NASCAR is five years into the elimination era of the playoffs and a bit of history could be made with Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
The Cup Series enters the second-round elimination race with five different winners in the first five races.
There has not been six different winners to begin the playoffs since the elimination era began in 2014.
The five winners so far have been Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas), Kyle Busch (Richmond), Ryan Blaney (Charlotte Roval), Chase Elliott (Dover) and Aric Almirola (Talladega).
The last three races have each seen a driver earn their second career Cup win.
This five-race stretch only saw one win by a member of the regular season’s “Big 3" with Busch’s victory.
Martin Truex Jr. has gone 12 races since he last won at Kentucky Speedway. Kevin Harvick is winless in the eight races since his Michigan victory.
But with the arrival of Kansas for the elimination race chances are good to the two drivers could make playoff history.
Harvick claimed the win in the May Kansas race, leading 79 laps from the pole. Three of his seven wins this year have come on 1.5-mile tracks.
If he wins Sunday, Harvick will also continue his six-year streak of winning in the playoffs, which is the longest active streak.
Truex will try to defend his win in this race last year, which completed a sweep of the Kansas races. He also finished second to Harvick in May’s race.
Of Truex’s four wins this season, he has only one on a 1.5-mile track. But of his 12 wins since 2017, eight have come at mile-and-a-half tracks.
“As far as why we’ve been good there (at Kansas) over the years, I’m not sure,” Truex said in a press release. “It’s a place where I really feel comfortable. Have had chances to win multiple races there over the years with different teams even. It was one of the places I was successful at before Furniture Row so for whatever reason it just points towards my driving style and my comfort level, what I like in my race car and it just seems to work out well there.”
MORE: Truex looks to rebound at reliable Kansas
Here are the winners of the first six races in the first four years of the elimination era.
2014
Chicagoland - Brad Keselowski
Loudon - Joey Logano
Dover - Jeff Gordon
Kansas - Joey Logano
Charlotte - Kevin Harvick
Talladega - Brad Keselowski
2015
Chicagoland - Denny Hamlin
New Hampshire - Matt Kenseth
Dover - Kevin Harvick
Charlotte - Joey Logano
Kansas - Joey Logano
Talladega - Joey Logano
2016
Chicagoland - Martin Truex Jr.
New Hampshire - Kevin Harvick
Dover - Martin Truex Jr.
Charlotte - Jimmie Johnson
Kansas - Kevin Harvick
Talladega - Joey Logano
2017
Chicagoland - Martin Truex Jr.
New Hampshire - Kyle Busch
Dover - Kyle Busch
Charlotte -Martin Truex Jr.
Talladega - Brad Keselowski
Kansas - Martin Truex Jr.