Winners, losers after NASCAR Cup playoff race at Kansas Speedway

KANSAS CITY, Kans. — A look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup playoff race at Kansas Speedway.

Winners

Ross Chastain — Earns his first Cup win of the season and becomes the second non-playoff driver to win in the first four playoff races of the season. Chastain led a season-high 52 laps in giving Trackhouse Racing its second Cup win of the season.

William Byron — Since winning three of the first eight races of the season, Byron has had his ups and downs. Sunday he won a stage, scored a race-high 17 stage points and finished second. He leaves Kansas as the points leader.

Martin Truex Jr. — His third-place finish snapped a streak of eight consecutive finishes of 20th or worse.

Alex Bowman — He scored the most points in the first round and followed it by placing sixth on Sunday, scoring the fourth-most points. He has had points in each stage in the first four playoff races.

Losers

Kyle Busch — Leading with 32 laps to go, Busch spun as he was trying go to the outside of Chase Briscoe’s car and put him a lap down. Busch finished 19th. Now his career-winless streak is 51 races and he has only six more events to extend his NASCAR record of 19 consecutive seasons with at least a Cup victory. Said Busch afterward: “I’m numb.”

Denny Hamlin — His pit crew had a poor day and Hamlin didn’t have a chance to win, leaving Kansas with an eighth-place finish that frustrated him. Said Hamlin of the pit crew after the race: “They know that today was one of their worst days ever and they’ll work to clean it up.”

Tyler Reddick — He won at Kansas in September 2023 but was not a factor at either of the track’s Cup races this season. He finished 20th in the spring and 25th on Sunday. His result in Sunday’s playoff race leaves him below the cutline with two events to go in this round.

Kyle Larson — There is something about the first race in a round for Larson this year. At Atlanta, he crashed. Sunday, a cut tire put him in the wall early. He continued and fought back from a lap back to finish 26th. He fell from first in the points lead to fourth. Asked about his day, he quipped: “Better than Atlanta.”