Skip to main content
Join Now
NASCAR Logo

NASCAR insiders suggest Kansas in conversation for best NASCAR track in Next Gen era

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones10/02/25brianjones_93
NASCAR Kansas
Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

Two NASCAR insiders were really impressed with what they saw from the Cup Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway this past Sunday. On The Teardown podcast, Jordan Bainchi of Jeff Gluck of The Athletic suggested that Kansas has the best track in the Next Gen era.

“This was a terrific race,” Bianchi said. “Kansas again showed why it’s easily top five of tracks for me. And I think a really good case could be made that it could be No. 1.”

Gluck agreed with Bianchi, saying, “You’re not going to get it perfect every time. We know this car has posed challenges at short tracks and road courses. At a lot of intermediate tracks, it’s really great. But I think if you look at the mile and a half (tracks) as a whole, if you’re just looking at the whole big picture of mile and a half racing in NASCAR, I think this is it. I think this is the best place for it. It just suits this car so well.”

Chase Elliott talks about competing at the NASCAR Kansas track

Gluck revealed he asked Kansas winner Chase Elliott why the track produces great racing. “It’s a really complicated answer that it would take me, I think, a very long time to explain how I would want to explain it,” Elliott said during his post-race news conference. “I think the best thing is just chalk it up is it’s shaped really nicely. The entries are wide. You have a lot of options to run different lanes, and the surface is really smooth too, I think, to put it simply.”

Elliott won the race after getting past Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace during the final lap of an overtime restart. He has now won two races this year and has clinched a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8.

Kansas Speedway opened in 2001, and NASCAR has held Cup Series races at the track since then. Jeff Gordon won the first Cup race at the track on Sept. 30, 2001, and won the second Cup race, which happened nearly a year later. Kansas Speedway has been hosting two Cup races a year since 2011. Earlier this season, Kyle Larson won the Kansas spring race.