Chase Race No. 4: Kansas Kicks off "Contender Round" of the Chase

Matt Kenseth won at Kansas in 2012...(Photo: Google Images)

...and in 2013 (Photo: Google Images)

Kansas sports fans have had a very exciting week. They saw their beloved Chiefs blow out Tom Brady's New England Patriots 41-14 on Monday night, the Royals finally reached baseball's post season for the first time since 1985, when the club won the World Series, on Tuesday night. And now, on Sunday afternoon, the Kansas Speedway will host the opening event in round two of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Known as the "Contender Round," this is thought to be the most treacherous round in the title fight because it culminates with a race at Talladega Superspeedway. So getting off to a good start in Kansas will prove vital to any title hopefuls looking to avoid elimination in Alabama.

 So which Chasers might race to the front of the pack on Sunday, Well how about Matt Kenseth? Over the last two seasons, he's won the fall race in 2012 and the spring event last year. This time last season, he finished 11th in the Heartland and scored a respectable tenth place finish there earlier this season.  Kenseth and his team will be feeling the heat Sunday as they sit eighth in the standings and fighting to win at least one race following a year when he won seven times in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. But what better place to kick-start a title run than with a win at a track where he's won two of the last four races?

 Another driver to watch will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR's favorite son will be trying to continue his best season since 2004. This year he's swept both races at Pocono and won the prestigious Daytona 500 for the second time in his career. But the No. 88 team's last three races have been a far cry from how good they were to start out they year. The finished 11th at Chicago, ninth at Loudon and a solid, yet depressing 17th at Dover last week. with this being crew chief Steve Letarte's last season on the pit box before transitioning to the press box for NBC Sports, Earnhardt Jr would no doubt love nothing more than to get things righted and send his crew chief off with a championship.

Kevin Harvick won this race last year (Photo; Google Images)

Another big question this week will be if Kevin Harvick can get the proverbial monkey off his back. After last week's disappointment in Dover when a broken valve stem relegated his probable winning run into a 13th place finish, they will be looking to harness the same strong runs they had to start off the season. Like Earnhartd Jr, the No. 4 team was freakishly consistent to start the year. You'd be hard pressed to find a race they did not have a shot to win. But due to bad luck, pit crew issues or mechanical problems, the dynamic duo of Harvick and Rodney Childers has been relegated to only two wins so far (one at Phoenix, the other at Darlington). Like Kenseth, Kansas has also been goof to Harvick. He won the fall race last year and finished second in the spring of this year. Both of those races also saw him start from the pole. If this team is going to change their luck, this looks like the track to do it.

While Kansas is typically known for racing that isn't necessarily as exciting as Daytona or Talladega, this new Chase format might just spice things up a bit. It will also afford any drivers looking to rebound after a sub-par first round to gain momentum for the next three weeks. The Contender Round should prove to be very exciting and very unpredictable.