Three races of NASCAR’s postseason Chase are in the books and there is a new leader atop the standings.
With a win at Gateway and top-five finishes at Darlington and Bristol, reigning Cup Series champ Kyle Larson has leapt ahead of Denny Hamlin as the Chase leader by one point as NASCAR heads to Kansas this weekend for the second time this season for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.
It’s crowded at the top of the standings with Joey Logano and Christopher Bell saddled in third and fourth place, both within 17 points of Larson. Logano — fresh off his third win of the season at Bristol — is the pole-sitter for Kansas based on NASCAR’s metric after qualifying was rained out.
“Starting up front is always good,” Logano said Saturday. “We’ll see if we
have enough pace when you’re up there. You have a lot of fast cars around you. We’ll see what we’ve got… The curiosity is going to get the best of me, and I am going to want to know what we’ve got. But I can wait one more night.”
The rainout is bad news for Logano’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, who will start 25th at Kansas — the worst of any Chase driver — after getting wrecked last weekend at Bristol by Carson Hocevar. Following their post-race fight, where Blaney grabbed Hocevar before taking two punches to the face, Blaney showed up at Kansas with a shiner below his left eye.
Still, the driver of the No. 12 Ford — who has finished 24th in his last two races at Kansas — didn’t dodge any questions about the dust-up.
“It’s fine,” Blaney, laughing, said of his eye on Friday. “I wish it healed a little bit quicker than this, but it did not… In that situation, I kind of initiated confrontation, and Carson defended himself.
“It was definitely unlike me. It’s kind of the opposite of how I normally am.”
With two DNFs in three Chase races, Blaney has faded back to sixth in the standings, 52 points behind Larson. For Blaney, Logano and other Ford drivers, they’re entering a crucial portion of the Chase with three consecutive mile-and-a-half tracks where Fords haven’t been all that strong this season while Toyotas have been dominant. Aside from Blaney’s win at Altanta, Chase Elliott’s victory at Texas and Daniel Suarez's Coca-Cola 600 triumph, Toyotas have won all the other races at these styles of tracks this season.
That’s good news for someone like Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing. He’s still searching for his first victory this season, but has climbed four spots in the Chase standings from 14th to 10th by way of stage points and top-10 finishes at Darlington and Bristol.
Wallace won at Kansas in 2022 and has placed inside the top-five here in each of his last two races.
“I think there’s obviously a couple spots in front of us that are easy to grab, and yeah, we’ve just got to keep pressing forward. But a win at Kansas, a solid 50- to 60-point day at Kansas will also start that trend,” Wallace said this week. “We’re 92 points out, which is a big stretch, but anything can happen. I have the confidence in our people and what they’re bringing to the race track, and ultimately the end recipe, the main ingredient is me.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway:
What time does the NASCAR Cup race at Kansas start?
The Hollywood Casino 400 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
What TV channel is the NASCAR Cup race at Kansas on?
The Hollywood Casino 400 will be broadcast on USA Network. Pre-race coverage will start at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Leigh Diffey will have the call alongside analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte, while Dale Jarrett will offer additional analysis from the pit box. Burton and Letarte will join host Marty Snider and Coca-Cola 600 winner Kyle Petty on pre- and postrace shows. Former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will be the pace-car analyst.
Will there be a live stream of the NASCAR Cup race at Kansas?
Subscribers to YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV can watch the Hollywood Casino 400 through those services.
HBO Max will continue to provide live streams of in-car cameras, while MRN will carry the live radio broadcast.
How many laps is the NASCAR Cup race at Kansas?
The Hollywood Casino 400 is 267 laps around the 1.5-mile asphalt oval for a total of 400.5 miles. The race will have three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 80 laps; Stage 2: 85 laps; Stage 3: 102 laps.
Who won the last NASCAR Cup race at Kansas?
Tyler Reddick won the AdventHealth 400 in April, capping off a stretch that saw him win five of the first nine races this season. In last season’s fall race at Kansas, Chase Elliott took the checkered flag.
Toyotas have been strong at Kansas Speedway, winning seven of the last 13 races there — a stretch that began in the 2020 season. It’s arguably the best track for 23XI with four wins by three different drivers there since 2022.
Denny Hamlin has four wins at Kansas, the most all-time in the Cup Series, while Joey Logano has three victories.
What are the current standings for the NASCAR Chase?
- Kyle Larson
- Denny Hamlin -1
- Joey Logano -16
- Christopher Bell -17
- Ty Gibbs -42
- Ryan Blaney -52
- Tyler Reddick -61
- Carson Hocevar -85
- Chase Briscoe -87
- Bubba Wallace -92
- Austin Cindric -116
- Chase Elliott -117
- William Byron -121
- Ryan Preece -124
- Chris Buescher -124
- Daniel Suarez -134
What is the lineup for the Bristol Night Race?
(Car number in parentheses, Chase drivers designated with asterisk)
- Joey Logano (22) — Ford, Team Penske*
- Kyle Larson (5) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
- Christopher Bell (20) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Carson Hocevar (77) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports*
- Ty Gibbs (54) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Denny Hamlin (11) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Bubba Wallace (23) — Toyota, 23XI Racing*
- William Byron (24) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
- Ryan Preece (60) — Ford, RFK Racing*
- Josh Berry (21) — Ford, Wood Brothers
- Austin Cindric (2) — Ford, Team Penske*
- Chris Buescher (17) — Ford, RFK Racing*
- Ross Chastain (1) — Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
- Daniel Suarez (7) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports*
- Tyler Reddick (45) — Toyota, 23XI Racing*
- Brad Keselowski (6) — Ford, RFK Racing
- Shane van Gisbergen (97) — Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
- Chase Elliott (9) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
- Austin Dillon (3) — Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Todd Gilliland (34) — Ford, Front Row Motorsports
- Noah Gragson (4) — Ford, Front Row Motorsports
- Michael McDowell (71) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports
- Chase Briscoe (19) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- AJ Allmendinger (16) — Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
- Ryan Blaney (12) — Ford, Team Penske*
- John Hunter Nemechek (42) — Toyota, Legacy Motor Club
- Connor Zilisch (88) — Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
- Zane Smith (38) — Ford, Front Row Motorsports
- Cole Custer (41) — Chevrolet, Haas Factory Team
- Erik Jones (43) — Toyota, Legacy Motor Club
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47) — HYAK Motorsports
- Austin Hill (33) — Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Alex Boman (48) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
- Riley Herbst (35) — Toyota, 23XI Racing
- Cody Ware (51) — Chevrolet, Rick Ware Racing
- Ty Dillon (10) — Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR race at Kansas: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup for Hollywood Casino 400
