Tire wear, strategies could make for wild Kansas Speedway race

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars roll off the grid Saturday night, what follows will be interesting for a number of reasons.

For one, it'll be the first night race ever held at Kansas Speedway, and night racing always brings with it some sparks - both literally and figuratively.

For another, the tire Goodyear brought is different from that ran at the April 15 test, and doesn't give up much grip throughout the length of a run. Because of that, the variety of strategies teams will employ Saturday night will be varied and plentiful.

'I think the racetrack has put the tire in the position it's in with the fresh asphalt,” said pole-winner Kevin Harvick. 'The speeds are going to be high. There's not going to be a lot of falloff in the tire, and there's going to be some tire strategy games - there's just no way around that when you repave these racetracks. … It's a catch-22. You have to repave these racetracks when there's something wrong with them, but I think we can do a better job with the asphalt itself.”

Harvick's pole-winning run shattered the old track record of 28.145 seconds (191.864 mph by Matt Kenseth) with a 27.742 (194.658 mph) - and did so on older tires.

That fact has some drivers a little worried about how the strategies will affect the racing, and how difficult Saturday night will be.

'It's not ideal, by any means, to have a situation where the tire doesn't degrade. It really factors into the strategy,” said Brad Keselowski, who qualified third with a 27.906 (193.507 mph). 'But it's part of the situation. I expect to see a lot of strategies.

'I think more so than the strategy, what sticks out to me is how unbelievably treacherous the racing is once the cars get side by side. All those things factor in, and the tire plays a huge role in what you … will see for racing this weekend.”

With the tire situation being what it was, Cedar Rapids native Landon Cassill's team focused mainly on race runs throughout both practice sessions on Friday.

Cassill qualified 40th with a 28.744 (187.865 mph), and felt like his car was better in race trim. And when tires don't fall off, the car's setup becomes even more vital. Cassill said his Hillman Racing team went back and forth on some options, and still have work to do.

'We kind of went through some different packages with the back of the car,” Cassill said. 'Hopefully what we have is something that races better.

'We'll decide tomorrow morning what to change, if we do. They're two completely different packages. One is more aggressive, the other is more of a compliant feel.”

There was a lot of searching throughout the garage, and even teams with checkered histories at Kansas Speedway were learning as the day went on.

With so much change between night racing and the tire, teams just won't be able to know for sure what to expect.

'There's a lot of new things,” said Jimmie Johnson, who qualified 14th with a 27.973 (193.043 mph). 'It's a new format and also racing at night here, we don't have any history of racing at night here. So there's a few questions to be answered.”

Joey Logano qualified second, Carl Edwards fourth and rookie Kyle Larson fifth to round out the top five with Harvick and Keselowski. Danica Patrick also had a solid qualifying run, producing her best non-restrictor plate qualifying effort and will start ninth on Saturday night.

The race is set for 6:30 p.m.

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