As NASCAR travels the country from one playoff venue to the next, the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
Here’s a look at who has extra baggage after Kansas and lost some heading into the second-round intermediate race (NBC’s coverage from Talladega begins at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday):
Kyle Larson
At least Larson’s humor remained on Sunday. He crashed at Atlanta in the opening race of the first round. The opening of the second round didn’t start much better. Larson clipped a tire and hit the wall Sunday in Kansas.
So how did he describe his run to Kansas?
“Better than Atlanta,” he told NBC Sports.
He’s right.
At Atlanta, Larson finished 37th and scored one point, losing his lead to 10th.
At Kansas, he came back after losing the lead and finished 26th on the day when he made 13 pit stops, most of them for repairs. Larson moved from the points lead to fourth place. It is 18 points above the cut line.
Now comes Talladega and a drafting style track. Larson said he has improved in the style of racing seen at Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta. But he hasn’t finished in the top 10 in his last 14 starts at a draft track, dating back to April 2022 at Talladega.
In nine of 11 draft races since last year, Larson has been involved in an accident. Five times he was in the top 10. Four times he was in the top five.
“At some point,” crew chief Cliff Daniels told NBC Sports after Kansas, “the law of averages is going to work for us, where we’ll be in the top 10 and we won’t get wrecked and we’ll get back to home with a top 10 day on a speedway. It’s on the horizon. We’ll continue to try to control what we can control.
How Larson gets through Talladega will be key after scoring just 11 points at Kansas.
“In the playoffs, you kind of have to fight every round,” Larson said. “We are definitely tested so far.”
Alex Bowman
The playoffs began with Alex Bowman denying rumors that he was leaving the No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports after this season. The car’s owner, Rick Hendrick, later confirmed that Bowman would be back in the car next year.
Bowman responded to the drama by scoring the most points in the first round.
Winners, losers after the NASCAR Cup Playoffs at Kansas Speedway
Ross Chastain wasn’t the only driver to leave Kansas Speedway feeling good.
On Sunday he finished sixth. His 43 points were the fourth most of the race. This moved him from below the cutoff line to sixth place in the rankings. He is eight points above the cut line.
Bowman has three top 10 finishes in the four playoff races. This is his best finishing streak since May.
It is also important that he scored points at each stage of the four playoff races. No one else has done this. This is the first time he has scored points at every stage in four consecutive races this season – his previous best streak was two consecutive races.
“We had a little better rhythm in the playoffs than before and that made my job a little easier,” Bowman told NBC Sports after Kansas. “We are by no means perfect. We have a lot of things to improve. We’re kind of going in the right direction and doing the right things.
William Byron
Kansas was a big day for Byron. The Daytona 500 winner looks to continue that momentum at Talladega.
After winning three of the first eight races this season, the No. 24 team has had its ups and downs. On Sunday we showed what this team can do. Byron won a stage, scored a race-high 17 stage points, and finished second. He scored a game-high 52 points to take the points lead heading into Talladega.
“These guys have worked hard,” Byron said of his Hendrick Motorsports team. “We just need to keep putting on weeks like this.”
That’s the problem. He has only finished a consecutive race in the top 10 once since June. Talladega could be the perfect place for him.
Byron ranks third among playoff drivers in points scored on draft tracks this season with 166. He is behind Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric (181 points) and Ryan Blaney (169).
Denis Hamlin
It was a frustrating day at Kansas for Hamlin, who lost several spots on pit road.
He gave up 11 positions during a stop on lap 101 where the right rear had to be tightened up.
Hamlin had to return to the pits on lap 148 to tighten a wheel, dropping from sixth to 31st.
He lost 11 positions during a slow stop on lap 240 that dropped him to 16th.
“They know today was one of the worst days of their lives and they’re going to work to clean it up,” Hamlin said after the race.
Hamlin finished eighth in a race instead of having a chance to win.
“We just missed an opportunity,” crew chief Chris Gabehart told NBC Sports.
However, the team moved up to fifth place in the points standings. Hamlin is 11 points above the cut line. But it could have been better.
“We gave up at least eight or 10 points and we definitely gave up a chance to run for the win,” Gabehart said.
The beauty of a 36-race season is that another race is only a few days away. The crew will have a chance to redeem themselves at Talladega.
Hamlin is also seeking better fortune. He scored the fewest points among remaining playoff drivers in races at a draft track this season. He scored 59 points. Second lowest among playoff drivers is Chase Briscoe with 86 points.
Ross Chastain
After winning at Kansas, Chastain could be seen more as an assistant to teammate Daniel Suarez or a Chevrolet playoff driver at Talladega.
At Talladega, the focus for manufacturers has often been making sure their playoff cars perform well and that one of them wins to advance to the next round. Since he’s not in the playoffs, Chastain’s victory at Kansas means no one has advanced to the next round yet.
In last year’s playoff race at Talladega, Riley Herbst, a non-playoff driver, helped push fellow racer Ryan Blaney to victory, bringing Blaney closer to the championship victory.
Of course, in the last lap, anything goes.
“If we can help (Suarez) through the selection process, then that’s what we’re going to do,” said Phil Surgen, Chastain’s crew chief. “But you know, our goal is to win at Talladega.”
