This weekend, the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series heads for Kansas Motor Speedway for the Digital-Ally 400. This track is very similar to many of the tracks we see on the schedule, it is a mile and half oval. The track has plenty of lanes to pass which has allowed for a lot of side by side racing. One of the key factors of the race to look out for is fuel mileage. While it may seem like stage racing has nearly eliminated this style of racing, with the amount of long green flag runs we see here at this track I still think it could play a big part in deciding who wins this weekend, look for this to be a major point of contingency on Saturday.

Last week, Martin Truex Jr went on to cruise to his second victory of 2019. When the dust settled, MTJ won by a whopping nine seconds over Alex Bowman. This was quite a feat for both Truex and Bowman after both of their qualifying times were disallowed for failing pre-race inspection. After the race, like many other instances this season a lot of the drivers and owners took issue with NASCAR's new rules package here at dover. Easily the biggest critic this week was 2015 champion Kyle Busch. After being asked by NASCAR Journalist Claire B Lang what he thought, He was quoted as saying "Oh the package sucks. No Question about it's terrible." Many people were dismissive of his comments, after all he does have a long history of calling NASCAR out on things like this when he doesn't win. I understand why fans and media members think this is just another case of Kyle being Kyle but, it's important to note that he wasn't the only person saying this. One of NASCAR's elder statesmen Kevin Harvick also talked about how difficult it was to pass and how much NASCAR drivers and owners have tried to offer solutions just to be ignored. I know that these guys do a job where they are paid well and it's something a lot of us wish we could do but I can definitely understand how frustrating it's got to be to continue to provide stable input on how to make the racing better only to be ignored by NASCAR and dismissed by certain media members.

Going into Kansas, Alex Bowman appears to be on a hot-streak with back to back second place finishes. He is the driver that I have going to victory lane this Saturday. For those that know me well enough, Bowman has always been a driver that I have really campaigned for. Ever since he filled in for Dale Jr back in 2016, he was always competitive and a threat to finish in the top 10 and now he has steadily improved to a driver that can contend for victories. While Kansas hasn't been that great of a track for Bowman results wise, I believe that hendrick motorsports has continued to improve week by week after getting that elusive first win at Talladega with Chase Elliot. I think that Alex has really found a rhythm here and is next in line to claim his first career win, look for the showman to go to victory lane come saturday.

Kyle Larson appears to finally found some good luck after last week's third place finish. He will be another driver who will contend this weekend. Over the course of his ten starts here, the results have not been what Larson and his team would want to hang their hats on, only once has he finished top five here and while the finishes haven't been so great it shouldn't be overshadowed that in those ten starts, larson has lead a considerable amount of laps they have just had bad luck happen that derail their day but this weekend, I think they will change that and get another solid finish at Kansas.