Playoff Bubble Watch: Round of 12

Twelve playoff drivers enter Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio); eight will advance to the next round.

Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski have locked in spots in the Monster Energy NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 by virtue of wins at Charlotte and Talladega, respectively. Here's a look at the other 10 contenders heading into the 400.5-mile elimination at Kansas.

Kyle Larson
Postseason standings: 3rd
Points above cut-off line: +29
Starting spot: 13th
Wins at Kansas: 0
Top-fives at Kansas: 1
Top-10s at Kansas: 2
Career average finish at Kansas: 18.4
Note: Only Jamie McMurray has a worse average finish (20.4) than Kyle Larson at Kansas among drivers with more than 3 starts there. Fortunately, finishing in the top 20 should be good enough for Larson to reach the Round of 8, but some stage wins would help add to the No. 42's playoff points cushion.

Kevin Harvick
Postseason standings: 4th
Points above cut-off line: +22
Starting spot: 2nd
Wins at Kansas: 2
Top-fives at Kansas: 7
Top-10s at Kansas: 12
Career average finish at Kansas: 10.0
Note: Kevin Harvick said this week on 'Race Hub' that he's really looking forward to Kansas. With good reason: He has two wins there and top-10 finishes in more than half of his races at the 1.5-mile track. The No. 4 is a contender to win the race as well as advance.

Denny Hamlin
Postseason standings: 5th
Points above cut-off line: +21
Starting spot: 4th
Wins at Kansas: 1
Top-fives at Kansas: 4
Top-10s at Kansas: 5
Career average finish at Kansas: 17.0
Note: Denny Hamlin owns the race speed record at Kansas (144.122 mph in April, 2012). Expect the No. 11 to be fast again in this elimination race after back-to-back top-10 finishes at Charlotte and Talladega.

Chase Elliott
Postseason standings: 6th
Points above cut-off line: +20
Starting spot: 14th
Wins at Kansas: 0
Top-fives at Kansas: 0
Top-10s at Kansas: 1
Career average finish at Kansas: 23.0
Note: Kansas has not been kind to Chase Elliott yet. He's completed all of the laps in just one of his three Monster Energy Series races there.

Ryan Blaney
Postseason standings: 7th
Points above cut-off line: +9
Starting spot: 40h
Wins at Kansas: 0
Top-fives at Kansas: 2
Top-10s at Kansas: 3
Career average finish at Kansas: 11.4
Note: Blaney has top 10s in three of his five races at Kansas, including a pole in the May race. Having his qualifying time disallowed, though, puts him in a precarious position starting at the rear of the field.

Jimmie Johnson
Postseason standings: 8th
Points above cut-off line: +7
Starting spot: 12th
Wins at Kansas: 3
Top-fives at Kansas: 9
Top-10s at Kansas: 17
Career average finish at Kansas: 9.6
Note: Jimmie Johnson is by far the best active Monster Energy Series driver at this track, and it's just the first in a string of venues where the No. 48 can dominate.

Kyle Busch
Postseason standings: 9th
Points below cut-off line: -7
Starting spot: 7th
Wins at Kansas: 1
Top-fives at Kansas: 5
Top-10s at Kansas: 7
Career average finish at Kansas: 17.7
Note: Kyle Busch hates Kansas. His word, not ours. The former champion knows how to overcome adversity, and he'll fight for a spot in the Round of 8. He has five straight top-five finishes here.

Matt Kenseth
Postseason standings: 10th
Points below cut-off line: -8
Starting spot: 3rd
Wins at Kansas: 2
Top-fives at Kansas: 7
Top-10s at Kansas: 13
Career average finish at Kansas: 13.1
Note: Matt Kenseth's driver rating at Kansas is 106.5 and second only to Jimmie Johnson. He hasn't finished outside the top 15 here since 2009 -- 14 races ago.