Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Kansas

Kansas Speedway
Sunday, Sept. 28
1.5-Mile Tri-Oval
3 PM ET
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 31 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 7th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 3rd

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet

  • Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team enters the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 in third place, 41 points above the cutline.
  • Larson is one top-10 finish away from 200 NASCAR Cup Series top 10s and is two away from his 100th with Hendrick Motorsports.
  • With three, Larson is the only repeat winner in the last 10 races at Kansas Speedway.
  • The Elk Grove, California, native needs to lead 26 more laps to become the all-time leader at the track (950).
  • The 33-year-old has finished in the top 10 in seven of the last eight Kansas races including three wins. He led 221 laps in his victory there in May, the most ever led by a driver at the track.
  • In nine Kansas races with Hendrick Motorsports, Larson has an average finish of 7.1, including all three of his wins at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. In addition, he has six top fives and seven top 10s.
  • Since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, Larson ranks first or tied for first at Kansas in wins (three), runner-up finishes (tied with two), top fives (tied with six), top 10s (tied with seven), laps led (760) and races led (tied with seven).

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 29 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 5th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 7th

No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet

2025Cup CareerKansas
Races3035219
Wins1201
Poles0120
Top 591137
Top 101518612
Laps Led4005,926278
Stage Wins1392
Average Finish12.512.914.6
  • Following his fifth-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott is seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings, 14 markers above the cutline with two races left in the Round of 12. Elliott has advanced to the Round of 8 in his last seven playoff appearances.
  • This weekend, the series heads to Kansas Speedway where Elliott was victorious in the fall of 2018. The 2020 Cup Series champion finished inside the top 10 in four out of the last five races there.
  • Elliott’s seven top-five finishes at Kansas are his third most at a track behind 10 at Dover Motor Speedway and eight at Martinsville Speedway. His 12 top 10s are his second most at a track behind 13 at Martinsville.
  • Since 2021, Elliott has led the fourth-most laps (133) at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. The 29-year-old driver has the best average finish (10.37) among current drivers with six or more starts.
  • In his most recent start at Kansas, Elliott earned 40 points, fourth most among remaining playoff drivers. He led 29 laps and finished second in both of the first two stages.
  • This season on 1.5-mile ovals, Elliott has earned the third-most points (155). His best finish of sixth on this style track came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 27 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 3rd (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 2nd

No. 24 Cincinnati Chevrolet

2025Cup CareerKansas
Races3028215
Wins2150
Poles2151
Top 510643
Top 10141188
Laps Led9153,893160
Stage Wins7302
Average Finish13.615.014.5
  • After the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12, William Byron is in second, 47 points above the cutline. He needs just 19 points this weekend at Kansas Speedway to clinch a spot in the Round of 8.
  • Byron holds the second- and third-best average finish all time in the Round of 12 at 1.67 (2023) and 2.67 (2024).
  • So far in 2025, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has led the second-most laps (915) and run the most laps in the top five (3,240) as well as the top 10 (4,753). In addition, Byron has an average running position of 10.58, also best of the field.
  • In 2025 on 1.5-mile tracks, Byron has scored 189 points, led 316 laps and has three stage wins, all second to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson.
  • Since 2023 across 19 starts on 1.5-mile circuits, Byron has two wins, 11 top-five finishes and 14 top 10s, most by any driver. His average finish of 7.32 bests the field.
  • In the Next Gen car at Kansas Speedway, Byron has spent the fourth-most laps in the top five (605).
  • Earlier this year, Byron was running second at Kansas before a flat tire ended his day. In last year’s playoff event at Kansas, he secured a runner-up result, his best career showing at the venue.

48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 32 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 15th (New Hampshire)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 13th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet

2025Cup CareerKansas
Races3035519
Wins080
Poles270
Top 56464
Top 101511111
Laps Led1651,533191
Stage Wins072
Average Finish16.919.114.2
  • Alex Bowman owns 15 top-10 finishes in 2025, tying his career-best mark through 30 races.
  • The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet has finished 11th or better in nine of the last 15 races and is only one of seven drivers to score multiple poles in 2025.
  • At Kansas Speedway, Bowman has earned 11 career top-10 finishes, his most at any track. He has finished in the top 10 in his last six Kansas starts, marking the longest top-10 streak of his career at a single venue.
  • Bowman’s average finish of 14.2 at Kansas ranks as his best among ovals where he has made at least three starts.
  • For the Best Friends Animal Society programming, Ally and Bowman will be partnering with Great Plains SPCA located in Merriam, Kansas, as their selected shelter for this weekend.

Hendrick Motorsports

2025All-TimeKansas
Races301,41139
Wins6318*10*
Poles5258*7*
Top 5361,315*49*
Top 1061*2,248*90*
Laps Led2,423*84,735*2,462*
Stage Wins17*13211*

*Most all time
**Tied for most all time

  • Hendrick Motorsports engines have won 21 poles (seven in the NASCAR Cup Series, 14 in the Xfinity Series) and 25 races (six in Cup, 18 in Xfinity and one in the preseason Clash) in 2025 and have powered teams to 40 points-paying Cup Series victories in the Next Gen era, the most of any organization.
  • Hendrick Motorsports has led 2,423 laps through 30 events this year, accounting for 31% of all circuits completed in the Cup Series and 450 more than any other team.
  • With 17, the organization leads the series in stage wins. That total is the team’s second most through a season’s first 30 races.
  • Hendrick Motorsports has had at least one driver finish in the top 10 in 29 of 30 races in 2025.
  • The organization is the all-time leader in wins (10), poles (seven), top fives (49), top 10s (90), laps led (2,462) and stage wins (11) at Kansas Speedway. At least one Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has finished in the top two in six of the last eight events at the 1.5-mile tri-oval and the company has had multiple top-10 finishers in 14 straight. That’s the longest such streak all time at Kansas.
  • At least one Hendrick Motorsports driver has visited victory lane in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 in each of the last five seasons. The company’s seven victories in the Round of 12 during the stage-racing era are the most.

QUOTABLE /

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on Kansas Speedway: “Kansas is probably statistically one of our strongest tracks as a team. We got a win there earlier this year, which is great, so we have a great setup for those mile-and-a-half tracks. It’s a great track, it wears the tires out, so I feel like you really have to manage your tires. For the most part, everyone runs the top, but I feel like at the end of the run you can kind of move around and find some grip. It’s probably our best track for Next Gen racing because of the options, we all really enjoy going to Kansas.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on Kansas Speedway: “It’s probably been the best track, I would say, for the Next Gen car in terms of just putting on a good race. Kansas (Speedway) and (Las) Vegas (Motor Speedway) and just all those race tracks that you can enter in different lanes and have a fresh lane of air to not have to enter right behind somebody to get the perfect line around there. It ends up being a pretty good race. All the tracks that we end up having to kind of follow right in line with corner entry, those tend to be the ones that get complained about the most, and certainly Kansas is not one of those.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on Kansas Speedway: “I’m always cautiously optimistic about going to Kansas (Speedway). We always seem to run well there but at the same time have had some issues out of our control as well. I feel like we don’t want to get our hopes up too much because the script can flip easily, but if we show up and execute, we should have a really solid weekend and run up front.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on going to Kansas Speedway: “Kansas (Speedway) has been a really good place for us the last few years. We’ve had a lot of solid runs there, and it’s a track that fits my driving style pretty well. If we can keep doing what we’ve been doing and clean up a few little things, I think we’ll have a shot to run up front.”

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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