KANSAS City, Kan. — Chase Briscoe entered The Chase presented by Mobil 1 riding high after a strong regular-season close. Three races into NASCAR’s postseason, the momentum has all but vanished.
Briscoe, who was among the favorites to hoist the 2026 Bill France Cup, began the postseason as the No. 5 seed but has faded to ninth in the standings, now 87 points behind leader Kyle Larson. He knows timing is running out to make another late-season charge.
“We are flirting with disaster, I would say, with two not ideal finishes,” Briscoe said on Saturday at Kansas Speedway. “Just have to win races. We’ve seen how big the winning races deal can really change the points.”
Briscoe began The Chase by leading 30 laps and a sixth-place finish at Darlington Raceway. In a chaotic, 18-caution race at World Wide Technology Raceway, the No. 19 team was in position to snag a top 10 before fellow title threat Chase Elliott had a brake rotor explode entering Turn 1 on Lap 213. Briscoe was the innocent bystander and was clobbered into the wall by Elliott’s No. 9 car. He was credited with a 32nd-place finish.
Last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, Briscoe was hovering around the top five but slipped into the wall with six laps remaining and broke a toe link. That plummeted him down the running order, finishing 27th. Through three events, he has a 21.7 average finish, ranked 14th out of the 16 Chase drivers, only better than Elliott (22.7) and Ryan Blaney (24.0).
“You budget in one mulligan, I feel like,” Briscoe noted. “In a perfect world, you don’t want to have any, and for us to have two with Talladega still in there is definitely not ideal. You have to win races. If you don’t win a race in these final 10 races, you’re not going to win the championship anyway.
“We just need to win races. After last year winning three, we’ve only won one this year. We want to win more races. We will let the points be where they are and try to score as many as we can.”
Briscoe vows to be more aggressive on restarts, despite knowing the risk versus reward. The James Small-led bunch may need to get even more creative on in-race strategy, knowing that points are a premium.
This isn’t a new position for the No. 19 team. Briscoe stumbled out of the gates to begin the 2026 campaign and wasn’t frequently inside the top 20 in the overall standings until after the eighth race of the season at Bristol. Consistency was key as he climbed up the points, banking at least 34 markers in 12 of the final 19 races of the regular season.
But while winning is at the top of the priority list, the No. 19 team can’t afford to lose out on valuable stage points compared to his opponents.
“If you win the race but don’t get any stage points, it’s kind of a wash to those guys that get stage points,” he added. “It all has to come together.
“St. Louis was wrong place, wrong time. But last week, it was self-inflicted with five to go. Frustrating from that standpoint.”
Up next is 267 circuits at Kansas (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Toyota has dominated the laps-led category in recent years. Since joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025, Briscoe has finished no worse than fourth in three starts at the “Sunflower State” track.
The mission is clear for Kansas: chip away at that 87-point deficit, especially with his championship competition also having a strong history at Kansas.
“This week, you have to take points away from the leader,” Briscoe stated. “You have to make that gap smaller. If it gets bigger after this week, you are in big, big, big trouble. Say tomorrow, we have a 75-point day, then you’re not back in it, but you still have a legitimate chance if you can win another race or two.”
The moment brought about plenty of emotions for Caden. He was proud to see his brother’s hard work pay off in the Late Model Stock Car equivalent of the Daytona 500, but it also served as a source of motivation.
One day, he would be a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner, as well.
That moment arrived for Caden on Saturday on a cool, autumn evening at Martinsville. After diligently working over Corey Heim during the second half of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, Caden finally made his way to the lead and managed to hold off the field on an overtime restart, adding his name to the notable list of winners in the event.
By winning the Hampton Heat in July and placing sixth in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, Caden also secured the 2026 Virginia Triple Crown championship. Being able to claim those two accomplishments was something Caden never would have imagined when he saw Carson win Martinsville himself in 2024.
“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” Caden said. “I’m still kind of speechless and can’t really believe it. I’m sure after everything soaks in, it’ll kind of feel unreal. Two years ago, when I started Late Model Stock racing, this was kind of all a dream, and I didn’t really think I could do it either with just my abilities in general.
“To win the Triple Crown and Martinsville, some of the most prestigious races you can run in Late Model Stock racing, it’s kind of crazy to even think about.”
If he wanted to be a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner like Carson, Caden knew he needed to rely on the one factor that has always been synonymous with his family: work ethic.
From the moment their respective careers began, Caden and Carson’s father in 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil instilled into them the importance of a blue-collar mindset. The Kvapils always work on their own cars and have continued that philosophy since joining JR Motorsports.
