By Jared Turner Martin Truex Jr. won at Kansas in May and will go for the season sweep this weekend. Based on his 2017 success, he’s a solid pick. Like Truex, Talladega winner Brad Keselowski has already punched his ticket to the Round of 8. That means that he, too, can go for broke. A two-time Kansas winner, Kevin Harvick needs a solid afternoon to advance. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver finished third at Kansas in the spring. Ryan Blaney nearly won at Kansas in May, leading 83 laps on the way to a fourth-place finish. There’s no reason to believe Blaney won’t…

By Jared Turner After the chaos and carnage of Talladega — host to the only restrictor plate race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs — it’s back to regular business this weekend at Kansas Speedway. And, rest assured, there is some real business to be had. Ten drivers will battle it out for six remaining positions in the next round as the playoff field is whittled from 12 drivers to eight. Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski have already secured berths in the Round of 8 by virtue of winning the past two weekends at Charlotte and Talladega, respectively. The…

By Jared Turner With one race left to determine the field for the Round of 8, Kyle Busch is ranked ninth out of 12 remaining title contenders. So, will he advance? The good news for Busch is that he’s just seven points from the cutoff spot for the next round, despite his involvement in a multi-car pileup last weekend at Talladega. Busch also continues to have one of the fastest cars week in and week out. The bad news for Busch is that he’s on the outside of the transfer group looking in. It also doesn’t help the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR…

By Jared Turner Two of the hardest impacted victims of Talladega’s multiple “Big Ones” on Sunday were playoff drivers Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who were involved in separate accidents that almost certainly will prove equally costly to each driver’s championship hopes. McMurray heads to Kansas ranked last among the 12 remaining playoff drivers, and in all probability will need to win to advance to the Round of 8. Stenhouse, meanwhile, is 11th and seven points ahead of McMurray but likewise will probably need a win to move on. Considering that Talladega represented a much better opportunity than Kansas for both…