San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
RACE INTO TITLE ROUND STARTING AT KANSAS
Not much has changed through NASCAR’S first two rounds of playoffs: Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are still favored to race for the championship and the other two contenders are a crapshoot.
The path to the championship finale begins today at Kansas Speedway, the first of three races in the title-setting third round. It’s a fairly straightforward series with ensuing stops at Texas Motor Speedway, like Kansas a 1.5-mile intermediate oval, then half-mile Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR’S shortest and oldest active track.
At stake are four slots in the winner-take-all Nov. 8 finale at Phoenix Raceway and no obvious indicators on who will be challenging Harvick and Hamlin. The two have combined for 16 wins in 32 races this season and have hoarded enough points that it would likely take some sort of sudden collapse to keep the favorites from advancing to the finale.
Harvick, the points leader, had a mediocre second round but doesn’t seem too concerned about these next three races.
“I think these racetracks are right up our alley, especially the first two,” Harvick said.
Hamlin has won NASCAR’S last two visits to Kansas, a turnaround after several so-so races. A win would certainly give Hamlin a head-start on championship preparations.
“We could go the next two weeks and really shift our focus from Texas and Martinsville to putting all of our resources towards Phoenix,” Hamlin said. “That would certainly be a benefit for whoever locks in right off the bat.”
Elsewhere
Chase Briscoe must have figured the best way to stay out of trouble was by staying up front. The red-hot driver of the No. 98
Ford for Stewart-haas Racing swept the first two stages of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway, then he dominated after a restart with four laps to go to capture the first race in the round of eight and clinch his spot in the season finale at Phoenix.
Brett Moffitt wasn’t about to finish second again — not with a spot in the NASCAR Truck Series finale on the line. So when Zane Smith tried to pass him with three laps to go, Moffitt moved down ever so slightly and sent his teammate into a spin along the backstretch. Then, the 28-year-old from Iowa held off a field full of playoff contenders, winning a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag at Kansas Speedway.
Erica Enders regained the Pro Stock points lead, beating Jason Line in the final round of the rain-delayed NHRA Midwest Nationals at the AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. The defending season champion raced to her third victory of the season and 28th overall. In qualifying for the Fallnationals, Steve Torrence took the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel, Matt Hagan in Funny Car, Deric Kramer in Pro Stock and Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle.