After Hendrick Motorsports had three cars finish outside of the top-20 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the team is looking for another three this weekend: Three NASCAR Cup Series wins in a row at Kansas Speedway.
CONCORD, N.C. -- After Hendrick Motorsports had three cars finish outside of the top-20 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the team is looking for another three this weekend.
The four-car team is seeking their third NASCAR Cup Series win in a row at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway. Chase Elliott won in a wild finish to the fall race, just a few months after Kyle Larson dominated and won the spring race for the second year in a row.
At Bristol, Larson led 284 of 505 laps and won the first stages, showing he still is on form despite going the latest in a full season without a win since 2019. However, like Las Vegas where he led a lot of laps and finished second in each stage, Larson fell behind in the final stage while other drivers and teams elevated themselves.
Las Vegas and Bristol were good tests of where the No. 5 team is but Kansas is the true test. Larson has finished first, first, second and second in the spring race in the NextGen era.
“Kansas [Speedway] is a lot of fun - it’s really fast. You’re always trying to carry a lot of speed and momentum off the corners and run big arcs into the entry. There are two different ends of the racetrack, but I feel like you approach the corners in a similar way," Kyle Larson said. "In the race, you settle into a comfortable pace and balance and try to run as close to the wall as possible without hitting it. It’s a fun place. It can be challenging but it’s good because you have options to move around."
After finishing 22nd at Bristol, teammate Chase Elliott is looking for two more twos: Two wins in 2026 and two wins in a row at Kansas. It's entirely possible, as Elliott finished second in the last intermediate track race (Las Vegas) and was the only driver to lead double-digit laps in both Kansas races last year.
“It has really been a great track and has suited this newer generation car. The line has definitely transitioned up the racetrack, especially on the warmer days, and that can bring its challenges. It’s been a fun place. I’ve enjoyed going to Kansas even in the older generation cars. I look forward to every trip, and hopefully we can go out there and have a couple good runs this season," Chase Elliott said.
Like Elliott, William Byron had a poor finish at Bristol (30th) but thrived in the last intermediate track race, leading 26 laps and finishing third at Las Vegas.
Unlike Elliott, Byron hasn't been that good at Kansas. His most recent finishes at the track are ninth, 24th, second, 23rd and 15th. The second-place finish in fall of 2024 was an outlier, leading laps that day (24 of 267 laps) and being in the mix until the end.
If Byron can replicate his Vegas speed, he could find that magic again at Kansas.
"We have a good mile-and-a-half program. Even with the changes to the car, we were strong in Las Vegas earlier this season. Kansas [Speedway] has been a bit harder for us getting the results we should get based on how the races go, but I'm confident still because we usually always have the speed. We just need a solid day and to put ourselves in contention at the end," William Byron said.
At Kansas, no one needs a better run than Alex Bowman after his return saw him finish last after a multi-car crash before halfway at Bristol.
Luckily, Bowman has six top-10 finishes in the last seven Kansas races, encompassing the NextGen era, and a 28th-place finish that could've been a top-10 if not for a late-race incident.
“Kansas [Speedway] is one of my favorite tracks and one I always look forward to. It’s no secret it’s been a tough start to the season for our No. 48 team. With that, it’s hard to say that we could go win, but we are typically so good that we really could. We’ve got a lot of work to do but Kansas is a good place for us to get things turned around," Alex Bowman said.
Bowman is 36th in points, 153 points out of a Chase spot, after missing multiple races. Meanwhile, teammates Elliott, Larson and Byron are fifth (+88 points to Chase cutline, -122 to points lead), sixth (+84, -126) and seventh (+69, -141) in points, respectively.
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