There is one point separating Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series standings. According to the latest betting board for Kansas Speedway, there is nothing separating them at all.
Larson and Hamlin enter Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 as co-favorites at +400, setting up another chapter in a championship fight that has tightened considerably three races into the Chase.
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And Kansas is hardly a neutral venue for either driver.
Larson has won three times at the 1.5-mile track, including two of the last five races. Hamlin owns four Kansas victories, the most among active Cup Series drivers, and has finished eighth or better in eight of his last nine starts there.
If oddsmakers were looking for a reason to choose between them, history didn’t make the decision any easier.
Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin Have Built Strong Cases at Kansas
Larson arrives in Kansas holding a one-point advantage over Hamlin in the Cup Series standings, and his recent record at the track explains why he shares the top spot on the betting board.
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The Hendrick Motorsports driver has two victories and three top-five finishes over the last five Kansas races. His most memorable win during that stretch came in May 2024, when he beat Chris Buescher to the line by 0.001 seconds, still the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
Larson returned to Victory Lane at Kansas in May 2025. He has finished outside the top six only once in his last five starts at the track.
Hamlin’s Kansas résumé stretches even deeper.
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran has won four times at the track, most recently in May 2023, when he chased down Larson and made the winning pass on the final lap. Hamlin has also been remarkably consistent at Kansas, with eight finishes of eighth or better over the last nine races.
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The championship standings say Larson by one point. The sportsbook says pick your poison.
Kansas win odds:
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Shane van Gisbergen: +12000
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John Hunter Nemechek: +20000
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +30000
Odds are subject to change.
Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick Are Right Behind the Favorites
The gap between NASCAR’s Kansas favorites and the next group isn’t particularly large.
Christopher Bell sits third at +550, followed by Tyler Reddick at +600.
Bell has yet to win a Cup race at Kansas, but that is about the only thing missing from his recent résumé there. He has five top-five finishes in his last six Kansas starts and only one result worse than eighth during that stretch.
Reddick doesn’t have to wonder what Victory Lane at Kansas feels like.
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The 23XI Racing driver has won at the track and remains one of the most intriguing threats whenever the Cup Series visits a high-speed intermediate. His +600 number puts him within striking distance of Larson and Hamlin before cars even roll onto the track.
Ryan Blaney follows at +850, while Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe are both +1000.
Then the board begins to open up.
The Kansas Odds Get Much More Interesting After the Favorites
This is where Sunday’s betting board starts producing some genuinely interesting names.
Joey Logano sits at +2000 despite arriving at Kansas fresh off a Bristol victory. The Team Penske veteran is a two-time Kansas winner, although his most recent victory at the track came in October 2020.
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Then there is Carson Hocevar at +2500.
One week after his on-track collision and post-race fight with Blaney became the story of Bristol, Hocevar heads to Kansas with the same odds as Chris Buescher and considerably shorter odds than several established Cup winners.
And yes, for anyone determined to keep score after Bristol, sportsbooks are already doing it for them. Hocevar is +2500 to win Sunday. Blaney is +850.
Farther down the board, Brad Keselowski is +3000 and former Kansas winner Ross Chastain sits at +4000. Alex Bowman and Josh Berry are each +6000.
Kansas has also demonstrated how little room there can be between getting everything right and leaving empty-handed. Larson’s 0.001-second victory over Buescher in 2024 remains the ultimate reminder.
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This weekend, the margins are already microscopic.
Larson and Hamlin enter separated by a single championship point. Oddsmakers have them tied at the top of the board.
Now Kansas gets to separate them.
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