Kansas Speedway was originally a single-date Cup venue from 2001 through 2010. When NASCAR realigned its schedule for 2011, Kansas received a second date, and the inaugural spring race took place on June 5, 2011. Brad Keselowski won that first running ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., having saved fuel to control the outcome of the race.
The spring race was moved from June to April for 2012 to allow Kansas Speedway time to complete a track reconfiguration. A. J. Allmendinger set the pole for the 2012 STP 400, but Denny Hamlin took the race win after passing Martin Truex Jr. The April date remained for 2013 before the race shifted to May in 2014, when it was also run under lights for the first time following a date swap with the Southern 500 at Darlington.
The 2020 race was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced its postponement from the planned May 31 date to July 23, when it was held as a Thursday night event on a Sunday afternoon time slot.
The spring race has carried a succession of title sponsors. It ran as the STP 400 from 2011 to 2013, before being renamed the "5-hour Energy 400 Benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation" in 2014. Subsequent sponsors included Nickelodeon and SpongeBob SquarePants in 2015, GoBowling.com from 2016 to 2017, KC Masterpiece in 2018, Digital Ally in 2019, and O'Reilly Auto Parts' Super Start Batteries brand in 2020.
In 2021 Busch Beer assumed title sponsorship. In an unusual promotion, fans paid $1 each to submit name suggestions for the race through a contest that benefited the Farm Rescue charity. The winning submission was "Buschy McBusch Race 400," which served as the official race name that year. The race has since been known as the AdventHealth 400.
The fall race at Kansas predates the spring event, having been part of the Cup schedule since 2001. It is currently known as the Hollywood Casino 400. The race covers 400.5 miles, the same distance as the spring event.
A notable incident in the fall race's history came in 2007, when the event was shortened due to darkness after two rain delays. The race has been extended to NASCAR overtime in several editions, including 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023, and 2025.
Chase Elliott is the most recent defending winner of the fall race.
The Kansas spring race has been extended to overtime in 2019, 2024, and 2026. The 2015 spring race is notable for an unusual scheduling circumstance: it began on Saturday before rain delays pushed the finish past midnight into Sunday, meaning the race technically concluded on a different calendar day than it started.
Kansas Speedway's dual-date status places it among a select group of tracks that host the Cup Series twice a year, alongside venues like Talladega and Pocono that have historically carried multiple dates. The spring race's creative sponsorship history — particularly the crowd-sourced "Buschy McBusch Race 400" — has given it an identity in NASCAR lore beyond its on-track results. The track's intermediate oval configuration, combined with its relatively young venue age, makes it a reliable fixture on the modern Cup calendar.