As NASCAR hopscotches across the country from one playoff venue to the next, the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
Here’s a look at who has some extra baggage after Kansas and who shed some baggage heading to the middle race of the second round (NBC’s coverage from Talladega begins at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday):
Kyle Larson
At least Larson’s humor remained Sunday. He crashed at Atlanta in the opening race of the first round. The opener of the second round didn’t start much better. Larson cut a tire and hit the wall Sunday at Kansas.
So, how did he describe his Kansas race?
“Better than Atlanta,” he told NBC Sports.
He’s right.
#NASCAR … Kyle Larson on his day at Kansas … “better than Atlanta.” pic.twitter.com/IdsnXdagOT
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) September 30, 2024
At Atlanta, Larson finished 37th and scored one point, falling out of the points lead to 10th.
At Kansas, he came back after falling off the lead and finished 26th on a day he made 13 pit stops — most for repairs. Larson dropped from the points lead to fourth. He’s 18 points above the cutline.
Now comes Talladega and a drafting style track. Larson has said he’s gotten better at the style of racing seen at Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta. But he has not finished in the top 10 in his last 14 starts at a drafting track, dating back to April 2022 at Talladega.
In nine of the 11 drafting races since last year, Larson has been involved in an accident. Five of those times he was running in the top 10. Four times he was in the top five.
“At some point,” crew chief Cliff Daniels told NBC Sports after Kansas, “the law of averages is going to work out for us where we’re running in the top 10 and we won’t get wrecked and we’ll come home with a top-10 day at a speedway. That’s on the horizon. We’ll keep trying to control what we can control.”
How Larson gets through Talladega will be key after only scoring 11 points at Kansas.
“The playoffs, you’ve just kind of got to fight through every round,” Larson said. “We’re definitely being tested so far.”
Alex Bowman
The playoffs started with Alex Bowman denying rumors he was going to be out of the No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports after this season. Car owner Rick Hendrick later confirmed that Bowman would be back in the car next year.
Bowman responded to the drama by scoring the most points in the first round.
Sunday, he finished sixth. His 43 points were the fourth-most scored in the race. That moved him from below the cutline to sixth in the standings. He’s eight points above the cutline.
Bowman has three top 10s in the four playoff races. That’s his best stretch of finishes since May.
Also key is that he’s scored points in each stage of all four playoff races. No one else has done that. This is the first time he’s scored points in each stage in four consecutive races this season — his previous best streak was two races in a row.
“We’ve had a little better pace in the playoffs than where we were prior and it’s made my job a little easier,” Bowman told NBC Sports after Kansas. “We’re not perfect by any means. We’ve got a lot that we need to improve on. We’re kind of headed in the right direction right and doing the right things.”
William Byron
Kansas was a big day for Byron. The Daytona 500 winner looks to carry that momentum through Talladega.
After winning three of the first eight races this season, the No. 24 team has had its ups and downs. Sunday showed what this team can do. Byron won a stage, scored a race-high 17 stage points and finished second. He scored a race-high 52 points to take the points lead heading into Talladega.
“These guys have been working hard,” Byron said of his Hendrick Motorsports team. “We’ve just got to keep putting weeks together like this.”
That’s been the issue. He’s finished back-to-back race in the top 10 only once since June. Talladega might be the perfect place for him.
Byron ranks third among playoff drivers in points scored on drafting tracks this season at 166. He trails only Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric (181 points) and Ryan Blaney (169).
Denny Hamlin
It was a frustrating day at Kansas for Hamlin, who lost several spots on pit road.
He gave up 11 positions during a stop at Lap 101 when the right rear had to be tightened.
Hamlin had to return to pit road on Lap 148 to tighten a wheel, going from sixth to 31st.
He lost 11 positions during a slow stop at Lap 240 that dropped him to 16th.
“They know that today was one of their worst days ever and they’ll work to clean it up,” Hamlin said after the race.
#NASCAR … Denny Hamlin on his frustrating day at Kansas pic.twitter.com/47QWUUs6G4
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) September 29, 2024
Hamlin finished eighth in a race instead of having a chance at the win.
“We just missed an opportunity,” crew chief Chris Gabehart told NBC Sports.
Still, the team moved up to fifth in the points. Hamlin is 11 points above the cutline. But it could have been better.
“We at a minimum gave up eight or 10 points and no question gave up a shot to race for the win,” Gabehart said.
The beauty of a 36-race season is another race is only days away. The crew will get a chance to redeem itself at Talladega.
Hamlin also is looking for better fortune. He has scored the fewest points among the remaining playoff drivers in races on a drafting track this season. He has scored 59 points. Next lowest among playoff drivers is Chase Briscoe with 86 points.
Ross Chastain
After winning at Kansas, Chastain could be looked upon as more of a helper for teammate Daniel Suarez or a Chevrolet playoff driver at Talladega.
The emphasis at Talladega for the manufacturers often has been to ensure their playoff cars run well and one wins to advance to the next round. Since he’s not in the playoffs, Chastain’s victory at Kansas meant no one has advanced to the next round yet.
In last year’s playoff race at Talladega, Riley Herbst, a non-playoff driver, helped push fellow Ford racer Ryan Blaney to the win, moving Blaney a round closer to winning the championship.
Of course, on the last lap, anything goes.
“If we can help (Suarez) along the way in the draft, then that’s what we’re going to do,” said Phil Surgen, crew chief for Chastain. “But, you know, our focus is on winning at Talladega.”