Kyle Larson broke two records in his win at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The Hendrick Motorsports driver led 235 of 267 laps in the Hollywood Casino 400.
That broke his own Kansas record for laps led in a race. His previous mark was 221 laps in his May 2025 win at the track.
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Larson also passed Bill Elliott for 19th on NASCAR’s all-time Cup laps-led list. He has led 11,480 laps in his 13th full-time Cup season.
Larson swept both stages and was passed only once under green. Chase Briscoe took the lead with 30 laps left before Larson got back around him with seven to go.
Larson told USA Network that chasing Briscoe was easier than leading.
“I got some lines going where I could just kinda settle in and try to take care of my tires. I don’t know, I think it’s just easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted. I think a lot of the same with me out front. I’m just defending and trying to guess what lines are fast and when he got in front of me, I could see he started to get really loose. That was fun.”
Briscoe hit the wall several times late in the race. He finished fourth.
With the win, both stages, and the fastest lap, Larson scored the maximum 76 points. He said he would have been fine finishing second, but the win mattered.
“I was going to be happy with second with how the race went but to get the lead, that’s a big deal for the points. Proud of my team.”
The win was Larson’s second of 2026, his fourth at Kansas, and the 34th of his Cup career. That ties him with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for 26th all time.
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Larson entered the Chase as the seventh seed without a regular-season win. He has not finished worse than fifth in four Chase races, with wins at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and Kansas.
He now leads Denny Hamlin by 26 points with six races left. Larson won the 2021 and 2025 Cup titles and still races sprint cars in other forms of motorsports.
A third title would make him the first driver to win back-to-back Cup championships since Jimmie Johnson. Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010.
The Chase moves to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 4.
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