October 22, 2017 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Martin Truex Jr. survived a restart penalty and an unscheduled pit stop to return to what has become a thoroughly familiar locale—Victory Lane—in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. In a dramatic race that brought Truex his seventh Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, calamity eliminated four drivers from the series Playoff. Jamie McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson all saw their postseason hopes end with the final event in the Round of 12. The shocker was Larson, who fell out of…

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…