and the first three out — on XFINITY SERIES the provisional grid. William Byron, rookie THIS WEEK Tyler Reddick and Kansas Lottery 250 each moved up two spots — Track: all at the expense of seven- time champ , Schedule: who stumbled out of the pro- Race, Saturday, 5 p.m., NBCSN visional postseason field after Associated Press | File Distance: his No. 48 was too Denny Hamlin celebrates after winning the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway on Thursday. 167 laps, 250 miles severely damaged to compete. Last year’s winner: Johnson sat 11th in the Cup Brandon Jones Series standings as recently Fast fact: as June 22 after Talladega, but was winless through 13 races has slid to 18th. before this streak. Missing the Last race: Cindric gained his race after a positive COVID-19 third victory in a row after test has hurt his points total, Kyle Busch’s car failed its but so has a seven-race stretch post-race inspection and was since his last top-10 finish. Smooth finish disqualified. All this happened following a seven-day stretch where two Denny Hamlin gets out of mini-slump with fifth win of season Next race: August 8 new drivers — Cole Custer (Kentucky) and Austin Dillon , () — locked themselves By Dave Skretta | Associated Press Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin into the postseason on wins. STANDINGS Going into next weekend’s KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Three straight finishes was working his way forward early in the final stage Through 14 of 31 races Cup race at New Hampshire, outside the top 10 for Denny Hamlin these days counts when his left front tire went down, sending Logano Driver (wins) Points just six spots are left to make as a rough patch. into the outside wall. Matt DiBenedetto and Jimmie 1. (5) 691 the playoffs. He was once again smooth as they get Thursday Johnson, the last two drivers on the good side of the Drivers with wins that night. playoff cut line, sustained heavy damage as the field 2. Austin Cindric (3) 667 are locked into the playoffs Hamlin hung around the front of the pack all night, checked up. So did Austin Dillon, who was the sur- 3. (2) 643 are Thusday’s winner Denny avoiding trouble that cost several playoff contenders prise winner last weekend at Texas. 4. 614 Hamlin (five wins), Kevin Har- in the final stage, then breezed past Kevin Harvick “I’m pretty freaking irritated. We’ve had garbage 5. Justin Haley (1) 550 vick (four), Brad Keselowski for the lead in the closing laps. Hamlin then held luck the last few weeks,” DiBenedetto said. “We have 6. 545 (two), Joey Logano (two), as off charging Brad Keselowski for his NASCAR Cup no horsepower. It takes us 45 minutes to get going. 7. (2) 536 well as single-win drivers Series-leading fifth victory of the season and 42nd The restarts as just wild. But that’s what is happening.” Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, overall. He also won for the second straight time at Logano said he felt his tire going down just before 8. 481 Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bow- Kansas Speedway. green but thought “it wasn’t bad.” 9. Brandon Jones (1) 448 man, Dillon, and Custer. “I don’t know we had the best car. We definitely “Maybe it was bad judgment on my part,” Logano 10. 377 With seven races left in the had a top-three car all day,” Hamlin said after his burn- said, “and I didn’t want to lose any track position for 11. 375 regular season, each event out in front of the empty grandstands. “We just went something that wasn’t bad. It’s one of those judgment 12. Brandon Brown 348 for it there at the end. The pit crew did an amazing job will ratchet up the pressure calls. I just feel bad for everyone else.” PLAYOFF CUTOFF on the drivers to win; espe- getting us out there in front.” Another wreck during the next always-chaotic cially the six drivers clinging Hamlin had struggled the past three weeks, fail- Kansas restart collected , , 13. 317 to their points in playoff con- ing to finish better than 12th. But after showing good Ryan Newman and Christopher Bell. Preece hit the 14. 