With Travis guiding them every step of the way, the Kvapils wasted no time making a name for themselves in racing. Carson racked up wins and titles in both Late Model Stocks and Super Late Models while Caden became a Pro Late Model champion, an accomplishment that helped him succeed Carson at JR Motorsports later.
Naturally, competition breaks out between the brothers. Caden even bested Carson in a Late Model Stock during last year’s South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. Yet no matter the circumstances, Carson and Caden have each other’s backs.
That bond was apparent Saturday when Carson, whose bid for a second ValleyStar Credit Union 300 ended early due to a mechanical failure, shifted his focus over to being a crew member for Caden, a role reversal from two years earlier.
“Having [Carson] work on my car at halfway, trying to make the right adjustments for me was even cooler to see,” Caden said. “I got out of the car, and he was the one with the wrenches. That was really special. It’s a really big family thing with me, him and my dad, my mom and my sister. We’ve put a whole lot of work into this and have a whole lot of pride in it, too.”
With his father Travis Kvapil a constant presence in his life, Caden Kvapil has blossomed into one of the best young prospects in NASCAR alongside his older brother Carson. (Photo: Katherine Gawlik/NASCAR)
Many of the crew members on Caden’s No. 88 Jerky Boys Chevrolet were a part of Carson’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 triumph. Being able to experience that moment from a different perspective made Carson further appreciate the sacrifices it took for him and Caden to become successful.
Nothing was ever guaranteed to the Kvapils. Every race was a fight for survival to prove they had the talent to make it to NASCAR’s top levels. Carson is grateful he landed a full-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ride, but he also understands Caden may not get a similar reward even after his ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory.
From Carson’s experience, the big win will help Caden. So will a sustained commitment to the family’s established work ethic.
“You’ve got to put in the effort,” Carson said. “The only way you’re ever going to make it in this sport is to work harder than everybody else, do better than everybody else and outrun everybody else. For me and my brother, we’re fighting to get a shot. It’s a really tough sport, and you got to be in front of the right eyes at the right time and win the right races.
“Still then, you might have a shot to make it.”
Caden is more confident in his own future following the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. The event attracted more than 80 competitors, among them being a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner in Heim and 2023 NASCAR Canada Series champion Treyten Lapcevich, who nearly passed Caden during the overtime restart.
With every victory, Caden gets closer to the expectations he set for himself as a JR Motorsports driver. Matching Carson’s stats with the program was always going to be difficult, but Caden wanted to build his own reputation while simultaneously continuing JR Motorsports’ standard of success.
As a Virginia Triple Crown champion for JR Motorsports, Caden believes he has made his own distinct mark in the organization’s short-track history.
“This year has gone better than I could have imagined,” Caden said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. My brother was exceptional in this car. When I got the opportunity to drive it after him, I felt like I had big shoes to fill. It’s tough because I feel like I’ve always been compared to him growing up racing with him.
“It’s not that I don’t like it. I don’t really care, but whenever he’s had such good success and I’m supposed to try and replicate it, I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself to do that.”
Caden Kvapil became the fourth driver to win a ValleyStar Credit Union and Virginia Triple Crown in the same year, joining Timothy Peters, Peyton Sellers and Trevor Ward (Photo: Alexis Edwards/NASCAR Regional)
Now that he has both a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 and a Virginia Triple Crown to his name, Caden hopes more opportunities beyond Late Model Stocks keep materializing. Caden made his ARCA Menards Series debut at Toledo Speedway in May before qualifying for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway last week.
Carson understands the uncertainty Caden feels about his future. There were plenty of times when Carson believed Late Model Stocks would be his terminus in racing, a reality he was prepared to accept.
The ValleyStar Credit Union 300 triumph served as a major boost to Carson’s NASCAR ambitions, so he has every reason to believe a similar scenario could unfold for his younger brother.
“I was in his shoes at one point too,” Carson said. “I was racing the late model, trying to win the ValleyStar and finally winning the ValleyStar, all that good stuff. The next time you sit in a seat is not guaranteed. You never know when the last one is. Before my O’Reilly wins, this was the biggest one of my career.
“This might be the biggest win of his career, and 20 years from now, he’s looking back on it like I thought I would be.”
Long-term plans were not a major concern for any of the Kvapils on Saturday night. The evening was a chance for the family to relish in the fact that two of its members now possessed a grandfather clock from Martinsville.
As for what Caden plans to do with his newly acquired clock, he does have a couple of ideas.
“We had a trophy shelf in our shop, and it’s gotten full within the last three years,” Caden said. “A lot of our trophies are either in our rooms or the living room just sat on the floor. They take up a lot of space, and [Carson’s] clock is right next to the couch. He always asks me what time it is. Now that I have a clock, I can tell him I know what time it is.
