The FBR IndyCar Series hit the 1.5 mile cookie cutter of Kansas on Thursday night with tensions running high.. With several drivers continuing to show improvement in these cars, the race was up for grabs.. Polesitter Marco Brughelli led the field to the green, with Chad Simpson on outside pole.. Butch Davis started third, followed by Jason Fuchs, Hal Moore, Mike Morris, Kory Williams, Kyle Millikin, Mike Norris, Jaime Huppert, and Patrick Norris.. The drivers learned very quickly that the race would be a huge chess match, as a total of 75 lead changes took place during the event.. Patrick Norris' day ended on lap 21 when contact with the wall tore the right front suspension from the #17 Ethanol car.. Kyle Millikin's race started out very promising, as he was able to fight his way to the lead for a total of 6 laps, but a blown motor on lap 37 put the #42 Patron Tequila car out of the race.. Mike Norris' day would end only 19 laps from the finish as a mechanical failure sidelined the #20 Invicta Watches car, leaving Norris to finish 9th.. Overall, the race was slowed by 3 yellows for a total of 9 laps, but the race pace still averaged well over 190mph for the entire event.. A final lap incident between Jason Fuchs and Mike Morris relegated the two drivers to 7th and 8th place finishes respectively, which is a far cry from where they could have finished during a mad dash on the last lap as both were positioned with a chance to win coming out of turn 2.. The incident between the #19 Mopar car of Fuchs and #05 Marlboro car of Morris opened the door for the #11 Army car of Marco Brughelli to get a tow from both the #18 M&Ms car of Kory Williams and the #43 STP car of Butch Davis as they exited turn 4.. As the drivers exited turn 4, Davis was underneath Williams, and Brughelli was able to pull under both drivers coming to the line.. Brughelli dove to the apron of the track and all three drivers crossed the line side by side.. In the end, Brughelli earned his first victory of the season, beating Davis to the line by 18 thousandths of a second, with Williams only 4 thousandths behind Davis.. Hal Moore continued his consistent ways finishing a strong 4th in the #9 Budweiser car, followed by Chad Simpson in his #15 Target ride.. Jaime Huppert had a great showing, bringing his #96 MOMO car home a respectable 6th..

Next up for the IndyCar series is the fast short track in Iowa, where 17 second laps are the norm.. It's sure to be quite a different race than Kansas as handling and tire management will play a much larger role at Iowa.. Regardless, it should be one hell of an event..