Track: Kansas Speedway
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Track length: 1.5 miles
When: 2 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FOX, HBO Max, FOX One, 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 | Cup Series pit stall assignments
Havoc in the heartland? Veterans, Toyotas find favor in Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kansas Speedway has built a solid reputation as a NASCAR crowd-pleaser, especially with a series of compelling finishes in recent years. Kyle Larson’s record-setting 0.0001-second margin of victory here two years ago stands out as an all-timer, and a bare-knuckle final lap last fall allowed Chase Elliott to squeak through for a crucial win.
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Producing drama? Check. What Kansas has yet to produce in its 40-race Cup Series history is a first-time winner.
Veterans and proven winners will aim to hold serve in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, FOX One, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the ninth of 36 Cup races this season. One breakthrough winner has already emerged as the tour heads for the quarter pole, with Ty Gibbs notching his first victory last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Trends and history, however, indicate that another Victory Lane newbie is unlikely to break out here.
MORE: Weekend schedule, TV info | At-track photos
Each of the last 29 Kansas winners has had at least 100 Cup Series starts, and Kansas’ 40-race void for first-timers is the most of any active track on the circuit. With Gibbs finally relinquishing the title of “most likely first-time winner” last weekend, Carson Hocevar (starting sixth Sunday) and Ryan Preece (starting 12th) rocket to the top of the list of candidates who might buck the Kansas pattern with a breakthrough of their own.
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As for pre-race favorites, Kyle Larson has the odds on his side to break a 32-race drought, but Saturday’s preliminary action points to a Toyota driver carrying the banner. Toyotas swept the top five positions in Cup Series practice, plus four of the top five in qualifying. The latter group was headlined by series points leader Tyler Reddick, who secured the automaker’s fifth pole in the last six Kansas races.
Another Toyota win Sunday would mark the first time since Chevrolet did it in 2007 that a manufacturer won seven of the season’s first nine events.
“(Ford driver Austin) Cindric was walking into qualifying with me. He’s like, ‘Oh man, we’re in Toyota territory,”” said Chase Briscoe, who starts fifth in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Camry. “Yeah, Toyota just seem to really run well here, just from a standpoint of how their downforce, I guess, is for the style of race track, it’s just really, really good. So I think we’ll be in the mix (Sunday). You know, I definitely think it’ll be a Toyota that’s going to be battling for the win, and I think the hotter temperatures (Sunday) will just help us even more. So yeah, hopefully that all plays into our favor.”
MORE: Sunday Setup: Weather, tire loads in focus
In the details …
Consistency is king across NASCAR’s intermediate race tracks, but wins share the reign. The importance of strong finishes is perhaps higher now than at any other time across the last dozen years, thanks to the onset of The Chase. Entering Sunday’s race, the longest top-10 streak across NASCAR’s 1.5-mile tracks belongs to Christopher Bell. But Bell’s last victory on a 1.5-mile track came back in 2024 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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Here’s who has the longest top-10 streaks at 1.5-mile tracks in the Cup Series, all but one of whom are looking for their first win of 2026:
|
Driver |
Streak |
|---|---|
|
Christopher Bell |
6 |
|
Chase Briscoe |
5 |
|
Brad Keselowski |
4 |
|
Denny Hamlin |
3 |
|
Kyle Larson |
3 |
|
Tyler Reddick |
2 |
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
• Kansas hub: Key information, pit-stall assignments, results | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks at Midwest doubleheader series in the heartland | View gallery
• Full race projection: Find out who is predicted to win on Sunday | Read more
• Hauler Talk: Officials talk with Eckes after Truck Series crash | Listen now
• Carson’s Turn?: Why Hocevar may be next for breakthrough first win | Neil Paine’s analysis
• Power Rankings: Cup Series’ top 20 drivers after Bristol | This week’s ranks
• NASCAR Classics: Inside the video vault from Kansas | Watch now
Contributing: Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR.com
Read the full article here
