NASCAR Cup Series finds trouble in turn two at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Turn two was often the source of trouble – and cautions – in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Seven of the 11 cautions were for incidents in or exiting turn two. The cautions fell in succession, beginning with Aric Almirola and Erik Jones’ spins on exit, on laps 139 and 149.
In the following cautions, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs looked like a synchronized spinning team.
On lap 159, Bell spun exiting turn two and slammed the wall, just as Busch did on lap 164. Each of them suffered race-ending damage because of the wreck.
On lap 178, Gibbs spun while racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate slid toward the inside the wall and just nudged it slightly.
Gibbs was going to be okay until a right-front tire came apart and ripped up the fender. That damage took him out of the race.
Gibbs, Busch and Bell finished in the last two positions – 34th, 35th and 36th.
Noah Gragson, another rookie of the year candidate, also had trouble in turn two. On lap 207, Gragson spun with a flat right-rear tire exiting turn two.
The flat tire occurred after Ross Chastain slid and appeared to force Gragson into the wall exiting turn four. The two drivers ran inside the top 15 on a fierce restart after Harrison Burton spun in turn two on lap 192.
Gragson finished 29th, 5 laps down, while Burton finished 30th, 6 laps down.
After the race, Gragson confronted and pushed Chastain, who then punched Gragson in the face.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com