Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth has failed to crack the top 20 in his last two races, which has somewhat ruined his momentum, as he had a five-race top 13 streak prior to his 20th-place finish in Sonoma and 27th in Daytona. A return to form could come for Kenseth this Saturday, however. The track has been a favorite of Kenseth, who have raced in every race there since 2011, finishing no worse than 8th (2016). He won the Quaker State 400 in 2013.
Ryan Blaney
North Carolina native Ryan Blaney is eyeing a bounce-back performance this weekend after finishing just 26th last week in Daytona. And the Kentucky Speedway could just give him that since he’s been racing so well when burning rubber at 1.5-mile tracks. In his last five races in one-and-a-half long tracks, Blaney has compiled an average finish of 13.0 and had a fourth-place finish in Kansas back in May.
Chase Elliott
Look out for Elliott getting his groove back. After racking up four-straight top 10’s, Elliott had a hiccup last week, placing just 22nd in Daytona despite a start from the number two slot. Dating back to 2015, Elliott has five top 5’s and 10 top 10’s out of 29 intermediate tracks races with to go with an overall average finish of 17.58.