“I’ll probably put mine right in front of his to block it and make him mad, or I’ll put it next to it. Probably next to it to have some respect.”
The debate over where Caden’s grandfather clock will go in the Kvapil household is going to come later. Caden was just proud to have it and the Virginia Triple Crown in his possession, a perfect culmination to the philosophy that has long defined his family.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The opening two races of the Craftsman Truck Series postseason have been anything but normal for No. 1 seed Layne Riggs. Yet despite the struggles, Riggs remains 37 points behind championship leader Kaden Honeycutt leaving Kansas Speedway.
While Honeycutt dominated Saturday’s Race to Stop Suicide 200 by making it a clean sweep of all three stages and leading 111 of 134 circuits, Riggs had multiple woes that plunged him to 19th at the checkered flag.
Before a four-hour, 47-minute red flag due to intermittent precipitation, his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports crew had a slow stop, leaving all five lug nuts on the left-front wheel loose, dropping Riggs deep in the running order. Once the race resumed, he drove from 16th position to ninth place in the opening lap of the restart. Six laps later, he rocketed to the runner-up position, glued to the back bumper of Honeycutt.
That’s where Riggs remained for much of the final third of the race. In one last attempt to track down Honeycutt, he clipped the outside wall while running against the boards through Turns 3 and 4, cutting the right-front tire with two laps remaining. The No. 34 Ford limped to the finish, losing 17 positions – and 17 points.
“I tried too hard,” Riggs said of running against the wall, inching closer to the No. 11 Toyota. “I got up there like I had been doing at the very top, and when I got into [Honeycutt’s] wake, it was a little too much. These trucks are so sensitive that when you barely touch the right-rear, it sucks the right-front around.
“I’m disappointed in myself. I let my crew down, for sure. I felt like I should have been a lot smarter, thinking bigger picture and know that I could have easily come out of here second and had a lot better shot. But I just made it a whole lot harder for myself. It’s going to be something I beat myself up on all week long before we go to Charlotte.”
The motto within the four walls of Front Row Motorsports is to hunt trophies. Drew Blickensderfer, competition director at Front Row, consoled Riggs for a couple of minutes while the six-time 2026 winner sat in his hot rod before unbuckling. Blickensderfer wanted his driver to put Kansas in the rearview immediately.
“Bob Jenkins (team owner) wants winners here – we don’t want to just ride around,” Blickensderfer told NASCAR.com on pit road. “You’ve got to judge that, but now is not the time to beat yourself up over it. Now is the time to try to look forward and go win races. Go win the next three or four. This team and that driver is capable of doing it.”
After entering The Chase presented by Mobil 1 opener at Bristol Motor Speedway with a 25-point cushion over Honeycutt, Riggs has lost 62 markers in the opening two events to the No. 11 truck. The No. 34 bunch had another pit-road mishap in Thunder Valley, causing Riggs to lose multiple laps and take the checkered flag in 32nd position after owning the first two stages.
While Riggs acknowledged his concern about the pit-road mistakes, he took full ownership of the Kansas defeat.
“I should have been thinking about the next five races, but I was thinking about putting it on one,” Riggs stated. “But we’re not out of this. Five races is a lot; can flip the script pretty fast. We just have to stay on our toes; we have to be better on pit road than we did today. We have some good tracks coming up for us.
“Definitely going to need to digest this one before I can move on. I need to think about it, process it, put it in the past and then we can focus on the next one.”
Given Riggs’ clear advantage in wins, stage victories and laps led in 2026, he believes the deficit to Honeycutt is more than manageable. For Honeycutt, the mission is simpler: continue doing what he’s done through the first two races and put Tricon Garage in position to win consecutive Truck Series championships.
“I just focus on winning the race,” Honeycutt said in his winner’s post-race press conference. “I think if you try to do anything other than that, you are pulling yourself out of the gate. That’s all this team focuses on – that’s our mentality. We just focus on winning, and winning takes care of points and everything that comes in handy.”
Track: Kansas Speedway Location: Kansas City, Kansas Track length: 1.5 miles When: 3 p.m. ET Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Race purse: $11,233,037 Race distance: 267 laps | 400.5 miles Stages: 80 | 165 | 267 Sunday’s starting lineup| Pit stall assignments
Intermediate-sized tracks, big-sized pressure in Chase
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Times have radically changed in the roughly five months since the NASCAR Cup Series last visited Kansas Speedway. Since then, the prevailing conventional wisdom that was accepted as gospel looks a little less trustworthy.
It’s also been 12 weeks since the most recent 1.5-mile track appeared on the Cup Series schedule: Independence Day weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. Three intermediate-style tracks now loom ahead during a crucial moment in The Chase presented by Mobil 1, and the timing comes front-loaded with pressure to perform.
