The good and the challenging from the weekend of racing at Kansas Speedway.
CHECKERED FLAGS
Kyle Larson
You might as well give it to him because he’s going to take it one way or another these days. Larson scored his ninth win of the season on Sunday and has won the first two races in the Round of 8 on his way to holding a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix.
Chase Elliott
A runner-up performance behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson keeps the defending Cup Series champ very much alive in the playoff race. It was Elliott’s ninth top-two finish of the 2021 season.
Kevin Harvick
He’s had great finishes in the playoff portion of the schedule, even though he was eliminated from the championship. Harvick’s Kansas prowess was again on display Sunday; he has finished in the first four in the last four races at the track.
Kurt Busch
The veteran is ending his tenure at Chip Ganassi Racing on a positive note with a fine run at Kansas. Busch was upfront in the closing stages and an impact player for the win until fading back for a strong fourth-place finish.
Ty Gibbs
Quite the Saturday for the young driver who started the day winning the Xfinity Series race and then wrapped up his first career ARCA Menards Series title that same evening.
BLACK FLAGS
Ryan Blaney
One of the many playoff drivers who suffered problems in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, Blaney’s accident handed him a 37th-place finish and dropped him below the elimination line.
Martin Truex Jr.
He spent 102 laps of the race one lap down and nine laps two laps down with a variety of problems but ended a three-race streak without a top-10 finish. However, Truex Jr. is on the outside looking in of the Championship 4 heading to Martinsville.
Kyle Busch
The good news is Busch is still just a point above the playoff elimination line. But the bad news was his rough day in Kansas that included a trip into the wall and led to a 28th-place finish.
Harrison Burton
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is in big trouble Xfinity Series Playoff-wise after getting involved in an accident on Saturday. Burton dropped 51 points below the elimination line after his 34th-place finish.
Noah Gragson
A similar situation for the JR Motorsports driver as Gragson’s accident on Saturday dropped him to a 35th-place finish; he is now 24 points out of the final playoff spot.
