Stewart-Haas Racing are looking to bounce back from their slow start to the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season with a vengeance in the Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway.
In the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, Stewart-Haas Racing earned a series-high 12 victories after never having previously earned more than six victories in a season. But through the first 11 races of the 36-race 2019 season, none of their four drivers have managed to get to victory lane.
Stewart-Haas Racing entered the 2019 season having not started off a season by failing to win any of a season’s first 11 races since the 2013 season when their first victory did not come until Tony Stewart won the season’s 13th race at Dover International Speedway.
However, their four drivers swept the top four positions on the starting grid for the season’s 12th race, the Digital Ally 400, at Kansas Speedway as they seek to bounce back with a vengeance from what is collectively now a 13-race win drought.
More from NASCAR Cup Series
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
- NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500
Kevin Harvick took the pole position for this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kansas Speedway oval in Kansas City, Kansas ahead of Aric Almirola in second place, Clint Bowyer in third and Daniel Suarez in fourth.
The last (and first) race for which Stewart-Haas Racing swept the top four positions on the starting grid was the round of 12 playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway last October. Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Harvick and Almirola qualified for this race in first, second, third and fourth, respectively, for this race.
Stewart-Haas Racing went on to dominate this 193-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.251-mile) high-banked Talladega Superspeedway oval in Lincoln, Alabama.
Busch and Harvick combined to lead 154 laps of the race’s 193 laps, and after they ran out of fuel at the end of the race, it opened the door for Almirola to win the race ahead of Bowyer in second place by 0.105 seconds to deliver Stewart-Haas Racing a 1-2 finish. Only four non-Stewart-Haas Racing drivers led more than one lap in this race.
Will a similar result take place this evening at Kansas Speedway?
Stewart-Haas Racing have won two of the last five races that have been contested at the track, both with Harvick as the victor, and three of the last four races there have been won by a driver who has started in the top three, including one that was won by Harvick from the pole position.
With all things considered, it looks like a pretty solid bet that Stewart-Haas Racing’s win drought is poised to end in tonight’s Digital Ally 400 and that they are set to become the fourth different team to win a race this season as a result of it. The question is, which of their four drivers will become the seventh different driver to win a race in 2019?
Will Stewart-Haas Racing earn their first NASCAR Cup Series victory since Kevin Harvick won the round of 8 playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway last November in tonight’s Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway?
They appear to have the best chance to do so having locked out the first two rows on the starting grid for this race, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. If they do manage to pull it off, which one of their four drivers will end up going to victory lane?