NASCAR: Who’s Hot And Who’s Not Heading Into Kansas Speedway

Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

NOT – Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne

Edwards and Kahne were two of the three drivers to barely make the cutoff and move into the second round of the chase, the other driver being Denny Hamlin. The main reason that Edwards and Kahne were at the bottom of the standings is because in the first three races of the chase neither of them has been able to manage a top-10 victory. While the latter parts of the chase are going to be about winning, the early parts of the chase are about consistency and surviving to make it to the next round. Edwards and Kahne lacked consistency in the opening round and are lucky to still be alive for the second round. Of all of the drivers still alive in the chase, Edwards and Kahne are the only ones who did not have a top-10 finish in one of the first three chase races. Even Hamlin who also just made the cut had a top-10 finish when he opened the chase by finishing 6th. If Edwards or Kahne plan on making it to the top-8 they are going to have to start finishing better than they are currently. In the first three races of the chase Edwards has finished 20th, 17th and 11th whilst Kahne has finished 13th, 23rd and 20th. The one silver lining here for the No. 99 team is that their finishes are at least trending in the right direction.