Revved up for NASCAR + Chiefs rookies, Royals roadies, lots of soccer: KC’s Next Play
.JPG "Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick lead a restart during last year’s Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Cup playoff race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.")
Plenty of entries are lined up in the weekly race to lead off our trusty KC’s Next Play compilation of percolating local sports stories ...
But if it’s a race, no better place to begin than racing, right? And we have some in our forecast, as Kansas Speedway plays host to the first of its two annual NASCAR weekends.
If the Chiefs are your primary concern, skip on over to their entry in this week’s rundown (they’re in the throes of their annual rookie minicamp); or, if it’s Royals you most enjoy, check out their road-tripping lineup for the week; soccer fans can get their fill here, too, with Sporting KC and the KC Current playing two games apiece.
Enough windup. Here comes the pitch ...
Drivers (and fans), start your engines
The racing will be loud and proud starting Saturday at the asphalt oval in Kansas City, Kan., with a doubleheader lineup Saturday and the main event Sunday.
First up are Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Heart of America 200 and ARCA Menards Series Dutch Boy 150. The latter is slated for a 1 p.m. start; the green flag is scheduled to drop at 7 for the trucks race.
On Sunday, the track’s parking lots open at 9 a.m. sharp, with assorted festivities leading up to the start of the AdventHealth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at 2 p.m.
Rookie minicamping with Chiefs
The Chiefs kicked off their annual three-day rookie minicamp on Saturday at their Arrowhead Stadium training complex.
The camp continues today (Sunday) and wraps up on Monday. The team’s coaching staff is getting to know the newest players a little better, while those players are beginning to receiver their indoctrination into schemes run by the franchise that won a Super Bowl two years ago and yearns for another championship.
Next up on the Chiefs’ NFL calendar is OTAs, where attendance is voluntary but strongly encouraged: May 25-26, May 31-June 2 and June 7-10. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the team’s mandatory minicamp comes next (June 14-16), followed by late-July training camp.
Royals on the road
The Royals are in the midst of an extended road swing. They’ll be playing away from Kauffman Stadium until Monday, May 16.
Here’s the schedule. Today, they wrap up a series against the Orioles in Baltimore. They’re off Monday. Then it’s on to Arlington, Texas for a Tuesday-Thursday three-game series against the Rangers. After that, they’ll head to Denver for three games (Friday-next Sunday) against the Colorado Rockies.
They return home to begin a series against the Chicago White Sox a week from Monday.
Soccer Two-fer, Take I: Sporting
Sporting KC lines up for a pair of games this week — including a midweek home showdown with FC Dallas, an opponent they played to a draw here just one week ago.
This time, the Sporting-Dallas match is part of the round of 32 in the annual Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Kick time for the rematch (they tied 2-2 last time) is 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Then, Sporting resumes its MLS regular-season campaign on Saturday with a 9 p.m. (Central Time) match in Portland.
Soccer Two-fer, Take II: Current
The KC Current play their NWSL regular-season home opener today at Children’s Mercy Park. Their opponent, for the third time this year, is the Houston Dash. Game time is 4 p.m. Central.
On Saturday, it’s off to Florida for a 5:30 p.m. (Central) match at Orlando. The Current started the year off strong with a stout preseason showing in the Sunshine State and will be looking to tap into that sort of energy during their return visit against the Pride.