NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Kentucky: Quaker State 400 at a glance
This week’s race
Quaker State 400
What: 267 laps (400.5 miles).
Where: Kentucky Speedway, a 1.5-mile banked quad-oval in Sparta, Ky.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
TV: NBCSN.
Radio: Performance Racing Network.
Last year’s winner: Brad Keselowski.
Also this week: UNOH 225, Truck Series, Kentucky Speedway, Thursday.
▪ Kentucky 300, Xfinity Series, Kentucky Speedway, 7:30 p.m. Friday, NBCSN.
Worth mentioning: Barring any last-minute changes, NASCAR will debut a new aerodynamic package for cars in Saturday’s race that it hopes will improve the quality of the racing. Many of the changes are devoted to significantly reducing downforce on the cars, which in theory should make them more difficult to drive and highlight the driver’s talent.
Who’s Hot/ Who’s Not
HOT
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: He can once again be proudly called a “restrictor-plate ace.”
Austin Dillon: Won the Xfinity Series race and ended up in the catchfence in the Cup race, but without serious injury.
Trevor Bayne: Another top-10 finish, and he was in contention for the win down the stretch.
Kyle Busch: Hit the wall early at Daytona but still salvaged a 17th-place finish to keep his Chase hopes alive.
Clint Bowyer: Another top-10 finish for Bowyer, but it came with a view of the last-lap wreck that he won’t soon forget.
NOT
NASCAR: Starting a 3-hour race at 11:30 p.m. ET is insanity. And that is before a horrific wreck at 3 a.m.
Martin Truex Jr.: First time this season he has had back-to-back bad finishes.
Brian Scott: So close to a win so many times.
Jim Utter
Points Standings
Sprint Cup
1. Kevin Harvick656
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.593
3. Jimmie Johnson589
4. Joey Logano581
5. Martin Truex Jr.569
6. Jamie McMurray526
7. Brad Keselowski520
8. Kurt Busch508
9. Matt Kenseth501
10. Jeff Gordon500
11. Kasey Kahne496
12. Denny Hamlin480
13. Paul Menard480
14. Ryan Newman472
15. Clint Bowyer465
16. Aric Almirola441
17. Carl Edwards408
18. Kyle Larson395
19. Greg Biffle392
20. Danica Patrick386
21. Austin Dillon379
22. Casey Mears378
23. AJ Allmendinger352
24. David Ragan336
25. Tony Stewart331
26. Sam Hornish Jr.321
27. Trevor Bayne319
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.311
29. Justin Allgaier286
30. Cole Whitt280
31. David Gilliland267
32. Brett Moffitt233
33. Alex Bowman228
34. Michael Annett194
35. Josh Wise185
36. Matt DiBenedetto182
37. Kyle Busch152
38. Michael McDowell111
39. Jeb Burton105
Xfinity
1. Chris Buescher560
2. Chase Elliott526
3. Ty Dillon517
4. Regan Smith493
5. Elliott Sadler489
6. Darrell Wallace Jr.472
7. Brian Scott453
8. Ryan Reed441
9. Brendan Gaughan438
10. Daniel Suarez437
11. Jeremy Clements382
12. Dakoda Armstrong357
13. David Starr357
14. Ross Chastain348
15. J.J. Yeley344
Truck-x
1. Matt Crafton370
2. Tyler Reddick 358
3. Erik Jones 344
4. Johnny Sauter 327
5. John Wes Townley 294
6. Spencer Gallagher 288
7. Timothy Peters 283
8. Daniel Hemric 282
9. Cameron Hayley 280
10. Ben Kennedy 269
11. Ray Black Jr. 257
12. Justin Boston 255
13. Tyler Young 242
14. Brandon Jones 207
15. Korbin Forrister 207
x-Before Thursday’s race
This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Kentucky: Quaker State 400 at a glance."