Kyle Larson passes Chase Briscoe
with 7 laps left to win for the fourth time at Kansas Speedway
[September 28, 2026]
By DAVE SKRETTA
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kyle Larson has always found it easier to
be the hunter than the hunted.
He won't have much choice in the matter now.
The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion capped a dominant
performance at Kansas Speedway on Sunday by passing Chase Briscoe
with seven laps left and leading the rest of the way, leaving Larson
to wheel his No. 5 Chevrolet into victory lane for a record-tying
fourth time at the mile-and-a-half oval and with a padded lead in
the Chase for the championship standings.
Larson won each of the first two stages and broke his own record by
leading 235 laps, allowing him to turn the slimmest of leads — a
single point over Denny Hamlin at the start of the day — into a
26-point advantage heading to Las Vegas next weekend.
“Such a good day,” Larson said. “I was going to be happy with second
how the race went, but to get the lead, that's a big deal.”
Briscoe chased down Larson throughout the final stage, finally
getting around him with 30 laps to go. But after briefly pulling
away, the No. 19 Toyota began to get loose, and Briscoe brushed the
wall. Larson closed in on the lead again, made a move on the low
side and powered away, taking the checkered flag for the second time
in three races.
He also won at St. Louis, a victory that had ended a maddening
51-race winless drought.
“I think it's easier to be the hunter than the hunted,” Larson said.
"With me out front, I'm just defending, trying to guess on what the
fast lines are, and when he got in front of me he started getting
really loose.”
So loose that Briscoe drifted all the way back to fourth. Austin
Cindric wound up second and Hamlin finished third.
“It was better for me being in second. It would tighten me up and
allow me to be a little better," Briscoe said, “and as soon as I got
the lead I got really free again. Frustrating for sure.”
Cindric spent much of the day stalking Larson but was never able to
get his No. 2 Ford around him. He might have been the fastest car on
the track at the end, too, but Cindric was too far back to mount a
challenge for the victory.
“I wish I would have had at least a shot at it. I thought we could
join the fun at least," Cindric said, “but proud of the effort.”
It was a similar story — and a bittersweet day — for Hamlin, whose
strong third-place run nevertheless cost him in the points race. The
revamped Chase format offers a big reward for wins, and Larson was
the one doing a celebratory burnout at the end.
“Just didn't quite have it today,” Hamlin said. “We could be really
good in the long run. In the short run, the 5 was really good. The 2
was good. And we just couldn't quite hold those guys off, or keep
them close enough in the short run.”
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Kyle Larson makes a stop on pit road at the end of the first stage
during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday,
Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Persistent rain earlier in the weekend washed out
practice and qualifying, leaving the starting lineup to be set by a
combination of last week's results at Bristol and owner points. That
left Larson in the enviable spot of starting alongside Joey Logano
on the front row, and the fortunate position of having had so much
success at Kansas that missing out on practice really didn't matter.
Larson's fourth win tied Hamlin's record for the track, and he's
been first or second in seven of the past 11 races there.
“I feel like if we can just click it, we're the most comfortable on
these (mile-and-a-half tracks),” Larson said. “Man, what a day. I
thought we'd have a good shot. I didn't think we'd have a max
points-type day, so I'm just thrilled.”
Hocevar in the middle of another yellow
One week after Carson Hocevar's bump sent Ryan Blaney into the wall
at Bristol, leading to a pit-road fracas, the driver of the No. 77
Chevrolet was involved in another caution. This time, after running
near the front through the opening stage, Hocevar appeared to get
bumped from behind on a restart, sending him into Bubba Wallace in a
spin that collected several other cars.
Hocevar wound up finishing 33rd. Blaney started 25th due to the
qualifying rainout and finished fifth.
“The guy leading the points won the race. Kind of dominated,” said
Blaney, who is now 91 points back of Larson in the standings. “It is
what it is. You just have to keep grinding and working hard, and try
to get to victory lane a couple of times.”
Legacy Motor Club locks up Erik Jones
The team co-owned by Jimmie Johnson announced the signing of Erik
Jones to a multiyear extension to continue driving the No. 43
Toyota. The move provides some stability to Legacy Motor Club, which
is replacing John Hunter Nemechek with Josh Berry in the No. 42 next
season, and will have Riley Herbst driving the No. 84 that Johnson
had driven in select races.
Up next
The NASCAR Cup Series continues its stretch of three straight races
on 1.5-mile ovals with Las Vegas next Sunday. Hamlin won the race
there in March, when he overcame a pit-road speeding penalty to pick
up his first win of the season.
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