The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first of two visits this season to Kansas Speedway this weekend.
A year ago, Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by .001 seconds. In last fall’s playoff race, Ross Chastain won.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Kansas.
23XI Racing — Good news: The organization has won three of the last six races at Kansas Speedway. … Tyler Reddick has led in each of the last seven Kansas races. … Bubba Wallace ranks third in the series with 100 stage points. … Wallace’s pit crew ranks first, according to Racing Insights. … Riley Herbst finished a season-best 14th at Texas last weekend. … Corey Heim will make his first start of the season and fourth in his Cup career this weekend, driving the No. 67 car. Bad news: Wallace has placed 19th or worse in three of the last four races. … Reddick has placed 20th or worse in five of the last seven Kansas races.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has placed 16th or better in four of the last five races. … Gilliland’s 11th-place result last week at Texas was his best finish in 24 career starts on 1.5-mile tracks. … Zane Smith finished 10th in last fall’s race at Kansas. Bad news: Noah Gragson has finished on the lead lap in only three of the last eight races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer has scored back-to-back top 20s for the first time this season, placing 13th at Talladega and 19th last weekend at Texas. Bad News: Even with those finishes the last two weeks, Custer is 34th in the points.
Homestead and Phoenix will be among the tracks to rotate hosting the Cup season finale and there could be a few other tracks to do so.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson has ranked first or second in speed in the previous two races on 1.5-mile tracks. He ranked second in speed at Homestead, a race he won, and first in speed at Texas, a race he finished fourth. … Larson’s average finish on 1.5-mile tracks this season is a series-best 4.7. … Larson leads the series with seven top-five finishes and eight top 10s this year. … Larson has scored a series-best 108 stage points. … Alex Bowman’s 10 top 10s at Kansas are his most at any track. … Chase Elliott is the only driver to finish in the top 20 in every race this season. … Elliott has four consecutive top 10s at Kansas. … William Byron’s average finish this season is 8.91, best in the series. … Byron has scored 107 stage points to rank second to Larson in that category. Bad news: Bowman has three finishes of 35th or worse in the last four races.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s sixth-place finish at Texas last weekend moved him into the the final transfer spot to the playoffs. … That finish also was his best result at Texas in 21 starts. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top 10 finish in 24 Cup starts at Kansas.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell has won the pole for the last three races at Kansas. … Bell has led each of the six Kansas races in the Next Gen era. … Bell has 10 top 10s, including two wins, in the last 14 races on 1.5-mile tracks. … Denny Hamlin has seven consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas. … Ty Gibbs has started in the top 10 in the last three races. Bad news: The organization has led only 16 laps on 1.5-mile tracks this season. … Hamlin has finished outside the top 20 in the past two races. … Chase Briscoe has not finished better than 13th in eight Kansas starts. … Gibbs’ average finish of 23.8 at Kansas is his worst among 1.5-mile tracks.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Ty Dillon finished a season-best 12th last weekend at Texas after gaining six spots in overtime. … AJ Allmendinger has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts on 1.5-mile tracks. Bad news: Allmendinger has finished 18th or worse in four of his last five races.
NASCAR will begin rotating sites for the championship race in 2026.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Placed both cars in the top 10 last weekend at Texas, marking the first time the team has done that since the season-opening Daytona 500. … Erik Jones finished a season-best fifth at Texas and John Hunter Nemechek was eighth. … The organization’s five top 10s this year is one less than what it had all of last season. … Nemechek has two Xfinity wins and one Truck win at Kansas. Bad news: Jones has made 90 starts since his last Cup victory.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon has scored three top-10 finishes in a row, tied for his longest Cup streak. … Jesse Love makes his third start of the season and will be in the No. 33 at Kansas. Bad news: The organization has only one top-five finish this season. … It is now 68 races win Kyle Busch’s last Cup win.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Last weekend’s race at Texas saw Cody Ware finish 30th, marking the fifth time he’s placed between 24th and 30th this season. Bad news: Ware has not started better than 33rd in the last nine races.
RFK Racing — Good news: All three of Ryan Preece’s top 10s on 1.5-mile tracks were in the last four races. Bad news: It was this race a year ago that Chris Buescher lost to Kyle Larson by a series-record .001 seconds. … Buescher has finished 18th or worse in four of the last five races. … Brad Keselowski has finished 26th or worse in eight of the 11 races this year. … Preece has had four finishes of 20th or worse this season.
Larson edges Buescher in historic Kansas finish
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher wheel nose-to-nose as the checkered flag waves in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, combining for the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history with a margin of 0.001 seconds.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: The team has won the pole for two of the last three races at 1.5-mile tracks. … Carson Hocevar has scored points in five of the last six stages. Bad news: Justin Haley has not finished better than 18th in eight starts at Kansas. … Michael McDowell has one top-10 finish in the last 21 races on 1.5-mile tracks.
Team Penske — Good news: Team has won the past two Cup races with Austin Cindric winning at Talladega and Joey Logano winning at Texas. … Ryan Blaney placed a season-best third at Texas last weekend. … Logano has three Kansas wins. Bad news: Austin Cindric does not have a top-10 finish in seven Kansas starts in Cup and has finished 31st or worse in each of his last four starts there.
Ryan Blaney is the only Team Penske driver yet to score a Cup win this season despite having a strong car in several races.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has finished in the top 10 in five of the last seven races, including his runner-up finish last weekend at Texas. … Chastain’s last win came at Kansas in last year’s playoff race. … Daniel Suarez has scored back-to-back top 10s. Bad news: Shane van Gisbergen has started 33rd or worse in each of the last six races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry’s victory this season came on a 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas). … He led 41 laps last weekend at Texas, also 1.5-mile track. Bad news: Berry finished 32nd at Texas due to damage suffered in a crash. … Berry has finished 26th or worse in four of the last five races.