Getting through this weekend will be crucial for Kyle Busch has he tries to chase down his first NASCAR Sprint Cup title.
The driver of the No. 18 Toyota has slipped to third place in the standings three weeks into the playoffs and has to deal with one of his worst performing tracks.
Rather than worrying about trying to cut the gap to leaders Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, Busch needs to focus on staying in touch with the leader and avoiding a result that could see him fall back into the pack of Chase for the Sprint Cup also rans who are waiting for the leaders to slip up.
In 12 career races at Kansas Speedway, Busch has yet to win or even post a top-five result in a Sprint Cup car and has only finished in the top 10 twice. If he only manages to equal is average finish of 22nd, he will very likely fall further behind Kenseth and Johnson.
"It's not that you might not like a track or might not like a race, or something like that, it's just a matter of trying to figure it out," Busch said on his website this week. "Once you kind of get it figured out or get the right situations kind of lined up, you can have a shot."
The two leaders are among the best at the 1.5-mile oval home to Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400. Kenseth won in Kanasas this spring, his second straight win at the track. He's also posted six top-fives and nine top-tens in 15 career starts for an average finish of 14.8.
Historically, Johnson has been even better in Kansas. Like Kenseth he has a pair of wins and six top-five finishes, but Johnson has finished in the top 10 an impressive 12 times in 14 races and has an average finish of 7.6.
If there's one thing working in Busch's favour, it's that all the teams will be in learning mode beginning Thursday, right up until the green flag flies - and likely throughout the race itself. The recently repaved surface still has teams scrambling to build notes on how it will react to changing conditions and Goodyear is bringing its new zone tread tire to Kansas for the first time this week.
"There are certainly challenges with the newer surface and new tire we will have," Johnson told reporters this week. "We will just have to get out there and see."
Among Chase qualifiers, only Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle (twice each) and Ryan Newman (once) also have wins at Kansas. Gordon knows that even if he gets to victory lane again, it will still be an uphill battle to catch Kenseth and Johnson.
"If Matt and Jimmie continue to post wins and good finishes, it's going to be difficult to catch them," Gordon told reporters. "But I like how our team has stepped up during the Chase and we need to be ready to take advantage if they have a bad race. When running the way we are right now, you really look forward to the next race."
