WHAT: KANSAS 100
NASCAR Winston West Series Race #8 of 14
WHERE: Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
1.5-Mile Paved Speedway
WHEN: Saturday, June 2, 2001 - 12:00 p.m. CT
DISTANCE: 100 Laps, 150 Miles
POSTED AWARDS: $145,828
FIELD: 32 cars possible. Fastest 27 cars through time trials. Two provisional starting positions based on 2001 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship driver point standings, two provisional starting positions based on 2001 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship owner point standings, one additional provisional starting position to NASCAR Winston West Series Champion.
TV: Fox Sports Net (Tape Delay)
Air Date 8. Time: TBA
SCHEDULE:
Thursday, May 31
7:00 a.m. Optional NWWS Team Haulers Enter
7:00 a.m. Optional Registration
11:00 a.m. Optional Practice to 12:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m. Optional Practice to 3:00 p.m.
3:30 p.m. Optional Practice to 4:00 p.m.
Friday, June 1
7:00 a.m. Registration
7:00 a.m. Inspection
8:30 a-m, Mandatory Rookie Drivers Meeting
9:30 a.m. Practice to 10:15 a.m.
10:30 a.m. Practice to 11:15 a.m.
1:30 p.m. Time Trials (2 laps), All Positions
3:30 p.m. Practice to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 2
7:00 a.m. Garage Opens
10:00 a.m. Mandatory Drivers' Meeting
THE RACE: Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile superspeedway with turns banked 15 degrees, 10.4 degrees banking in the frontstretch and five degrees banking in the backstretch. This will be the inaugural event at the speedway.
PARTICIPATING AWARDS SPONSORS: Winston, Aeroquip, Anheuser-Busch, Auto Meter Products. Bowman Distribution Clevite Engine Parts, Competition Cams, Edelbrock Intake Manifolds, Featherlite Trailers, Ford Motor Company, Gatorade, Goodyear Hells & Hoses, HORSY Carburetors, Hoosier Toes, JE Pistons, Jesel Rocker Arms, MAC Tools, Mechanix Wear, Moog Chassis Parts, MSD Ignitions, Raybestos Brakes, Simpson, Spicer Driveshafts, Wix Air Filters, 3M Automotive, 76 Race Gasoline.
WRAPPING UP MONTEREY:
- C T Hellmund was victorious in his debut in the NASCAR Winston West Series at Monterey. The 31 -year-old Texan led 27 of the 69 laps on the twisting road course, including the last seven.
- The runner-up finish by Eric Norris was his second of the year. He also finished second in the season opener at Phoenix
- A fifth-place finish at Monterey made Mark t Read top finishing rookie in six of the seven races in the first half of the 2001 season.
- Sean Woodside won his first Bud Pole Award of the season and the eighth of his career. He is 13th on the fist of career Bud Pole winners in the series.
- The Monterey race marked the 50th consecutive NASCAR Winston West Series start for Kevin Richards. He is fifth an the modern era list to Ray Elder, who started 121 consecutive races between January of 1971 and January of 1976.
- Eight drivers in the tap 20 moved up at least one position in the championship standings. Two drivers gained two spots -as Norris moved to sixth and Woodside moved to eighth.
- The Kansas 100 is the eighth race on the NWWS schedule for 2001. It is the inaugural event at Kansas Speedway and the only visit to the track by the series this season.
- This event marks the return of the series to the Sunflower state. The circuit previously traveled to Kansas in 1998 for a road course race at Heartland Park Topeka, which was won by Woodside.
- An Automobile Racing Club of America event will follow the NASCAR Winston West Series race at Kansas Speedway. The two divisions met at Texas World Speedway in College Station Texas, for a "shootout" in 1992 and 1993. The top-five finishers in the 1993 event were Darrel Waltrip Ken Schrader, Tim Steele, Harshel McGriff arid Dale Earnhardt
- This is one of four superspeedway races on the series schedule in 2001. Schrader won at Phoenix, while Brendan Gaughan won at California Speedway. The series visits Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
- In addition to Kansas Speedway, a NASCAR Winston West Series race was the inaugural NASCAR event at several other superspeedways west of the Mississippi. Those induded Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1986 and California Speedway in 1997.
- The chase for this year's championship continues to be a tight battle. The top 10 drivers in the championship standings are separated by just 205 points. A year ago, after seven races, 327 points covered the top 10.
- Reed has the best average finish in the first half of the 2001 season. His average is 5.43 in seven races.
- Reed also leads in terms of laps completed In NASCAR Winston West Series competition this year. He has turned in 1,321 of the 1,325 possible
- Gaughan meanwhile, leads in terms of laps led so far this year. He has had the NAPA/Martin Stour Chevrolet out front for 284 laps.
- Gaughan has also won the most money so far this year. With his share of the Winston Leader Bonus, which is to be presented at Kansas City, Gaughan will top the $60.000 mark in winnings this year with $61,123.
- Woodside has moved past the $600,000 mark in career winnings in the series. He is fourth on the list of career money leaders with $601,040.
- Bill Sedgwick has moved to second on the list of career money leaders in the series with $641,105. Butch Gilliland leads the list with $754,752.
- Drivers celebrating a birthday in the first portion of June include Sammy Potashnick who turns 27 on the 3"r; Jason Small who turns 22 on the 7th; Kevin Richards, who turns 39 on the 13th; and Brett Thompson, who turns 24 on the 17th.
