News and notes for the entire 43-car field from the SpongeBob SquarePants 400
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson rallied from a rocky start and took the lead with 10 laps to go after opting not to pit when the final caution flag waved. Johnson leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with three wins and remains third in the points. | Watch: ‘Six-Time’ holds off Harvick
2. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Despite a loose handling car, Harvick led 53 laps at Kansas to eclipse the 1,000-laps led mark this season and maintain the points lead
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior capitalized on the beneficiary rule during the third caution period and spent the remainder of the race running in the top 15. | Watch: Junior discusses incident with Hamlin
4. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon posted his second top-five result of the season despite struggling with a lack of rear grip throughout the race.
5. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. The polesitter was only temporarily stalled by two pit road penalties and recorded a race-high 147 green-flag passes en route to his sixth top five of the season.
6. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth picked up a bonus point after leading Lap 81 during green-flag stops. He later spun on the backstretch on Lap 130, but recovered for a top 10. | Watch: Kenseth’s spin collects ‘Smoke’
7. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. An early vibration was a distant memory by the end of the race for Keselowski, who posted the fastest lap of the race on Lap 136 (189.237 mph).
8. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch consistently reported a loose handling condition, but held on to lead 20 laps and continue his ascent in the points. He now ranks 14th.
9. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. The team’s late-race pit strategy backfired on Truex, who led a race-high 95 laps before opting to make a fuel stop under caution with 10 laps to go. Truex remains second in the points and has 10 | Related: Truex thinks better things still to come
10. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. A chassis change under caution on Lap 126 might have taken a little extra time, but it was just what Newman needed as he rallied from 25th to earn his seventh top 10 of the year.
11. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola just missed his first top-10 result of the year and picked up a spot to now rank 11th in the points, matching his Kansas finish.
12. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle told his crew he needed more rear grip, so with 70 laps to go the team made big chassis adjustments, pulling shim and rear wedge during a stop under caution.
13. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. A native of nearby Joplin, Missouri, McMurray spent the first half of the race running inside the top 10 before a loose handling condition emerged.
14. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger, who recently inked a five-year extension with JTG Daughtery, made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 148 after an engine tear-off sheet adhered itself to his car’s grille, prompting overheating. | Related: AJ signs new deal with JTG
15. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. During the last 11 laps, Larson dropped from fifth as the handling on his No. 42 Chevrolet swung from loose to tight.
16. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish continually improved his car’s ability to get into the turns thanks to slight tweaks made with the driver-adjustable track bar, netting a top-20 finish in the first race under new crew chief Kevin Manion.
17. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The outside polesitter reported a vibration while running 12th on Lap 161, and that issue persisted into the closing stages of the race.
18. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard spent the majority of the race running inside the top 15 before a tire violation during his final stop sent the car to the rear of the field.
19. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears lauded his pit crew for its performance as he rallied from a set of bad tires to score his best Kansas result in six years.
20. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The Columbia, Missouri, native was leading the field with 90 laps to go, but roughly 50 laps later had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a vibration.
21. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. The Emporia, Kansas, native was running middle of the pack when he spun to bring out the sixth caution flag of the night.
22. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon pitted for fuel on Lap 255 just as the final caution flag waved, and was put one lap down with 11 laps to go.
23. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett rebounded from a starting spot of 43rd to earn his best finish this year on a 1.5-mile track.
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse, who made contact with a spinning Clint Bowyer on Lap 185, later hit the wall himself to bring out the ninth caution flag.
25. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. Coming off his best finish of the year (18th at Talladega), DiBenedetto scored his best 1.5-mile result thanks to being the beneficiary at a mid-race caution.
26. Ty Dillon, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Making his Kansas debut and his first start on a true 1.5-mile oval in the Sprint Cup Series, Dillon qualified 32nd before posting his best finish of the year.
27. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Wholesale changes to the No. 10 Chevy during a Lap 121 pit stop helped Patrick break even at Kansas.
28. Josh Wise, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Wise managed his second-best Kansas finish even though he was rear-ended on Lap 120 when he slowed to avoid a wrecking competitor.
29. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill recorded his best 1.5-mile showing of the season after rolling off the grid 41st.
30. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier turned in the best Kansas effort of his career despite serving a pit road penalty with 58 laps to go.
31. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne sustained damage to his Ford’s nose after making contact with a competitor during the Lap 201 restart.
32. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland was among a handful of drivers to make a green-flag stop with 17 laps left when it appeared the race would be decided by fuel-mileage.
33. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Recently named the No. 55 replacement driver for the remainder of the season, Ragan spun to a stop in the soggy infield on Lap 120 after contact.
34. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. The MWR developmental driver sustained front-end damage after making contact with a slowing Tony Stewart on Lap 130.
35. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt, in his fourth Kansas start, made hard contact with the wall on Lap 120.
36. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Racing. McDowell nearly matched his best Kansas finish despite an early pit road speeding penalty.
37. J.J. Yeley, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley spun off Turn 4 within seconds of teammate Jeb Burton on Lap 8 thanks to a loose handling condition.
38. Joey Gase, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. Gase improved upon his 42nd starting spot in his second Kansas appearance and his first 1.5-mile outing of the season.
39. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart had just returned to the lead lap, when he got into the wall and was rear-ended after Matt Kenseth‘s spin jammed up the field.
40. Erik Jones, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The NASCAR Next alum ran as high as sixth in his first official Cup start, but had his night cut short when he just lost the car coming off the corner on Lap 196. | Watch: Jones wrecks after losing control
41. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin limped to pit road after he blew a tire and ran into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 208. | Related: Hamlin not happy with NASCAR decision
42. Jeb Burton, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Burton spun twice in the first 100 laps to bring out two caution flags, but he saved his car both times.
43. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman was running 30th when he radioed an ignition issue to his team on Lap 18 and reported to pit road.