That’s the thought, at least.
“Youguysoverstatealotofthings, so what’snew?” 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace said during a midweek availability, offering a smirk and a playful jab at the NASCAR media. That said, Wallace also lent credence to the importance of this stretch: “Ithinkthenextthreeracesisagoodindicatorofwhoyourchampionwillbe.”
Answering that weighty question may hinge on the happenings in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the fourth of 10 races in this year’s postseason. Races at 1.5-milers in Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway will follow before a variety pack of four races closes out the year.
But the first order of business awaits in the heartland, where recent history may not make the picture much clearer. Two drivers who qualified for this year’s Chase illustrate the point.
Back in April, Tyler Reddick converted with a furious overtime charge that sealed his fifth victory in the season’s first nine races, capping one of the hottest starts in recent memory. Meanwhile, Joey Logano struggled to a pedestrian 30th-place finish, his No. 22 Team Penske Ford two laps down at the end and his postseason hopes in limbo. Logano said revisiting that result was an unwelcome part of the preparation for Sunday’s race.
“I didn’t want to,butIdid,” Logano said with a laugh. “Yeah.Wetrytolearnasquicklyaspossibleandmoveon.Thinkaboutthegoodstuff again.”
The good stuff has come in bunches for the No. 22 team since, with three wins in the last nine weeks — including a victory in last weekend’s showdown at Bristol Motor Speedway. Though Logano’s record this year on intermediate ovals is subpar — his average finish of 20.4 on this track type ranks last among the 16 Chase drivers — there’s something to be said for his well-timed head of steam.
“Imean,momentumisconfidence, so youhopetoridethataslongasyoucan,” said Logano, a three-time Kansas winner who will start from the pole position Sunday after a qualifying washout. “We’reonagoodlittlehotstreakhereoverthelast10-plusweeks,wherewe’vereallyscratched and clawedfrom20thinpointstothird,soproudofthat.Proudofthateffort,andgotourselvesclose. There’s alongwaystogointheseason, though.”
On the flip side of the “where are they now” coin from the last Kansas race to this one is Reddick, who could do no wrong at the season’s start but has faded with finishes of 25th and 18th the last two weeks. The 23XI Racing driver entered as the Chase’s third seed, but his 35-point deficit has grown to 61 points since the postseason began — a continuation of a troubling midseason skid.
Five wins came in quick succession at the outset of the 2026 campaign, but Reddick hasn’t visited Victory Lane in the 20 races since. His most recent Kansas triumph, he said, provides a reason not to panic.
“We’llgodowhatweneedtodo,andIdon’tthinkdesperationwillgetmeanywhere,” Reddick said. “We’lljustgoaboutourbusinessandmakethemostoutofthisweekend. … That’s just where I want my mindset to be. I think desperation is reckless, careless, and it won’t do us any good, if that makes sense. I don’t think we’re quite at that point yet.”
Panic or not, Kansas is expected to set the tone for the trio of intermediate tracks that make up the heart of The Chase’s schedule.
“Yeah,Imeanthey’realluniqueintheirownway,butatthesametime,I think the guyswhoaregoingtobefastthisweekend,it’sgoingtocarryovertoVegasandCharlotte — just the certainspeedofarace trackandthingslikethat,” said Ryan Blaney, who made his Cup Series debut here in 2014. “Sotheyget,like,progressivelyroughereachtrack,whichiskindoffun.Vegasisrougherthanhere.Charlotte’srougherthanVegas.ButIthinkyourguyswhoaregoingtorungoodherethisweekendareprobablygoingtorunuptowardthefrontatVegasandCharlotte.Imean,Icouldbewrong.Idon’tknow,butusuallythat’skindofatrend.”
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Setting the intermediate pace
If time out front at the 1.5-mile tracks this season is any indicator, Chase-eligible drivers have a leg up on capturing Sunday’s laurels. Tops among them are the current lead pair in the Cup Series standings.
With a crucial stretch of intermediate-sized tracks looming in the heart of the postseason, here’s a look at the lap leaders on the 1.5-mile circuits so far this year:
Driver
Laps led
Chase rank
Denny Hamlin
391
2nd
Kyle Larson
177
1st
Christopher Bell
145
4th
Tyler Reddick
129
7th
William Byron
120
13th
Chase Briscoe
89
9th
Chase Elliott
87
12th
Corey Heim
70
Not eligible
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
• Kansas hub: Weekend information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more • Sunday Setup: Revisiting 1.5-mile tracks, more keys from Kansas crew chiefs | Read more • Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs for the Sunflower State | View gallery • Neil Paine: Pivotal three-race stretch of intermediate tracks on tap | Read more • NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race replays from Kansas Speedway | Watch now
• Power Rankings: Joey Logano makes a post-Bristol leap | This week’s ranks
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — On a near-perfect day, with the weather a notable exception, Kaden Honeycutt leaves Kansas Speedway with a victory in the Race to Stop Suicide.com 200 and control of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase.
