Kansas close to home for two Chasers

Heartland Of America Home To Two Of The Chase’s Top Performers

Kansas is often referred to as “the heartland of America” and two of NASCAR’s top Chase drivers call this region of the country home.

Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards, who is the Chase points leader for the second consecutive week, is from nearby Columbia, Mo., and considers Kansas Speedway his home track. Edwards has one victory at Kansas – in the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. Edwards finished 37th a year ago at Kansas and has one top five and two top 10s in his four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts there.

Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet) is a product of Emporia, Kan., and is currently sixth in points. Bowyer gained three spots in the points standings following his eighth-place finish last week at Dover. Bowyer leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series by 186 points over Edwards, the series’ 2007 champion. Those two will battle for home track pride this weekend at Kansas, beginning with the NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Saturday and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday.

Clint Bowyer

“It’s always fun to go back to Kansas,” said Bowyer. “It’s an important race track for me. You always want to go back and run well in front of the hometown crowd. Knowing that we’ve run well there in the past gives us a lot of confidence going into this weekend.”