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NASCAR: Five Drivers Most Likely To Win At Kansas

By Cole Mentzel

May 7, 2016; Kansas City, KS, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch (18) and Matt Kenseth (20) lead the field to restart during the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
May 7, 2016; Kansas City, KS, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch (18) and Matt Kenseth (20) lead the field to restart during the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 14, 2016; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (4) during practice for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
May 14, 2016; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (4) during practice for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O /

Contender No. 1: Kevin Harvick

Stats at Kansas:

  • Wins: 1
  • Top-5’s: 5
  • Top-10’s: 10
  • Laps Led: 475
  • Average Finish: 10.8

Just like Johnson, Kevin Harvick has been a contender at Kansas over the past few seasons.

His most impressive streak began back in 2013 as he finished 12th before earning his first and only win at the track after leading 138 laps. Over the next five races, he earned three second-place finishes and led a total of 254 laps.

But Harvick’s recent success isn’t the main reason why I believe he’ll be a contender this weekend, it’s how he’s responded to trouble in the Chase before. As we know, he’s competed for a championship at Homestead both seasons that the current Chase format has been in use, but it’s how he got there that stands out.

Last season, he stood on the edge of elimination and earned a dominating win at Dover where he led 355 of 400 laps. At Talladega, he was in position to be eliminated again but made a controversial move to save his season. Then earlier in this year’s Chase, he finished 20th at Chicagoland and went below the cut line before winning the next weekend in New Hampshire.

This past weekend at Charlotte, we saw Harvick exit the race with 183 laps left and finish 38th. If 2015 and 2016 have taught us anything, it’s that he’ll be aggressive at Kansas on Sunday.

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