310 tention. early, his Racing team made all the inside wall with such force that his car leaped several Heading into next Sun- right calls during a crash-filled final stage. Keselows- feet into the air. day’s race in New Hampshire, ki finished second and Martin Truex Jr. came across It would have been an exciting show for fans if GANDER Aric Almirola (134 points up), third. Harvick wound up sliding to fourth and Erik there was any. After about 20,000 wore masks and RV & OUTDOORS defending series champion Jones capped a big day for the Gibbs boys in fifth. braved stifling heat in Texas, the grandstands were TRUCK SERIES Kyle Busch (120) and Kurt William Byron led the race as he chased his first again empty at Kansas. Soaring numbers of positive THIS WEEK Busch (119) all have sizable career race, but he slide backward after a late caution COVID-19 tests forced speedway officials to run this points leads over Reddick, and wound up finishing 10th. Alex Bowman also made weekend — including upcoming races in the Xfinity, Blu-Emu Maximum who is the odd man out at this a charge to the lead but finished behind Aric Almirola Truck and ARCA series — without any fans. Pain Relief 200 point. and Cole Custer in eighth. The next race at New Hampshire can have about Friday, 7 p.m., FS1 Almirola is the highest The youngsters wound up leaving it to the veterans 19,000 fans. The following doubleheader at Kansas Speedway ranked driver in the standings to battle it out over the final laps. will not have any. without a win. “We got to the lead but we just went dead sideways Kyle Busch finally had something go right during e.p.t. 200 Bowman, who finished after about four or five laps,” said Harvick, who had his frustrating season. The defending series champ, Saturday, 1:30 p.m., FS1 eighth, also built up some been tied with Hamlin with four wins. “We were just whose only win in his last 41 starts in the Cup Series Kansas Speedway cushion in the standings, 97 holding on hoping for another restart, because we came in last year’s finale, held off Hamlin and Truex Next race: August 7 points above the cut. could hang for a couple laps.” to win his first stage this year. Clinto Bowyer and Matt Truex may have had the fastest car on the track by It was another race between teammates on Stage TOP TEN DiBenedetto are next in the the end of the night, which began with temperatures 2. This time, it was Keselowski getting around Team Through 8 of 19 races driver standings without a in the mid-90s and a heat index approaching triple Penske teammate Ryan Blaney — who was dominant Driver (wins) Points win, while Byron, who was digits. But he ran out of time trying chase down his at Texas but failed to win — on the penultimate lap 1. 300 the odd man out last week, is teammate. to take the stage. 2. Ben Rhodes 278 currently the bubble driver 10 “It would have been difficult to pass him,” Truex Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s challenging year continued points up on Reddick. said about Hamlin. “It was a battle all night just to get when he went to the garage early with a mechanical 3. 268 Johnson, who had to park track position. These things are so difficult in traffic. problem. It also was a rough night for , 4. 267 his car early due to accident You lose a few more spots than you hope on a restart who spun early in the race coming out of turn 4 and 5. Zane Smith 254 damage and finished 30th, and you just have to dig.” then plowed into when he spun in the 6. 253 is now two spots out of the Joey Logano led early before his night really ended middle of the same turn early in the final stage. 7. 252 playoffs, trailing both Red- in disaster — and took some playoff contenders with “We’ve had some really bad weeks,” Stenhouse 8. 248 dick and Erik Jones. Johnson him. said. “Lost the balance a little bit but felt like we were is riding a winless streak that His problems began when a tire got loose on pit pretty close. But I don’t know, a fire started in the 9. 234 has reached 114 races. road during the first stage, sending him to the back. He cockpit. Something electrical in the dash.” 10. 225

Thursday night Cup racing was a big deal before NASCAR’s modern era Sporting events held on Thurs- on a Thursday has been rare; it only were six in 1970 — and NASCAR day night in prime time not related happened a few times when Day- Hall of Fame member, the late Bobby to football? tona International Speedway held Isaac, won three of those (Colum- If Thursday’s Super Start Batter- their July race on the fourth (1974, bia, Thompson and Maryville). ies 400 at Kansas Speedway seemed 1985). Kansas Speedway had hosted the odd, well it is — at least in recent But, prior to the Modern Era, NASCAR Cup Series 28 times prior history. mid-week racing was quite com- to this week, but this was the first The Kansas race, which was won mon — 76 of previous 79 Cup races on a Thursday. by Denny Hamlin, was the 80th time held on Thursday were prior to the The 28 previous Cup events have the NASCAR Cup Series has com- Modern Era from 1949 to 1971. produced 16 different pole winners peted on a Thursday. Five were run in 1971 — three of and 15 different race winners. Associated Press | File 1972 Leading up to this season in the those won by (Islip, (right), with A.J. Foyt, won three Thursday Modern Era (1972-present), racing Maryville and Columbia). There — By Nascar Media races during the 1970 NASCAR Cup season.