Matt Johnson
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, the AdventHealth 400, was poised to be the first of the season without a caution for an incident. Then with 2 laps to go, Cody Ware lost control and brought out the the first natural caution of the day to send us to overtime.
Let’s dive into our winners and loses from the NASCAR race today at Kansas Speedway.
Winner: Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson now hasn’t won a NASCAR Cup Series race in 11 months, a 33-race stretch without a trip to victory lane. It’s certainly disappointing for him, but he won Stage 2 on Sunday to give him three stage wins in the last three races, and he’s accrued 39 stage points during this two-race span with finishes of third place (Bristol) and second (Kansas). That might not take the sting out of this last-lap loss to Tyler Reddick, but the No. 5 team has amassed over 100 points in its last two races and Larson is positioning himself well for The Chase.
Loser: Kyle Busch
When Kyle Busch showed some fire on Saturday in his response to comments made by Denny Hamlin, there were plenty of KFB chants and hope for some on-track chaos. Of course, the issue with Busch threatening to make life “hell” for Hamlin on the track was that the only chance the No. 8 car would have at it would be if he fell a lap-plus down. What happened in the AdventHealth 400? With 25 laps to go in Stage 1, Hamlin passed the No. 8 car with ease. Busch wasn’t a problem; he was an afterthought for the driver of the No. 11 car. Lots of talk, no results. That seems pretty fitting from Busch. Oh, he also finished the race today in 35th, well behind teammate Austin Dillon (16th).
Related: Kyle Busch Fires Back at Denny Hamlin After Recent Comments
Winner: 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick is certainly a winner since he’s in victory lane at Kansas Speedway. Joining him there is Michael Jordan for the fifth time in nine races. 23XI Racing has overtaken Team Penske, at least this season, as the third-best team in NASCAR. Reddick won the AdventHealth 400, Wallace finished fifth, and the team even had Riley Herbst and Corey Heim back-to-back in 14th and 15th place. When Reddick is putting himself in the company of Dale Earnhardt, winning five of the first nine races, and two 23XI drivers sit in the top eight in points, it’s hard not to call the team a huge winner in 2026.
Related: Insider Reveals Likely Cost to Sign Tyler Reddick to New Contract
Loser: Trackhouse Racing
Through nine races this season, Daniel Suarez has a pair of top-10 finishes and seven top-20s. Meanwhile, at Trackhouse Racing, the trio of Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch, and Ross Chastain have combined for three top-10 finishes with 13 top-20 finishes between them. Chastain is arguably a top-10 driver in terms of talent, Zilisch was a generational prospect a year ago and even SVG has proven himself in the Cup Series. Trackhouse is wasting them all. Things didn’t get any better in the NASCAR race today, with all three drivers finishing outside the top 20.
Related: NASCAR Drivers Who Have Underperformed This Season
Winner: Denny Hamlin
It wasn’t a perfect day for Denny Hamlin at Kansas, but he came somewhat close. Hamlin won Stage 1 and then finished second in Stage 2 behind Kyle Larson. He might’ve even won the AdventHealth 400 if not for the classic Cody Ware caution, coming with 2 laps to go and the No. 11 just seconds away from the final lap where he could’ve even won it under caution. Hamlin said before the season that you realistically need to be top-three in points at the end of the regular season to have any shot at winning the championship. Through nine races, he holds a 33-point lead over fourth place, and he’s going to win more races this season.
Related: NASCAR Cup Series All-Time Wins Leaders
Loser: Team Penske
The good news is that Team Penske made a much-needed change this weekend with Ryan Blaney’s pit crew. Unfortunately, the No. 12 car still got a pit-road penalty after Stage 1 for too many men over the wall because the team needed to work on the front splitter. As for what happened to Joey Logano, his car seemed to be tight all weekend and forced the No. 22 team to drop to the rear of the field on Sunday to change the steering rack. It didn’t work, with Logano placing 24th in Stage 1 and 2 laps down at the conclusion of Stage 2. Penske is really proving this season that the gap between them and 23XI Racing is much closer, if not even, than the gap between Penske and the clear-cut top teams (Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports).
Related: NASCAR Cup Series Stage Winners 2026
Winner: Alex Bowman
After qualifying 33rd at Kansas on Saturday, it certainly felt like this season where everything would go wrong for Alex Bowman continued this afternoon in the AdventHealth 400. Credit to Bowman and the No. 48 team; they progressively worked their way through the field to reach 17th in Stage 1 and Stage 2, maintaining a top-20 running position throughout the race. Performances like this don’t necessarily open the door to Bowman potentially making The Chase, but this performance does show that he’s still a very capable driver.
Related: 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Standings Right Now After Kansas Speedway
Loser: Carson Hocevar’s Pit Crew
The No. 77 car certainly had the speed to have a good day at Kansas Speedway and Carson Hocevar’s driving style seems perfect for this track. Unfortunately for Hocevar, his pit crew cost him dearly today. The No. 77 team had numerous instances where it lost spots on pit road because the No. 77 crew was slow with its actions. Given the tightening of the battle for those last spots in The Chase, it’s races like this that could be the difference in Hocevar making it or not. Hocevar finished the day in 13th, with the likes of Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher ahead of him. We’ll see if that matters come September.
Winner: Corey Heim
Get ready to see a lot of Corey Heim in the weeks to come. This was his first Cup Series race in 2026 since the Daytona 500, but he’s competing in seven races with 23XI Racing from now through July 27 in the Brickyard 400. Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 showed why and proved he already belongs full-time in this series. He qualified 24th on Saturday but worked his way up to a 10th-place finish in Stage 1, and he kept himself inside the top 15 for most of the NASCAR race today. Heim Time is coming to the Cup Series.
Related: Insider Explains Why Corey Heim Isn’t FullT-ime with 23XI Racing Yet
