Where All 36 Cup Drivers Stand After Kansas

RACE RESULTS: AdventHealth 400 at Kansas

Using an average of rankings between Racing America On SI’s Toby Christie, Joseph Srigley, and Zach Evans, here’s where all 36 full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers stand heading into the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

1. Kyle Larson

He led 221 of 267 laps, won Stages 1 and 2, had the Xfinity Fastest Lap, and won the race. Ain’t no way Kyle Larson was being moved from the top spot of the rankings this week. Oh, and with the win, Larson and Cliff Daniels became just the 13th driver/crew chief duo to reach 25 NASCAR Cup Series wins in history. (Previously: 1st)

2. Ryan Blaney

It’s two third-place finishes in a row and four top-fives in the last five races for Ryan Blaney. The 2023 champion has hit his stride as the summer months loom on the horizon, and now sits fifth in NASCAR Cup Series points. (Previously: 3rd)

3. Christopher Bell

After finishing second to Kyle Larson (again), Christopher Bell said that his car wasn’t exactly what he needed Sunday at Kansas Speedway. If Bell and crew chief Adam Stevens get the No. 20 team tuned up, there may be no stopping the Norman, Oklahoma-native. (Previously: 4th)

4. William Byron

A cut tire on Lap 66 derailed what was otherwise shaping up to be another decent outing for Byron. Even with a 24th-place finish at Kansas, Byron is second in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. (Previously: 2nd)

5. Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott legitimately had a shot to win this race until a sluggish pit stop late in the race mired him outside of the top 10. As has been the case so many times this season, Elliott finished 15th. (Previously: 7th)

6. Joey Logano

After just one top-10 finish in the first 10 races of the season, Joey Logano now has back-to-back top 10s. The Texas winner crossed the line ninth on Sunday at Kansas. This is great momentum before Logano hopes to claim another NASCAR All-Star Race win at North Wilkesboro. (Previously: 9th)

7. Ross Chastain

Another quiet afternoon for Ross Chastain at Kansas Speedway, although this week, the finish was barely inside the top-20. It’s definitely not what the Trackhouse Racing team is looking for, considering they won at this racetrack last Fall. (Previously: 5th)

8. Alex Bowman

Now THIS is what we needed to see from Alex Bowman, who had started to find horrible luck in recent weeks. He was a threat near the front of the field all race long, and even when he was walled by others, he kept digging. He may have been filled by attitude a bit more on the radio than usual, but it resulted in a fifth-place finish. (Previously: 15th)

9. Denny Hamlin

Back-to-back mechanical issues for Denny Hamlin have dropped the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE down to seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings. Despite having a fast racecar, the Chesterfield, Virginia-native heads into a new week with another finish outside the top-30. (Previously: 6th)

10. Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick finished 17th on Sunday, continuing a trend of finishing outside of the top 10 in every race since finishing fourth and leading 42 laps at Darlington. Reddick is still fifth in points after a strong start to the season, but undoubtedly hopes to return to that level of performance soon. (Previously: 8th)

11. Chase Briscoe

After starting at the rear of the field, Chase Briscoe managed to recover and finish fourth, matching his best finish of the year and his best-ever finish with Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s not a victory, but there’s no doubt the Mitchell, Indiana-native is making strides. (Previously: 16th)

12. Austin Cindric

Austin Cindric bounced back from a pass-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire during green-flag pit stops to finish 11th. After being mostly a superspeedway and road course specialist in his first two Cup seasons, we continue to see more and more indications that Cindric has rounded out his skillset with days like Sunday. (Previously: 11th)

13. Chris Buescher

Sure, it wasn’t the near-win that Chris Buescher had in this race a year ago, but after qualifying on the outside pole, and finishing a drama-free eighth, Buescher can begin rebuilding some momentum after three straight finishes outside of the top 10 prior to Kansas. (Previously: 21st)

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Considering the HYAK Motorsports team was dealing with potential power issues throughout the event, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. bringing the No. 47 home in 19th was a miracle, and continues the trend for the organization of chugging away with top-25 results. Leaving Kansas, Stenhouse remains inside the postseason cutline. (Previously: 14th)

15. John Hunter Nemechek

John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 team are either really, really good. Or they are really, really off. The last two weeks, they’ve been really, really good, and it’s resulted in back-to-back top 10 finishes for the second time this season. (Previously: 26th)

16. Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace ended the day with a second consecutive DNF after being swept up in a multi-car incident involving Justin Haley, Erik Jones, and Austin Dillon. Wallace nearly missed the incident before being clipped by Haley’s spinning car. Instead, it’s a second straight 33rd-place finish for Car No. 23. (Previously: 10th)

17. Ryan Preece

Preece, who has impressed all season long with RFK Racing, did so again on Sunday as he fought his way to a seventh-place finish. The driver of the No. 60 continues to try to claw back into the Playoff hunt after a DQ at Talladega. (Previously: 22nd)

