KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway to kick off the second round of the playoffs. Here’s what to watch for:
Then There Were 12
The 16-driver playoff field was cut to 12 last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, with Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton getting eliminated.
Gibbs and Truex, a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, each faced pit road speeding penalties. Gibbs sped after Stage One, which gave him time to drive back through the field. While passing was at a premium, he worked his way back inside the top 10 before struggling in the final stint of the race and finishing 15th, behind Daniel Suárez for the final transfer spot. On the other hand, Truex sped during Stage Three and struggled to run higher than 24th, where he ultimately finished. Before the penalty, the former champion ran inside the top five.
Entering the race below the cutline, Keselowski needed a strong evening to advance but finished 26th, three laps off the pace. Burton, also well below the cutline, finished 35th after a mechanical issue sidelined him for more than 70 laps.
After the reset, Kyle Larson – the Bristol winner – leads points by 15 over Christopher Bell. Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano all also start the round of 12 above the cutline. Austin Cindric (-4), Suárez (-6), Alex Bowman (-7) and Chase Briscoe (-7) all head to Kansas at a deficit. Â
How The Second Round Shapes Up
The round of 12 features three very different tracks, and in a sense, it plays out similarly to the opening round.
After Kansas, it’s a trip to the famed Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway before finishing the round at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. The round of 16 also featured a road course (Watkins Glen) and a drafting track (Atlanta), though the tracks are still very different. Talladega is more than a mile bigger than Atlanta while the ROVAL is more technical compared to Watkins Glen.Â
The unpredictability of the quarterfinal round has created drama in years past. Two years ago, Bell scored a walk-off victory at the ROVAL, a win that helped pave his path to the Championship 4. In 2021, Kevin Harvick crashed in Turn One racing Chase Elliott – who he cleaned out earlier in the race – and failed to advance to the round of 8.
And at Talladega, it’s been proven before: anything can happen.
Driver Swap
Last week, two non-playoff drivers announced an abnormal seat swap for the rest of the season.
Beginning this weekend, Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley will trade rides, with LaJoie heading to Rick Ware Racing and Haley returning to Spire Motorsports. While it’s unknown where LaJoie will land next year, Spire announced that Haley will continue to drive the No. 7 Chevrolet next season.
Haley made his Cup Series debut with the organization in 2019, winning a rain-shortened race at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway in just his second start. He raced with the organization through 2021 as a non-points-earning driver before heading full-time with Kaulig Racing in 2022 – where he ran in the Xfinity Series. Haley started with RWR at the beginning of this season.
For LaJoie, it ends a four-year tenure with Spire. He earned eight top 10s since joining the team in 2021, including an eighth-place finish at Watkins Glen two weeks ago. He’ll pilot the No. 51 for RWR.
.001
At Kansas Speedway in May, NASCAR made history. Larson defeated Chris Buescher by .001 seconds in what’s been named the closest finish in the sport’s history.
Starting on the second row in overtime, Larson dove below Hamlin on the inside and began to work on Buescher. Buescher continued to fend off Larson through the final lap, but Larson got a run on the high side through Turns Three and Four. The two banged doors twice down the frontstretch and Larson carried enough momentum to narrowly sneak past Buescher at the line.
The RFK Racing team thought they won at first and began celebrating. But after NASCAR reviewed the video, it showed that Larson was the victor.
The finish ultimately changed the course of Buescher’s entire season. He went winless during the first 26 races of the campaign and missed the playoffs. Had he won, Buescher would’ve been in the round of 12 as he won at Watkins Glen earlier this month.
Race Information
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race is set for 3 p.m. ET on USA Network. It is the final race of the season on cable television before the last six events are on NBC.
Stage breaks are set for laps 80 and 165. The purse is $9,222,964.