Kevin Harvick took his 4th win of the season Sunday at Kansas.  Harvick led 70 of the 267 laps, including the final 30, en route to his 35th career victory.  With his team chanting “I believe that we will win” in unison behind him, Harvick climbed out of the car and “hit a home run” with his can of Busch beer and celebrated.  In Victory Lane, he said, “These races are hard to win, and these guys are so good at the details.  You put their backs against the wall, and they get better.  Really proud of them.”  Carl Edwards got second at his hometrack of Kansas, and was delighted with the way he ran, but frustrated with his finish of second place.  Chase Elliott ran into trouble again.  After taking the lead from Harvick on lap 169, he blew a left rear tire and came to pit road.  That and two hits into the outside wall relegated Elliott to 31st at the finish.  On lap 190, Brad Keselowski joined the group of chasers who have ran into trouble this round.  Coming out of turn 4, the Miller Lite No. 2 got loose and slid up the banking before spinning out and down into the grass.  Keselowski’s splitter dug down into the grass and tore the whole front end off the car.  The team attempted repairs, but after one lap under minimum speed, he retired in 38th place.  “I spun and got in the grass and tore the nose off,” Keselowski said.  “I probably could’ve raced less hard with a big points gap coming in.  With this format, it’s probably the smart thing to do, but I don’t want to race like that.  I want to race my guts out and go for wins.  I don’t want to points race.  I don’t care what the damn format is–I’m going to give it my best.”  For Harvick and Jimmie Johnson, they are the only chasers who will be comfortable next week at Talladega.  With the crazy pack racing and it being an elimination race, you can expect some crazy racing!

Here are the current Chase standings

*= first chase appearance

1. Jimmie Johnson                         ADVANCED

2. Kevin Harvick                             ADVANCED

3. Matt Kenseth                              +29

4. Kyle Busch                                  +27

5. Carl Edwards                              +24

6. Kurt Busch                                  +17

7. Martin Truex Jr.                         +13

8. Joey Logano                                +0

_______________________CUTOFF

9. Austin Dillon*                             -0

10. Denny Hamlin                            -6

11. Brad Keselowski                         -7

12. Chase Elliott*                             -25