Category: Kansas Speedway

Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, who was a part of the 2015 World Series team, will drive the pace car to lead the Hollywood Casino 400 field to the green flag on Sunday, Oct. 21.

“I look forward to having Alex at Kansas Speedway and as a part of the Hollywood Casino 400 race day festivities,” Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren said. “Alex and his family have been a big part of Kansas City for years and I know our race fans will enjoy seeing him on race day.”

Gordon, who has patrolled left field for the Royals since 2007, has racked up the accolades over the years, including being named to the American League All-Star team in 2013, 2014 and 2015; winning the Rawlings AL Gold Glove in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017; winning the Rawlings AL Platinum Glove in 2014, being named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2017, and won the Hutch Award in 2014.

The Nebraska native, who attended the University of Nebraska, was drafted second overall in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft and currently sits fourth on the Royals all-time home run leaders list.

Gordon is the second Royals player to be named the honorary pace car driver, following former teammate Drew Butera, and he follows current Kansas City Chiefs player Anthony Sherman, who drove the pace car in May, and former Kansas City Chiefs player Derrick Johnson, who drove the pace car in May 2017.

All Kansas Speedway tickets are on sale by calling 866-460-RACE (7223) or by logging onto www.kansasspeedway.com.

As Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams continued to test at Kansas Speedway Tuesday, many drivers were also taking time from testing to meet with fans and talk to them about the upcoming Hollywood Casino 400 on Oct. 21.

“From my first year in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and now, the radius (at Kansas Speedway) has really widened out at the top,” said Chase Elliott, who was fastest in testing Monday. “It’s going to keep happening. We were already up high yesterday and that doesn’t usually happen until race weekend. It’s very friendly to move around here. It’s fun and I enjoy coming here.”

“You want the first two races of the round to be good, because you want to be set up for a cutoff race like Kansas,” Joey Logano said. “I’m hoping we can win at Talladega and hopefully come to Kansas and just have some fun. I’m always excited to come here, it’s fun and you can run a lot of different places on the track.”

“This track has been tough on me but also been good to me,” Kurt Busch said. “You have to depend on this track for a Top-10 finish, but you also have to work for it. This track is designed similar to other tracks but the corners are so long that if you lose speed on one little section it affects your entire lap time. There is a lot of risk vs. reward at Kansas.”

All Kansas Speedway tickets are currently on sale by calling 866-460-RACE (7223) or by logging onto www.kansasspeedway.com.

Results of the second day of practice:

Chris Buescher, 29.034 time, 185.989 speed.
Kyle Busch, 29.339 time, 184.055 speed;
Joey Logano, 29.470 time, 183.237 speed;
Kurt Busch, 29.470 time, 183.237 speed;
Chase Elliott, 29.486 time, 183.138 speed;
Jamie McMurray, 29.519 time, 182.933 speed;
Cole Custer, 29.549 time, 182.747 speed;
Ty Dillon, 29.585 time, 182.525 speed;
Austin Dillon, 29.719 time, 181.702 speed;
Paul Menard, 29.720 time; 181.696 speed;
Matt Kenseth, 29.854 time, 180.880 speed;
Drew Herring, 30.186 time, 178.891 speed;
Justin Allgaier, 30.383 time, 177.731 speed;
David Ragan, 30.672 time, 176.056 speed.

– Story from Kelly Hale, public relations director, Kansas Speedway