Larson's Perfect Day Results in Second Win of 2026 at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, K.S. - Kyle Larson had a perfect points day at Kansas Speedway in route to his second win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Larson led 235 of the 267 scheduled laps after starting the race from the second position. Larson was passed late by Chase Briscoe, but was able to fight back with 7 laps ago to re-secure the lead and expand his points lead to 26 with the win!
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After both qualifying and practice were rained out for the third time in four races to open up the Chase, Joey Logano started the race on pole. There were plenty of questions of how fast both the Fords and Toyota's would be as it had been three months since the last mile and a half race, but instead it was Chevorlet who came to spoil the party!
Larson took the lead off the rip from lap one and led all but two laps in the opening stage. Those only laps where Larson didn't lead, came under caution from Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin, who barely edged Larson as they raced side by side.
Beyond those small moments, Larson was untouchable. After taking the lead back lap 41, Larson led the next 128 laps securing stage wins with ease.
As the day progressed it became clear Larson only had two challengers for the win. The first being Austin Cindric who finished 3rd in stage one, and 2nd in stage two, as he showed tremendous, long run pace. There were just two issues for Cindric though.
First, Cindric's long run pace was excellent, but the pace the car had did not mesh well with the stage lengths. Cindric would gain big chunks of time over the final ten laps of stages, getting close to the lead, but not having enough time to make enough ground.
The second issue, compounded to the first issue as for the first time in the Chase, Austin Cindric had issues on pit road. Over a stretch of the first four stops of the race in the first two stages, Cindric lost a net total of nine positions on the racetrack. Majority of the issues for Cindric was entering his pit box, but his crew was simply not fast enough to make up for where he was lacking entering his box. This put him behind the eight ball multiple times causing him to have to work to get back closer to a front running position.
As for the second competitor, Chase Briscoe may have not been the best Toyota to start the day after starting 23rd and not earning points in stage one, but it became evident in stage two that he had some pace as he climbed to 4th at the end of stage two.
In stage three, Briscoe optimized the track position, and showed his long run potential. While it was not exactly better than Austin Cindric's, his speed on the early run similar to Larson allowed him to stick with the five and create a challenge.
Kyle Larson's car seemed to falter over a 40 lap window, whereas Briscoe's seemed to be at a 45 lap window.
Briscoe got to Larson's bumper and stuck with him, but Cliff Daniels opted to get defensive and pit with Briscoe trailing from behind with 50 laps to go.
Larson came out of pit road with about a second advantage on Briscoe, but the Indiana native would not be denied, as he became the only car to challenge Larson. With 30 laps to go, Briscoe made a bold move that stuck and saw him clear Larson.
The issue however, was tire management for Briscoe over the final stretch in lap traffic was too difficult to maintain.
Typically, when the leader loses the lead halfway through a run at a track such as Kansas, they fade away, and likely never get another chance. But, that was not the case for Kyle Larson. Instead after falling behind nearly a second, over the final 15 laps Larson began to charge back to Briscoe.
At 10 laps to go, Larson caught the bumper of Briscoe. Then, at 7 laps to go, Larson capitalized as Briscoe's car became too much on the edge to manage after flirting with the Wall. Larson got clear, and never had a challenge as Briscoe faded back, while Austin Cindric finished 2nd. With that Kyle Larson completed Hollywood Casino 400 domination.
OTHER NOTES:
Denny Hamlin had a quiet day despite a good performance in stage one and two but finished the race with a third-place effort. For Hamlin, it was a positive as it had been a tough Chase to this point, but also a negative as well. With Larson having a very rare perfect 76 point day, Hamling lost 25 points to Kyle Larson, putting him at 26 points back heading to Las Vegas next weekend.
There is a fair concern that should come from Hamlin though, as Kansas had been one of his best tracks, and Toyota did not show similar pace to what it has in the past this weekend. That could race some red flags for Las Vegas next weekend, as Hamlin had won there in the Spring, but this race could signify a shift. The Fords also looked like they made big gains making one wonder if Toyota's dominant advantage is no longer.
Austin Cindric's 2nd place result marked his first top ten finish at Kansas Speedway. Cindric had said after the race that it was " A long time coming" and felt in the past he had pace at the track, but the results had not panned out.
As for Ryan Blaney, he finished a race as was his goal, and finished 5th. While no one gained points on Kyle Larson, both Blaney and Cindric can view their long run pace as a positive, as it could be a big perk for Las Vegas next week. Vegas typically involves a lot of tire wear an issue a big challenge with the bumps, so this could be a starting point for that group with the track's similarities.
Eleven Chase drivers consisted of the top twelve in the race, with Brad Keselowski playing spoiler. For Tyler Reddick his 11th place finish felt like a grand slam, as for the third straight week the team fired off with a very slow pace, causing him to fall to the back half of the field. Reddick fell as far as 33rd in today's race and was near going a lap down in stage one. Yet, the team continued to claw and get better, and while it is no where close to the effort in the spring, it is a minor win for himself.
Lastly, in the world of minor wins, Chase Elliott has had a tough six-month stretch as he has only finished inside the top ten twice since his win at Texas earlier in the season. Elliott finished the race in 8th earning three stage points over the course of the race. For Elliott, he is a strong believer in winning small battles compounding into a big win. Perhaps this can be the start of his momentum in the Chase towards a good result despite a championship being highly unlikely.
UP NEXT:
The NASCAR Cup Series will head out west to Las Vegas, Nevada to reach the halfway point of the ten-race Chase. The South Point 400 is slated for a 5:30 P.M. ET central start time and coverage of the race can be found on USA as well as PRN. As mentioned earlier, Denny Hamlin won the previous Las Vegas race, as well as 2025's South Point 400. Hamlin will look to take a shot at getting back in the title mix, as he attempts to make it three straight.
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