Honeycutt led 111 of 134 laps on Saturday, won the first two stages and asserted the superiority of his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota late in the race to claim the series lead by 37 points over star-crossed Layne Riggs, who clipped the outside wall in the closing laps and finished 19th.
Riggs overcame a bungled stop on pit road to run second until contact with the wall dropped him through the field on the final two laps.
“We just executed,” said Honeycutt, who won for the first time at 1.5-mile Kansas, the third time this season and the third time in his career. “We executed all night. I can’t thank my pit crew enough.
“Sorry I didn’t do any burnouts. We’ve got to save this thing for Homestead (the final Chase race). The motors cost a lot, too.”
Intermittent rainstorms halted the race after 70 laps, with drivers and their crews waiting through a red-flag period of 4 hours, 47 minutes for the resumption.
“Thanks to NASCAR and everyone for letting us finish the race,” said Honeycutt, who was third when rain interrupted the proceedings. “It started raining again in Victory Lane.”
When the second Chase event of the postseason restarted on Lap 78, Honeycutt resumed his dominance, passing Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes, who had taken the top two spots by staying out on older tires.
From that point, it was clear sailing until Riggs took two tires to Honeycutt’s four on the final pit stop under caution on Lap 117. Riggs restarted third and grabbed the lead on Lap 122, but Honeycutt powered past him a lap later and held the lead the rest of the way, through a caution for Enfinger’s blown tire and contact with the outside wall.
“I just went for it,” said Riggs, who entered The Chase as the top seed. “Went for it way too hard and went for when I shouldn’t have gone for it. I should have just settled for finishing second right there and had a shot at it later on.
“Just really disappointing. (My) Ford F-150 was really fast. I felt like we weren’t as good as the 11 all day. We were just too free. I had a really big run (with two laps left) or thought I was going to get a big run down the frontstretch. Never made it there. I got the wall instead.”
With Riggs fading on the final two laps, Honeycutt finished 1.358 seconds ahead of runner-up Christian Eckes. Brent Crews ran third, followed by Chase drivers Daniel Hemric, Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith.
Taking the initial green flag from the fourth position, Honeycutt grabbed the lead from Nick Sanchez on the opening lap and won the first stage wire-to-wire.
In fact, Honeycutt didn’t surrender the top spot until Lap 48, when Riggs got to the stripe first on a restart after Connor Hall spun on the backstretch to cause the second caution.
Riggs’ lead was short-lived. On Lap 50, Honeycutt tapped the rear bumper of Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, with Riggs’ truck suffering a glancing blow against the outside wall. Honeycutt passed Riggs to the inside and retook the lead.
When Hall spun for the second time on Lap 54, bringing the second stage to an early end, Honeycutt held the top spot and completed the sweep of the first two stages. Honeycutt pitted for tires and fuel under caution for the stage break on Lap 61 and gave up the lead, as eight trucks remained on the track for a Lap 65 restart.
A multicar wreck on a Lap 66 restart slowed the field once again, with Honeycutt already having climbed to third in the running order. Four laps later, with rain falling in earnest, NASCAR brought the trucks to pit road and red-flagged the race with Enfinger leading and Rhodes running second.
If Honeycutt had a problem-free race to that point, Riggs endured calamity on pit road, as he had done in The Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway. During his Lap 61 pit stop, Riggs had to back up into his stall after the jack dropped with the lug nuts on his left-front wheel not yet tight.
Riggs restarted 25th and gained six spots on the restart lap before the wreck and rain stopped the race.
Non-Chase drivers Nick Leitz, Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia and Corey LaJoie completed the top 10. Chase driver Gio Ruggiero was 13th. Tyler Ankrum finished 25th after a late flat tire, Ty Majeski 29th and Enfinger 31st.
Enfinger, who led throughout the red-flag period, suffered a pit road speeding penalty, a wreck and a two-lap penalty for intentionally causing a caution by stopping in Turn 3 after hitting the wall on Lap 123.
All told, Honeycutt scored 75 points, scoring every possible marker except for one point for posting the fastest lap, a distinction that went to Ankrum. Honeycutt has a 71-point lead over Smith, who is third in the standings.
