Weekend racing at Kansas Speedway may include a father-son duel

Ryan Blaney will race in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series SFP 250 at Kansas Speedway and make his first Sprint Cup start in the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske in Saturday night’s 5-hour ENERGY 400.

The race also could provide an opportunity for Blaney, 20, to compete against his father, Dave, on Saturday night. That would make them the first father-son duo to compete in in the same Sprint Cup Series event since Bobby Hamilton Sr. and Jr. raced at Atlanta on Oct. 30, 2005. The Blaneys raced against each other last season in the inaugural truck race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio.

Ryan Blaney, who races in the trucks series for Brad Keselowski Racing, is fourth in the standings, four points behind co-leaders Timothy Peters and Johnny Sauter. Dave Blaney, 41, has qualified for just two of 10 Sprint Cup races this season.

Kenny Francis, the crew chief for Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne, has been fined $25,000 because of rules violations committed in qualifying last week at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kahne, qualified 17th for the Aaron’s 499, but the No. 5 Chevrolet did not meet NASCAR’s minimum weight requirement. Kahne had to start from the back of the field but placed eighth, tying his best finish of the season and finishing best among the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

Camping World Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb of Kansas City, Kan., will have sponsorship from 2016 presidential candidate Robby Wells for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 on May 16 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Wells is a Democrat and North Carolina native.

Cobb is not concerned about a backlash from NASCAR’s predominantly Republican fan base.

“My voter registration card says unaffiliated, because I vote for the candidate and not the party,” she said, adding the sponsorship is to introduce Wells and his ideas and let each voter decide on who to support.

“I have no political experience, so I am learning a lot during this process and it is very interesting,” she said.

For the first time in nearly 22 months, two-time reigning national champion Lee Pulliam does not lead the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national Division I standings.

Anthony Anders, on the power of eight wins in 16 outings, occupies the top spot followed by Dillon Bassett, Tommy Lemons Jr., Pulliam and Matt Bowling..

This story was originally published May 7, 2014 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Weekend racing at Kansas Speedway may include a father-son duel."