For all of the complaints of NASCAR’s Next Gen car, it sure seems to deliver more than often at intermediate racetracks. Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway was no exception.
Some, including Kyle Petty, may go as far as to say that Sunday’s race at Kansas was the best yet at an intermediate racetrack.
“Do you guys remember when intermediate racetracks were a bore? No, I don’t remember it either. Not since NASCAR came out with the Next Gen,” Petty said. “This car puts on amazing races on intermediate tracks. And yesterday may be the greatest race we’ve seen yet on an intermediate track.”
Beyond the finish, in which Kyle Larson edged out Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds to steal the victory, Sunday’s race featured side-by-side racing throughout each stage. At one point, they were five-wide coming through the front straightaway. And of course, who could forget Larson and Ross Chastain’s battle for the lead during Stage 1.
Kyle Larson raves about racing at Kansas
Simply put, Kansas had everything you could want in a Cup Series race, and those who took part in it agreed.
“That was just incredible racing,” Larson said after the race, via NASCAR.com. “Way stressful racing for me, not really in the race, but that’s what you get with stages and stage points and a playoff on the line. You wouldn’t have seen us racing that hard [with a] previous era [of] points. So that was a lot of fun.
“I was obviously frustrated at myself — and I’m sure [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] was too — with how hard we were all racing, but when I got done with that stage, I gave Ross a big thumbs up, and we gave each other a big thumbs up under that caution because it was just fun, clean racing, and it was just a blast. It was that way, it felt like, the whole race.”
Denny Hamlin, who finished fifth, called Kansas the “perfect place for the Next Gen car.”
“I felt the racing was fantastic. This racetrack is just built for this car,” Hamlin said. “I mean, it’s one that you can move around and certainly make some moves when you need to. And so, I’m really happy for the fans that stayed to get to see a great finish like that. That’s what they stayed here for and glad we got to reward them with that.
“It’s just a perfect place for the Next Gen car because you can avoid the wake. We obviously can’t run behind each other, but this is a track where you can maneuver your car around and make speed. You know, I thought that even though we got put to the teens most of the day, we were able to drive back up to the front every single time.”
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