The Craftsman Truck Series will return to action Friday, Oct. 9 for race No. 3 of The Chase at Charlotte Motor Speedway (5 p.m. ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Craftsman Truck Series garage, confirming Kaden Honeycutt as the winner.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Ryan Blaney vs. Carson Hocevar fracas from one week ago at Bristol Motor Speedway had two main characters, but also a bit of a supporting cast from the NASCAR Cup Series garage.
Prime among those was Ty Gibbs, an invested third party whose spectating role turned into participation once he lobbed a near-full water bottle into the post-race fray. No penalties were issued from the pit-road squabble, but Gibbs was summoned to the NASCAR officials’ hauler for consultation Saturday morning at Kansas Speedway after that bottle struck a media member, knocking his cell phone from his grip.
“Yeah,Iwenttothe principal’sthismorning,sojusthadachat,” Gibbs said, just before practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were scrapped by rain. “… Notideal they want account of it,butcompletelyunderstand.Definitelyshouldn’t’vehavedonethat.”
The field for The Chase presented by Mobil 1 can potentially catch its breath at Kansas after last weekend’s fireworks, but the conflict that launched a thousand memes was still on the tip of several drivers’ tongues on the eve of the fourth of 10 postseason races. Gibbs was among them, with a lasting image of him gleefully watching Blaney confront Hocevar in the background from his pit-road parking spot. “I didn’t think I’d make internet headlines,” Gibbs said, “but I guess I did.”
Gibbs had raced Hocevar hard in the closing laps of Bristol’s annual night race, and contact between the two drivers allowed Joey Logano to scoot through for victory. When asked, Gibbs’ motivations behind the bottle throw were unclear. “I don’t know,” he said. “Just toss it in there.” In an effort to show there were no hard feelings, representatives from Frontstretch.com — the impacted media outlet — extended Gibbs an olive branch with a fresh water bottle, complete with a decorative bow.
From parking spots behind the Blaney-Hocevar flap, Ryan Preece and Josh Berry — a pair of kindred short-track spirits — were also more-than-curious onlookers. Both drivers motioned at Hocevar after the conflict had subsided, with Preece delivering animated comments in his direction.
Preece has had a modest history of run-ins with Hocevar — last season at Texas Motor Speedway, and a dramatic blow-up during a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2022 as Hocevar was rising through the NASCAR ranks. During his post-race remarks four years ago, Preece noted how he’d raced against Modified Tour legends who had set him straight in the early stages of his racing career. Saturday, he referenced that background, sharing a story about how a long-ago encounter with a NASCAR Hall of Famer had shaped his on-track code of conduct.
“MikeStefanik,Inerfedhimin2009,whichanerfbarisbasicallytheequivalentofdooringsomebody inalatemodel,” Preece said, “andIjustcompletelydisrespectedhimanddroveofftofinishsecond.IthinkMikefinishedthirdorfourthinthatrace,andIlookedatMikeafter,andIsaid —likeatypical19-year-oldor18-year-oldkid —Isaid,‘Hey,Mike,I’msorry.Youknow,Ijusthadtodowhatwasrightformyguys,’andhelookedatmeandsaid —andthisresonatedwithme — it was, “Well,whataboutmyguys?’I’velearnedalotoflessonsalongtheway,andIchoosetovaluethem in certainways.Soforme —mepersonally,myvalues — I’m notgoingtocompletelydisrespectanotherracerunlessI’mdisrespectedfirst.That’sjustthewayIchooserace. Everybodyelsecanchoosetodoitdifferent,andthat’sfine.ButIthinkeverybodyknowswhatmyvaluesareandhowIchoosetorace.
That reputation has ruffled plenty of egos and fenders inside the Cup Series inner circle, but it has also endeared him to fans, who have celebrated his stir-the-pot philosophy. It’s a compelling divide, one that fellow drivers have said isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“No, because he’s different than all of us,” said defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. “He acts different, talks different, dresses different. He’s just different. I think that’s refreshing for fans. He drives more aggressive and willing to do crazier things than the rest of us probably are. No, I mean, it’s not frustrating at all on that aspect. I’m not jealous of any exposure he’s getting from it because he’s doing a good job with it. He’s just different and people like different. You have to keep your eye on him when you’re on the race track, but as a fan, I can see why he’s likable in that aspect.”
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson has already defied conventional wisdom.
Three races into the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has come from seventh to start the postseason to the top of the standings.
That’s a 56-point swing from the start of the Chase, a move many observers thought unlikely.
The only driver to score top-five finishes in all three Chase races so far, Larson claimed the series lead last Saturday with a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Though he’s only one point ahead of Denny Hamlin, the top seed entering the Chase, Larson says that one point matters.
