NASCAR’s Contender Round Begins

This week's Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway marks the beginning of the second round of "playoffs" for the 12 drivers who are still in the Chase for this year's championship.

Four drivers fell by the wayside in last week's Chase elimination race at Dover International Speedway. A.J. Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola failed to advance to the three-race Contender Round, which will eliminate three more of the 12 remaining drivers.

One of the drivers who remains in contention for the title continued a qualifying hot streak on Friday. Kevin Harvick won his 8th pole of the season and third in a row at Kansas. Harvick is the defending winner of this race from a year ago. Brian Vickers qualified second, followed by Aric Almirola, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon. Here is the complete starting lineup for Sunday's race.

In local racing, the "King of the Clay" event at the Devil's Bowl Speedway has been moved from today to Sunday due to weather. The event features a $5,000 to win 50-lap main event for dirt big-block and small-block modifieds. Sportsman, Renegades, Mini Stocks and Enduro series will also be part of the racing card.