MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Kansas Speedway is a deceptively simple 1.5-mile oval on the outskirts of Kansas City that has produced high speeds and daring, side-by-side racing since its NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2001.
Its sweeping, D-shaped layout allows drivers to explore multiple racing lines, and its smooth surface provides a consistent feel, instilling much-needed confidence when throwing a 3,400-pound racecar into a corner at around 170 mph.
After competing last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, where a massive bump in turn four of its 1.5-mile oval kept drivers on a knife edge, this Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas offers a welcome reprieve.
“Kansas is a mile-and-a-half track that’s in great condition. No bumps, no wear, you can pretty much run that track from top to bottom,” said Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Parts Plus Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing. “If you want to run the apron, you can run the apron. If you want to run the wall, you can run the wall. And you can run any combination of lanes in between. You’re not having to fight through bumps like we just did at Texas. You’re not dealing with rough track surfaces, like Darlington. It’s really just a very good, solid, smooth, clean racetrack, which makes it easier to extract the car’s full potential.”
Unlocking that last bit of potential is perhaps the hardest element of Kansas.
“I feel like everyone typically unloads really, really well at Kansas,” Ware said. “Because the track allows you to move around, you can find a line that suits you and your racecar the best. You can get your car 99 percent there with where you want it to be.”
But in a sport where the entire field is separated by just tenths of a second, extracting that last percentage point is the true challenge of Kansas.
“Those guys who get to 100 percent, or even 101 percent, they’re really pushing the envelope,” Ware said. “You can drive on the ragged edge at Kansas because the risk is lower compared to other tracks. It’s a driver’s track. You can find speed because you’re able to turn quick, consistent laps.”
This myriad of options, however, makes Kansas complex. Without a plan of attack, Kansas’ simplicity can become a liability.
“You need to go into Kansas with a plan,” Ware said. “What do you want to do as a driver? Do you want to dial your car in to rip the wall, and do it from start to finish? Do you want to try to work on building a car with some flexibility? Or do you want something where you’re running a more traditional line for a mile-and-a-half oval?
“Not everyone is a Tyler Redick or a Kyle Larson, who can just rip the wall lap after lap without making the slightest mistake. Versatility and being able to adapt is the key to Kansas, because track conditions there change.”
Another element of Kansas that needs foresight is a plan for mom, as the AdventHealth 400 falls on Mother’s Day. It is one of many holidays those in NASCAR must navigate when 38 weekends are spent at a racetrack.
“We’re a racing family, so there’s a little bit more understanding in the Ware household because my grandfather was in it, and my dad’s been in it for decades, and my mom married into it. Like my father says, she knew what she was getting into, marrying a racing fanatic,” Ware said.
“So we plan ahead and we’re flexible. We’re not always able to celebrate a holiday on the exact day, but we still find a way. Instead of having Friday to Sunday for our days off, it’s a little bit of like Monday to Thursday. It’s like our weekends are the weekdays, so we just plan our lives around that.
“It doesn’t make this stretch of 28 straight race weekends easy, but that’s why not everyone’s out here doing it, either. We have a great family and a great support system, and we just figure out a way to make it happen. It just looks a little different.”
The commitment it takes to make it to the NASCAR Cup Series, and then stay there, is monumental. It is not done alone. In the case of Cody Ware, it is his mom, Lisa, who has been one of his staunchest supporters.
“From day one, whether I wanted to be a doctor, a painter or a racecar driver, she has supported me 100 percent,” Ware said. “And for all the chaos that racing can bring, and all the weekends away from home, and the travel and the stress of it all, she’s been a supporter and a champion of mine, just an amazing mother from day one. I couldn’t ask for a better cheerleader and supporter. I’m just blessed to have the mom that I do, who puts up with a lot of what racing throws at us. I can’t thank her enough.”
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