It's been nearly 14 years since a car carrying Richard Petty's famous No. 43 pulled into victory lane. The Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway is in its infancy, but The King's number is out front early on.
Aric Almirola overhauled Mark Martin on lap seven to put his Fusion out front and shows the way after 15 of the 267 circuits to be run today.
Martin, who passed polesitter Kasey Kahne on the opening lap, still runs second, with Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, and Denny Hamlin rounding out the top-five.
Kahne has backslid to sixth place after nearly spinning off turn two in an early duel for position with Busch. Greg Biffle runs seventh, followed by Joey Logano, local favorite Clint Bowyer, and Jimmie Johnson.
Point leader Brad Keselowski started 25th and has climbed to the 19th position in the race's early going. Keselowski qualified poorly last week in Charlotte as well, but crew chief Paul Wolfe got his driver to the front of the field with pit strategy. Keselowski proceeded to dominate the race before running out of fuel and winding up 11th.