18. Austin Dillon

After three straight top 10 finishes, it was back to Earth a little bit for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team this weekend at Kansas. Dillon finished 22nd, and was never really in contention for much better than that. (Previously: 12th)

19. Josh Berry

Josh Berry finished sixth in Kansas, his first top-10 finish since winning in Las Vegas. It’s hard to fathom, since Berry led laps in four of the six races between Vegas and Kansas, but the finishes just haven’t been there for one reason or another along the way. (Previously: 27th)

20. Zane Smith

Zane Smith probably had the fastest of the three Front Row Motorsports entries, running inside the top 10 for much of the afternoon, before fading to 16th in the final stage. The result was still solid for the No. 38 team, but there’s still some room for improvement. (Previously: 28th)

21. Carson Hocevar

Hocevar was poised for a top-10 finish before a tire issue in the last five laps of Sunday’s race at Kansas. Instead, he finished 22nd, two laps down on the leaders. That’s the kind of stretch it has been for Hocevar, as he’s led laps in four consecutive races but has an average finish of 16.75 in those four races. (Previously: 17th)

22. Todd Gilliland

Todd Gilliland was the highest finisher of the Front Row Motorsports threesome, coming home 12th in the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse. It’s a third straight top-20 result for Gilliland, as the series takes a week off (from points-paying events). (Previously: 25th)

23. Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch wasn’t in the mix for the win on Sunday, but he was certainly heading toward a better finish than 21st. That is until he was caught in one of the multi-car incidents on the backstretch late in the day. Fortunately, Busch was able to keep his car out of the wall, and was able to remain in the race. (Previously: 19th)

24. Ty Gibbs

The rebound for the No. 54 Toyota Camry XSE hit a bit of a snag this weekend, despite being fastest in practice. Gibbs had to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments, and really never made his way to the top half of the field, getting a pit road penalty and finishing 28th, three laps down. (Previously: 13th)

25. Michael McDowell

McDowell finished a pedestrian 23rd in Sunday’s race at Kansas, continuing his search for his first top-10 finish of the season. There are still 14 races left in the regular season for McDowell to work his way back into the playoff conversation, but his comments after Texas seem to indicate he believes he’s in a must-win situation. (Previously: 18th)

26. Daniel Suarez

It was a solid start to the weekend for Daniel Suarez, qualifying inside the top 10, but Sunday didn’t work out as well. Suarez quickly dropped outside the top-25, and was involved in a wreck during the final stage that kicked him to 34th. (Previously: 20th)

27. Noah Gragson

Another solid effort for Noah Gragson, on one of the best afternoons of the season for Front Row Motorsports. Gragson scored a top-15 result, finishing 15th after a pretty uneventful afternoon. (Previously: 31st)

28. Erik Jones

Kansas was one of those races you had circled for Erik Jones especially coming off of a fifth-place run at Texas. However, after starting 16th, Jones saw his day come to an end after failing to make minimum speed following a crash after 218 laps. (Previously: 23rd)

29. Justin Haley

Justin Haley was part of a multi-car incident on lap 213, relegating him to a 31st-place finish. The Spire Motorsports team worked hard to effect repairs and get Haley back on track, picking up a couple of spots in the final rundown. (Previously: 29th)

30. AJ Allmendinger

One week after being swept up in a multi-car incident and finishing 36th, engine woes placed A.J. Allmendinger 38th at Kansas. Allmendinger made just six laps in Sunday’s race, a bitterly disappointing day for his second straight DNF. (Previously: 24th)

31. Cole Custer

It was a quiet afternoon for Cole Custer; no incidents, no penalties, no flashy saves or displays of driving. Nothing to write home about, but a 25th-place finish isn’t the worst thing in the world. (Previously: 32nd)

32. Ty Dillon

Ty Dillon and Cody Ware made contact to set off an incident on a lap 200 restart, which was the culmination of a bad day going even worse for Dillon. He finished 35th on the day, recording his first DNF of the season. (Previously: 30th)

33. Brad Keselowski

Damn. That’s all there is to say. Brad Keselowski could have won this race. He had impressed as he climbed the scoring sheet all race long, and was in second spot, and was closing in on race leader Chase Elliott when he had a right rear tire cut down, which sent him into the outside wall. (Previously: 34th)

34. Shane van Gisbergen

The learning curve is getting flatter for Shane Van Gisbergen, who collected his third top-25 finish in the last five oval events and matched his best non-superspeedway oval finish of the season, in 20th. (Previously: 35th)

35. Riley Herbst

Riley Herbst finished 27th on Sunday at Kansas, two laps down. Both he and Ty Dillon lost several laps on a strategy gamble in the first stage and never truly recovered. (Previously: 33rd)

36. Cody Ware

Ware registered his sixth top 30 finish of the 2025 season as he finished 30th at Kansas after being sent wrecking with contact initiated from Ty Dillon on Lap 202. However, Ware was able to stay in the race and came home 30th. (Previously: 36th)

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