NASCAR Cup at Kansas 2026: Top 10 Breakdown

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Toyota took five of the top-10 finishing positions in Sunday's AdventHealth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway but nearly gave away the most important position in overtime, again.

1. Tyler Reddick

Redeeming a loss in the fall for 23XI Racing, thanks to a much better final turn with Kyle Larson than teammate Bubba Wallace had with team owner Denny Hamlin, Reddick used two bold moves to make history again Sunday.

The driver of the No. 45 Toyota went from four wins to five and became the fourth driver in series history to win five of the first nine races in a season. Only Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt, most recently in 1987, have accomplished the feat. That puts Reddick in rare air and validates him as a championship favorite, especially with a 105-point lead over Hamlin heading to Talladega.

Oh by the way, Reddick won the spring race at Talladega two years ago. 

Reddick had a pair of third-place stage finishes Sunday and led 10 laps. He remains undefeated this season in races where he has led laps.

2. Kyle Larson

Some snowy turns may have helped Larson and a No. 5 car he described as "plowing" while trying to hold off Reddick for the win in overtime.

Larson executed the perfect restart on Hamlin to grab the lead but Reddick came storming back and muscled his way to the win.

Although the defending Cup champion finished second, he led 78 laps and finished second and first in the stages. He also took full advantage of a chance to win after being over 10 seconds behind before the caution that sent the race into overtime.

Compared to his teammates, who didn't lead any laps and mostly didn't earn any stage points, Larson had a stellar day that should inspire hope within the organization.

Larson is fifth in points, 143 behind Reddick, with teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron right behind him. Hendrick isn't that far off but a team of their caliber deserves close scrutiny. More on that later.

3. Chase Briscoe

Welcome home, Chase!

For the first time in two months, the driver of Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 19 Toyota is back in Chase contention, thanks in large part to crew chief James Small's overtime call.

Entering pit road 14th with nothing to lose, Small called for four tires while other teams called for two. Briscoe then restarted 10th and charged to third in overtime, gaining 11 positions between the final caution flag and the checkered flag.

Briscoe admitted he could've won with one more lap. But third with four stage points, which tied him with Ty Gibbs for fifth-most points earned Sunday, is not bad at all.

Now 15th in the standings, 17 above the cutline, Briscoe and his JGR teammates are all in Chase contention. Briscoe will get to carry that momentum into the perfect place: Talladega, where he's the most recent winner.

4. Denny Hamlin

Cody Ware spinning with two laps to go and bringing out the caution, choosing the inside line for the overtime restart, Kyle Larson's restart move, leading the most laps and not winning, business partner Michael Jordan dunking on him on pit road...

"Frustrated. It all piled up," Hamlin said.

Understandably. Hamlin led 131 laps and finished first and second in the stages but settled for fourth after having the white flag in sight just minutes before.

How Hamlin got there took more brains than brawn. While running third, crew chief Chris Gayle called his driver into the pits six laps earlier than anyone else. That gave Hamlin a five-second lead for Reddick to completely gobble up with 10 laps to go.

Hamlin hung on, biting back and taking the lead seven laps later when Reddick stumbled while switching to a reserve fuel tank in the middle of the turn.

Then, after everything ensued, overtime cost Hamlin a win for the sixth time in recent history. That added to a painful list that also includes two other Kansas races (fall 2023, spring 2024), Nashville Superspeedway in 2024, the 2025 Daytona 500 and the dreaded championship race last fall at Phoenix Raceway.

Another thing to annoy Hamlin? He lost 19 points to his driver and is now 105 behind Reddick for the points lead. 

5. Bubba Wallace

Quietly, very good. That sums up Wallace's day at Kansas.

Quietly, Wallace's No. 23 Toyota got better throughout the day. While not a contender for the win, he was a decent stone's throw from teammate and winner Reddick.

Wallace maintained fifth from the yellow flag to the checkered flag. Surprisingly, that was his first top-five finish of the season. Now, he's now tied for seventh in the standings, right where he was this time last season.

6. Brad Keselowski

Right behind Wallace in the standings is another driver who also earned a handful of stage points (4) and quietly had a very good finish. 

After starting 21st, the owner-driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford had a finishing position that matched his car number. Now ninth in the standings, Keselowski is 67 points above the Chase cutline as a result of two top-fives, four top-10s and no finishes worse than 20th this year.

So far this season, Keselowski's average finish of 11.3 is shaping up to be his best since the 2020 season (10.1) and so far ranks fourth of his 17 full-time seasons.

This time last season, Keselowski hadn't finished better than 11th and was 31st in the standings. It kind of makes you forget how he started this season with a broken leg. 

7. William Byron

Next to Briscoe, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet had the best recovery between when the final yellow flag fell and when the checkered flag fell in overtime.

Byron went from 16th at the yellow flag to seventh at the checkered flag. Like James Small, crew chief Rudy Fugle called for four tires to ensure his driver fully seized upon overtime. 

Byron is tied for seventh in the standings after nine races -- a contrast to this point last season when he led the standings. The No. 24 team still has almost as many top-10s at this point (5 vs. 6) but is lagging in top-fives (2 vs. 4). 

8. Chase Elliott

With one of the best crews propping him up on pit road all day, Elliott had a great points day -- earning 12 points in the stages for a total of the fourth-most points of any driver Sunday. He finished sixth in the first stage, fourth in the second and eighth overall.

Elliott and his team still have work to do to set their car up well enough to match their pit road performance. Still, sixth in points, close enough to the next two drivers in points, is a solid place for him to be in and is about on-par for this time last season.

9. Ty Gibbs

Pack it in, Ty Gibbs. For the first time since EchoPark Speedway Atlanta, you finished worse than sixth. That win at Bristol was just a fluke.

Kidding, of course. 

Gibbs had another very good run at Kansas, netting 10 stage points and ending the day with his best finish in the Heartland since fall 2024. 

While the first Cup winner born in the 2000s had issues with the handling of his No. 54 Toyota that bumped him behind most of his teammates in the final finishing order, considering a ninth-place finish as any kind of step backward is remarkable for a team that could only muster two finishes of ninth or better at this point last season.

So far, Gibbs has five top-fives and seven oop-10s. At +122 points to the cutline, Chase contention isn't even a concern. His sights are set on the drivers ahead of him in the standings: second-place Denny Hamlin (-33) and third-place Ryan Blaney (-18).

This time last season, Gibbs was 20th in the standings.

10. Chris Buescher

Surviving near-calamity in the first stage and coming home in the top-10 with two stage points, Buescher found himself in the middle of a good day for RFK.

Buescher ran as high as sixth in the first stage before tire wear caused a tire to come apart. That dropped him to 12th in the stage and left him with some damage that kept him to ninth in the second stage. 

In classic Chris Buescher fashion, however, he stayed steady and ran 10th before overtime. In overtime, he finished, you guessed it, 10th. He finds himself 11th in points, +62 to the cutline, one position better than where he ranked at this point last year.