Why Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr Have the Edge over Chase Elliott in the Round of 8

Published 10/17/2020, 12:41 PM EDT

After winning at the Charlotte Roval, Chase Elliott is set to start on pole position at the Kansas Speedway. In motorsport, pole position usually hands a driver a big advantage in most cases.

However, there may be a reason to believe that Elliott may not be the favorite to win at Kansas, but Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr might.

In terms of 1.5-mile tracks like Kansas, Elliott has recorded four top-10s in his last 10 races. Meanwhile, the likes of Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr have eight top-10s. It is also worth noting that Kansas and Texas are tracks that are 1.5 miles long.

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Since Keselowski and Truex are still in the Playoffs, they are well within the Top-8. From a starting grid perspective, Truex is set to start from 5th, while Keselowski starts in 8th.

Can Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr best Chase Elliott?

Both drivers have wins under their belts, with the #2 driver having four wins to Truex Jr.’s one. In addition to that, Keselowski also has a playoff win compared to none for Truex.

As always, a playoff win automatically secures a berth for the next round, in this case, the season finale at Phoenix. Of course, Chase Elliott should not be counted out, nor should the likes of Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, or Joey Logano.

Logano starts alongside Elliott on the front row, with Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick on their tails. Truex Jr has a tough task ahead as he prepares himself to muscle his way past them.

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However, it is Brad Keselowski with the biggest challenge of them all as he has the likes of Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin ahead of him.

Speaking of Denny Hamlin, he also has a tough job staring him in the face. This is because Harvick starts a few places ahead of him that will give the #4 driver a leg up in his championship challenge.

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However, the race is long and anything can happen between the race start and the next 267 laps.

Can Chase Elliott Make the Most of Pole Position in the NASCAR Cup Series Race at Kansas?

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Written by:

Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.