“I would always rather be one point ahead than one point behind,” Larson said on Saturday morning at Kansas Speedway. “But even going back to after the win (in the second Chase race at World Wide Technology Raceway), I think we were nine points back, and I was like, ‘OK, we’re there… we have a shot.’
“Now that you’re leading, nothing really changes, other than you’d like to not fall back. But even if you do, you still have time to make up for it. We’ll just keep plugging away. I’ve been really happy with the speed and, especially, the execution in these first three.
“I think they’ve gone pretty flawless for our team. Now we have some tracks that we probably are even more confident at than the first three, outside of Bristol. But, yeah, it’s just tough. It’s a lot of racing, a lot of tough competitors, and just a tough, tough series.”
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It’s been a hot minute since the NASCAR Cup Series last put a 1.5-mile track on the smoker. After a 10-race wait, Kansas Speedway is ready to fire up the grill with some saucy racing.
Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the first in a trio of intermediate races in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 before the series makes its annual fall voyage to the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway. By then, the 2026 championship picture should be clearer.
Chase teams know how important Kansas is. Toyota has hogged the top five at 1.5-mile venues in 2026, claiming 15 of the 25 total top-five finishes in those events. Collectively, Toyota drivers have led 891 of a possible 1,448 circuits (61.5%) en route to three checkered flags.
“When you’re out of the groove of something, we haven’t devoted a lot of time to that until recent weeks getting ready for these next three in a row and certainly Homestead later in the year,” Adam Stevens, crew chief of Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, told NASCAR.com. “It’s been a while since we’ve ran an intermediate, and certainly the teams have learned things that may or may not apply to those tracks – us included.
“As a whole, the [Toyota Racing Development] cars were super strong at [Chicagoland Speedway]. But you don’t know the gains everyone else has made and how much time they’ve devoted to it. It’s still going to take progression and getting better to run up front.”
Kansas presents its own set of obstacles. Unique to the Midwest track is the preferred groove in running more than two-thirds up the track. Compared to its upcoming intermediate counterparts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track surface is relatively smooth. The seams, meanwhile, can be tricky and catch teams off guard.
“Depending on how you straddle them,” Mike Skarbowski, making his crew chief debut for Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 RFK Racing Ford, told NASCAR.com. “We’re going fast around the track, so any minute differences in the track and content around there is changing the aero effects of the car.”
Another unknown is how Kansas will race with the added struts to the front splitter, a change competition officials introduced ahead of North Wilkesboro Speedway in mid-July.
While Stevens hasn’t noticed a drastic difference at other tracks in how the updates have affected the No. 20 team, aerodynamics play a larger role at 1.5-mile facilities. That makes Kansas more of a trial-and-error situation.
“I would say the faster that the cars are going, the more of a difference something like that would make,” Stevens said. “It’s certainly going to make a lot less difference at North Wilkesboro than it does at Kansas this weekend.”
While Kansas has featured racing from the apron to the outside retaining wall, the easiest spots to gain track position can often come on pit road. The No. 20 car has won four of the last nine Busch Light Pole Awards at Kansas, though Bell is still searching for his first Victory Lane appearance at the track.
For crew chiefs, it seems like a no-brainer to take the first pit stall at every circuit, being close to the exit of pit road. But in the Next Gen era, the eighth pit stall has produced the most success when it comes to average finish and best average pit-stop time. Each stall has a different amount of grip, leading to Stevens choosing pit stall No. 1 any time he wins the pole.
“The biggest thing is the distance from the No. 1 stall to the camera,” Stevens said. “It used to be that camera was a lot closer to the first stall, so there was a much bigger advantage on a caution flag stop. They have changed that at almost every track now where it’s much further away, so that negates some of the inherent advantage in pit stall one under caution. There’s an inherent disadvantage for pit stall one under green because you’re not up to speed leaving pit road.
“You know you are going to have a couple of caution-flag stops and think you’re going to have a couple of green-flag stops. There’s traffic considerations if it’s going to be a race where alternate pit strategies are a concern, you don’t want to be coming out in traffic if you are taking two tires.”
Via the metric, Bell will take the green flag from third position. Keselowski will start in 16th place.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The always measured Denny Hamlin hasn’t lost much confidence despite a moderate start to The Chase presented by Mobil 1.
After clinching the regular-season championship a full race before the first 26 races wrapped, Hamlin started The Chase with an average finish of 11.7 in the opening three events, ranked eighth-best among championship hopefuls. The No. 11 team has banked 105 points, however, trailing only Kyle Larson (161), Joey Logano (155) and Christopher Bell (139).
