{"id":22536,"date":"2018-10-19T18:15:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T23:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=22536"},"modified":"2018-10-28T18:50:31","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T23:50:31","slug":"nascar-friday-kansas-notebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/19\/nascar-friday-kansas-notebook-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Friday Kansas Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/b><\/p>\n

Aric Almirola relishes no-lose proposition at Kansas Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, Kan. \u2013 Aric Almirola is excited to enjoy a rare moment in NASCAR racing\u2014an elimination event with no downside for the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Aric Almirola, driver of the #10 Smithfield Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 19, 2018 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Entering Sunday\u2019s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Almirola already is locked into the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, thanks to his breakthrough victory last Sunday at Talladega.<\/p>\n

With his presence in the final eight assured, Almirola can go all-out to improve his standing by accumulating Playoff points for the next round. Almirola currently has six. The so-called Big 3 of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. have 55, 53 and 38 respectively\u2014potentially a huge advantage when it comes to advancing to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.<\/p>\n

As a consequence, it behooves Almirola to strive for every point he can get on Sunday. The winners of the first and second stages get one Playoff point each. The race winner scores an additional five. Almirola has the luxury of racing without the fear of elimination, with no thought of a conservative approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is really no step back for us,\u201d Almirola said on Friday at Kansas Speedway. \u201cIf anything, I think it allows us to be less guarded. Coming to Kansas, there is no downside and only opportunity for upside. If we wreck on Lap 1, it doesn’t matter. We are still going to the Round of 8. If we win both stages and win the race, we can have seven more points when the points reset next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s really what we\u2019re looking at. Everybody would love to have that bet in their stock portfolio, right? You can only go up. You can\u2019t go down. That\u2019s what we have. That\u2019s the opportunity we have ahead of us. There\u2019s no downside going into this weekend and only potential for upside.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALEX BOWMAN EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE FACING MUST-WIN SCENARIO<\/b><\/p>\n

Unlike Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, who secured a spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 with his Oct. 7 victory at Dover, Alex Bowman has only one path to the next round of the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, prepares to drive during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 19, 2018 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Twelfth in the standings and 68-points behind Martin Truex Jr. in eighth, Bowman has to win Sunday\u2019s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway to keep his championship hopes alive.<\/p>\n

Bowman has never won a race in NASCAR\u2019s premier series, and six weeks ago, the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet might have discounted his chances for an 11th-hour victory at Kansas. But the Hendrick cars as a group have shown improved performance of late, and that gives Bowman cause for optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with all the resources we have and the people and the knowledge we have at Hendrick Motorsports, I don\u2019t think anybody is surprised within the organization when a Hendrick car wins,\u201d said Bowman, who was 12th fastest in Friday\u2019s opening practice. \u201cI think we haven\u2019t shown the speed, really, up until probably a month and a half ago, when we went to Vegas and ran really strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, up until then, we hadn\u2019t really shown race-winning speed by any means. But over the last month and a half or two months, we\u2019ve improved a lot. And I really don\u2019t think we\u2019d be surprised if we won. It would obviously be great, and the first Cup win would be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowman also has Kansas City ties that would make a victory on Sunday even more special.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s family is from here,\u201d he said, \u201cso that would be pretty cool for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPENCER GALLAGHER TO STEP AWAY FROM DRIVING AT SEASON\u2019S END<\/b><\/p>\n

Spencer Gallagher came to the Kansas Speedway media center bearing news\u2014about himself.<\/p>\n

“I will no longer be competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” said Gallagher, whose father, Maury Gallagher, founded GMS Racing. “I will be stepping out of that role as a driver and taking on a more managerial role at GMS.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of right now, we are absolutely intent on continuing our Xfinity effort, and we aim to win a championship with the quality of stuff we’ve been able to build and the talented people that surround us there at GMS.<\/p>\n

Gallagher, who claimed his only Xfinity victory at Talladega in April, said the team currently is talking to a number of drivers eager to fill the seat of the No. 23 Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs to the ride, we\u2019re interviewing several capable candidates right now,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cBut I want to let everyone know, as of right now, the seat\u2019s open season. I believe we have excellent stuff, and we\u2019re taking auditions, as of right this second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny Sauter won the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title to give GMS its only title in any of the sanctioning body\u2019s top three touring series.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us at GMS Racing wish Spencer the best in his future endeavors,\u201d said GMS president Mike Beam. \u201cWe look forward to what the future holds for this organization, and we will continue to work to build our Xfinity Series program into a championship-caliber team like our trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   Aric Almirola relishes no-lose proposition at Kansas Speedway KANSAS CITY, Kan. \u2013 Aric Almirola is excited to enjoy a rare moment in NASCAR racing\u2014an elimination event with no downside for the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team. Entering Sunday\u2019s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (at 2 p.m. ET […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":22521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[213,16],"class_list":["post-22536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kansas-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/358284.jpg?fit=3636%2C2424","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-5Ru","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22537,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22536\/revisions\/22537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}