Joey Gase Finishes 34th in Kansas Sprint Cup Series Race

[Photo: Joey Gase Racing]

Joey Gase, driving the No. 32 Ford for Go Fas Racing, overcame adversity to finish 34th in Saturday's Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Making his third Sprint Cup Series start of the 2016 season, Gase welcomed Sparks Energy back on board following a partnership for the April 30 XFINITY Series race at Talladega Superspeedway along with Midwest Transplant Network and Heavy Quip Inc.

Picking up more than a half-second from first practice, Gase's quick lap in happy hour was just 0.005 behind BK Racing's David Ragan and 0.157 seconds behind the Hendrick Motorsports chassis of Kasey Kahne.

Following the knockout round of qualifying on Friday, Gase picked up an additional 0.567 seconds to officially qualify in the 38th spot - lapping the 1.5-mile track at 29.678 seconds [181.953 mph].

Taking the green flag for the third time at Kansas, Gase would encounter a lack of front grip in the opening run before the first caution on lap 22.

Again, Gase would report to crew chief Wally Rogers that his Ford had "absolutely zero front grip" on lap 38. However, the car seemed to come in for Gase on the longer run as the front end started to "come in a little bit" after a few laps.

The race went on and Gase radioed that the car was "free up off the corner" on lap 189. Battling the Nos. 30 and 55 cars of Josh Wise and Reed Sorenson, Gase stayed up to date on what laps they were on as he hoped to jump them in the running order.

Officially crossing the finish line in 34th spot - his best-ever Sprint Cup finish at Kansas - Gase brought a solid run home for Go Fas Racing, Sparks Energy, Midwest Transplant Network and DieselSales.com.