Harvick, Hamlin duel for supremacy
Since the NASCAR Cup Series restarted at Darlington Raceway in May, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have combined to win seven of the last 12 races. The two battled last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before Hamlin cut a right front tire and crashed during the closing laps of the race’s third stage. Harvick then fought off Matt Kenseth in an overtime finish to claim his fourth victory of the year.
But neither Hamlin nor Harvick has a Cup Series win at Kentucky Speedway. Hamlin’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, owns five of the nine Quaker State 400 trophies, but Harvick and StewartHaas Racing have yet to win the race.
While that lack of winning would seemingly be a disadvantage most years, this year is anything but normal for Cup drivers.
The race will be contested Sunday afternoon instead of the usual Saturday night show, which means track conditions will be slicker than usual. The Quaker State 400 also will be a one-day show – roll the car off the hauler and go race without practice or qualifying – held without fans.
Those two major changes could bode well for Harvick and Hamlin, who’ve clearly separated themselves from the pack in terms of being able to get in and go.
Still, Kyle Busch is the winningest driver across all series with eight wins at Kentucky. His two Quaker State 400 wins match Martin Truex Jr. Look for Busch and Truex to be the class of the field early on Sunday with the rest of the drivers playing catch-up.
This will be the first time the Quaker State 400 is run on a Sunday since 2013, when Kenseth – who took over the No. 42 Chevrolet when Chip Ganassi Racing dismissed Kyle Larson on April 14 for using a racial slur during an iRacing event – won.
Kentucky Speedway’s layout – a trioval with different types of corners at each end of the track – is among the toughest. Drivers and teams have to pick whether their car will perform best in the high banking of turns one and two, or drive better through the flatter, longer turns three and four.
The lack of practice and running in the heat Sunday will add another element of difficulty. Kentucky Speedway general manager Mark Simendinger did say the track would be set up the same as last year, with lots of rubber dragged into the racing surface and traction compound applied in the turns to extend the usable racing grooves further up the track’s banking.