In Johnson’s case, the No. 48 team hadn’t hit their full stride when Kansas came around, but they are on a full throttle boogie right now. Since winning at Darlington, Johnson has won the All-Star race, won at Dover and is on a streak of four straight top-five finishes.

Johnson describes a lap around Kansas as rough and bumpy and says it's kind of in its own league among the 1.5-mile tracks.

"It’s the roughest and fastest track we go to," Johnson explains. "Well, Atlanta is fast, but there are big swells and I still don’t feel like we’re driving as hard at Atlanta as we are at Kentucky. At Kentucky, you’re driving it like a freshly repaved track. You have high frequency bumps and banking doing weird things. It’s a fun track for those reasons and it has a lot of character to it.”

Kenseth and Biffle are sitting 1-2 in the standings and this type of track has been Roush-Fenway Racing’s bread and butter over the years. The duo finished in the top-5 at Kansas this year and has been fast on all 1.5-mile tracks this season with Biffle grabbing a Texas win.

It was announced earlier in the week that 2012 would be Kenseth's last season with RFR with Ricky Stenhouse taking over the No. 17 ride. This is a relationship few expected to ever see end because it was Jack Roush who nurtured the rising Kenseth to become a Cup Champion that is considered now one of the best drivers on the circuit.

But this is the process Roush has had with all his drivers. He brings them up while their young and willing to listen, gives them good cars and then watches them leave. It's happened with Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch and now Kenseth.

In relation to what Kenseth being a lame duck driver means for the upcoming races, we shouldn't expect to see Kenseth's performances be any less that it has been throughout this season. The team still has eyes on a Championship, a title that would still hang in the Roush rafters.

"I'm very thankful to Jack Roush for the opportunities he's given me over the past 14 years. Together we have enjoyed a lot of success," Kenseth tweeted on Tuesday. "And as a team we are committed as ever to the remainder of the 2012 season and chasing a 3rd Sprint Cup title for Jack and RFR. Although I have nothing to announce regarding 2013, I feel the timing of this announcement gives RFR ample time to get things lined up..."

Although Kenseth hasn't announced where he will be driving in 2013, it's thought that Joe Gibbs Racing will be his next stop in either the No. 20 currently driven by Joey Logano or else a fourth JGR car.

The Michael Waltrip Racing drivers come off their first win of the season on the road course at Sonoma and could make in two in a row this week because they have shown to have perhaps the most consistent power among all the Toyota’s despite getting the same information as the Joe Gibbs drivers.

The added incentive this week is that car owner Michael Waltrip is from Kentucky and would love to get a win in his home state. Waltrip will even be taking the wheel of the No. 55 car and try to get the win himself.

Clint Bowyer won last week, but look for Truex Jr. to be the star on Saturday. He should have very attractive odds this week that make the play very worthwhile despite not winning a race since 2007.

Top-5 Finish Prediction:

1) #56 Martin Truex Jr. (25/1)
2) #16 Greg Biffle (8/1)
3) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6/1)
4) #17 Matt Kenseth (10/1)
5) #18 Kyle Busch (10/1)