Larson leads Hamlin by single point in Cup Series playoffs as rainout sets Kansas starting lineup

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two of the most successful drivers at Kansas Speedway are sitting atop the Cup Series standings three races into the playoffs.

One of them is trying to win a second straight title and third overall.

The other is trying to change the narrative that he's the best driver never to have won a championship.

Kyle Larson assumed the lead by a single point over Denny Hamlin last week at Bristol , leaving the Hendrick Motorsports star with plenty of momentum as the Chase hits the first of three mile-and-a-half ovals. But Hamlin has four wins at Kansas, including a victory in the fall race last year, and the only time he hasn't been in the top 10 in the last 10 races there was a mechanical failure.

“I mean, this is important to us, for sure,” Hamlin said of the three-race stretch that continues with Las Vegas and Charlotte. “I think it's one where we need to get big point days, and win races. If we can do that, I'll feel pretty good about where we're at.”

Larson and Hamlin caught a break already this weekend when practice and qualifying was rained out Saturday.

That meant for the third time in the first four Chase races, the starting lineup was set based upon a weighted metric that combines the most recent race result with ownership points. So, both will start near the front Sunday — Larson alongside Bristol winner Joey Logano on the front row, Hamlin alongside Ty Gibbs on the fifth — without having to worry about qualifying.

And without practice, Larson and Hamlin have an advantage in that they can lean into their history of success at Kansas.

“Certainly, I feel as though I have such a good feel for this track,” Hamlin said. “I mean, biased me, I'm going to say it doesn't matter to me whether we have practice or not. We have enough notes to lean on those to be good.”

So does Larson, though. He has three wins at Kansas, all coming in his last 10 starts, and nobody has led more laps there.

He also happens to be arguably the hottest driver in the Chase, finishing in the top five in each of the first three races.

“We'll just keep plugging away,” said Larson, who snapped a 51-race winless streak a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis. "I've been really happy with the speed and especially the execution in these first three. I think they've gone pretty flawless for our team. Now we have some tracks that we probably are even more confident at than the first three, outside of Bristol.

“But yeah,” Larson said, “it's tough. It's a lot of racing. A lot of tough competitors. And just a tough, tough series.”

Logano and Larson will be on the front row Sunday, while Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar — fresh off a pit-lane fracas with Ryan Blaney — will be behind them. Logano is third in the standings, 16 points behind Larson, and Bell is another point back in fourth.

“Starting up front there, it's all about stage points,” Logano said. “Fifth place without stage points isn't that good of a day anymore, and starting up front is a big piece of getting the first stage. I think we're in a good place to do that.”

Gibbs is fifth in the standings but 42 points back, meaning he needs to start making up some ground in the playoffs.

The biggest loser in the rainout was Blaney, whose contact with Hocevar while running in the top 5 at Bristol sent him into the wall and to a 33rd-place finish. Because the most recent race is worth 70% of the formula for the metric used in a qualifying rainout, Blaney — who is 52 points behind Larson in sixth place — will have to start 25th on Sunday.

“At the end of the day, you don't want the current week to be affected by the previous results, but there's no good way to do it,” said Austin Cindric, who will start inside the sixth row. “Someone is going to be disappointed. It's a lose for everyone.”

Not surprisingly, Larson and Hamlin are co-favorites to win Sunday's race (+400), while Bell (+550) and Tyler Reddick (+600) are close behind. ... Larson won the fall race in 2021 on this way to the championship. Jimmie Johnson (2008) and Martin Truex Jr. (2017) also used Kansas wins to propel them to titles. ... Reddick won the spring race at Kansas when he passed Larson on the final lap. It was his fifth win over the first nine races of this season, but also his most recent win. ... Kansas is one of four tracks to host a Chase race every year since its inception in 2004. The others are Talladega, Martinsville and Phoenix.

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