NASCAR will head to its first 1.5-mile speedway in the playoffs this weekend as Kansas Speedway plays host to the middle race in the Round of 12.
Kansas is the first intermediate speedway in 17 races since Ross Chastain won the Coca-Cola 600. The 36-race schedule has only seven 1.5-mile races, which once were the dominion of the playoffs. As recently as 2017, half of the 10-race title run was contested on 1.5-mile speedways (which then included Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway).
After Kansas, the final 1.5-mile track this year will be the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both Kansas and Las Vegas will feature a new right-side tire that is intended “to increase strategy options.”
Kansas played host to the Cup Series on May 10 when Kyle Larson won by leading 221 of 267 laps and setting a record for most laps led in a 400-mile race on a 1.5-mile track.
Ross Chastain, who was out of the playoffs at the time, won last September at Kansas.
The ARCA and Xfinity Series also will race at Kansas this weekend. Aric Almirola won the Xfinity race last year at Kansas, and Corey Heim (last September) and Carson Hocevar (May) are the two most recent ARCA winners. None of the three is entered in those series this weekend.
Kansas weekend schedule
(All Times Eastern)
Friday, Sept. 26
Garage open
- 12:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. — ARCA Series
- 2 – 7 p.m. — Xfinity Series
Track activity
- 4:30 – 5:15 p.m. — ARCA practice
- 5:30 – 5:50 p.m. — ARCA qualifying
- 8 p.m. — ARCA race (100 laps, 150 miles; FS1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday, Sept. 27
Garage open
- 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. — Cup Series
- 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. — Xfinity Series
Track activity
- 10:30 – 11:25 a.m. — Xfinity practice (CW App)
- 11:35 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (CW App)
- 1 – 2 p.m. — Cup practice (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 2:10 – 3 p.m. — Cup qualifying (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
- 4 p.m. — Xfinity race (200 laps, 300 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 45, Stage 2 at Lap 90; CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday, Sept. 28
Garage open
- Noon – 9:30 p.m. — Cup Series
Track activity
- 3 p.m. — Cup race (267 laps, 400.5 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 80, Stage 2 at Lap 165; USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Weekend weather
Friday: Mainly sunny with a high of 84 degrees, light and variable winds and a 7% chance of rain. It’s expected to be 76 degrees with a 1% chance of rain at the start of the ARCA race.
Saturday: Mainly sunny with a high of 84 degrees, winds from the south/southwest at 5 to 10 mph and a 7% chance of rain. It’s expected to be 83 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.
Sunday: Sunny with a high of 87 degrees, light and variable winds and a 6% chance of rain. It’s expected to be 85 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race.