“The [Nos.] 5, 20 and 22, those guys have been up front every week; they are reaping the benefits of running well at the right time and they’ve caught right up,” Hamlin said during a media scrum on Saturday at Kansas Speedway. “We’ve got to put the pedal to the metal.”
Between Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin has a best finish of eighth. He led 68 laps in the Southern 500 before the No. 11 crew had a tumbling pit stop to begin the final stage, putting him into the hornets’ nest. It wasn’t five laps after the restart when contact from Michael McDowell sent him into the wall, limping around to an 18th-place effort.
Another disappointing pit stop put Hamlin behind in the closing laps at Gateway. With a rash of late yellows sending the race into double overtime, the No. 11 car rallied to ninth after dropping as low as 20th.
Hamlin doesn’t believe the No. 11 team lacks speed, but rather that the balance has not been perfect thus far in The Chase.
“I think we will get a better indication after this week,” Hamlin said about whether he was concerned about the overall pace he’s shown to open the postseason. “I don’t feel like our speed has been off as much as our balance things. Not being strong on the restarts because of the balance, things like that. I don’t think our speed has gone much of anywhere.
“I do think the field, of course, always gets better and faster as the year goes on. But I feel like we have too. It’s a matter of — we will find out in a few weeks where that stacks up and truly where the field is on speed at this time of the year.”
For the first time since Sonoma Raceway in June, Hamlin enters a race weekend without being the top dog in the championship standings. There’s a slight difference, after all, between being the chaser and being the one chased. Earlier this season, Hamlin was on a career heater, winning three consecutive races and overcoming a 129-point deficit to Tyler Reddick in just six races.
“When you’re leading, your confidence is always higher,” Hamlin added. “When you are chasing, you are thinking, ‘I’ve got to get it.’ It’s a little different; I’m talking 5, 6%, for me personally, of leading versus not. Credit to the guys who have been up front — if they are going to continue a 2-point-something average finish, they are going to win, they are going to win it all, I’m not going to be able to answer that.”
With a trio of intermediate races on the horizon, the middle portion of The Chase sets up favorably for Hamlin. During the spring, he had finishes of fourth or better at Kansas, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, including his first win of the campaign in Sin City. He’s also the defending fall race winner there.
Hamlin is banking on having “big points days” the next three weeks, which he classifies as a minimum of 50 points per race.
“If we can do that then I’ll feel pretty good with where we’re at,” Hamlin stated.
With practice and qualifying getting canceled due to Mother Nature, Hamlin will start sixth for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kansas has been among his best circuits in recent years with eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes in the last 10 tries. He was in position to win the last two races, but came up short in each one as both extended into overtime.
The heartland is the host of the next stop on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The fourth race of The Chase presented by Mobil 1 sparks a significant three-race stretch of the postseason that features consecutive races at 1.5-mile ovals, starting of course in The Sunflower State. The first trio of Chase races delivered a doozy of drama, particularly in the late stages of last week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway as Joey Logano surged to the win while Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney had their own post-race … discussion.
While Kansas doesn’t have the same high banks as Bristol, it does have the tendency to produce some of the most memorable, Chase-shaking moments the sport has seen. Here are the drivers you should watch this weekend, along with Racing Insights’ full projected results for Sunday’s 267-lap feature.
DRIVERS TO WATCH
KYLE LARSON: Perhaps no team has looked more like a championship-caliber team than our defending champion himself. That’s easy to say about the man who’s now leading the points standings, but Larson has looked excellent in each of the three Chase races thus far, with a World Wide Technology Raceway win sandwiched between two additional top-five runs and a total average finish of 2.6 across the three races. His Kansas numbers have been excellent with three wins and two in his last five starts there. The all-time laps leader at Kansas (1,003), Larson should be up front again Sunday.
CHRISTOPHER BELL: Is this the weekend that solidifies Bell as a championship contender? It’s likely the Southern 500 champion’s stock only rises after this weekend. Bell is a four-time pole winner at Kansas with a best finish of second (May 2023) but has led in each of his last nine Kansas starts. With runner-up results at each of the last two 1.5-mile tracks and five top 10s in his last six Kansas starts, Bell could whittle his 17-point deficit to Larson to nothing by the end of Sunday’s race.
BUBBA WALLACE: Sitting 10th in points, Wallace may be slightly surprising to see here … if you forgot how last year’s postseason race at Kansas ended. Wallace was in position for a critical victory entering the final set of turns on the final lap until contact with team co-owner Denny Hamlin put both in the wall and cost themselves the victory. Wallace is a 2022 winner at Kansas and has four top fives in his last eight Kansas starts. Couple that with four top 10s in his last five 1.5-mile races and Wallace could be a sneaky contender for a massive Chase shake-up.
FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400 (3 P.M. ET, USA)
