The 16 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs were frozen out of victory lane for the second straight week as non-playoff participant Bubba Wallace won Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.
Wallace had 32 starts between his first career win at Talladega Superspeedway last October and Sunday’s victory. He becomes the first Black driver to own two wins in the Cup Series.
Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman made big jumps in the playoff point standings, while Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick endured significant drops.
Winners and losers at Kansas:
WINNERS
Bubba Wallace — Wallace’s success has been criticized by certain corners of the NASCAR fan base because his first win came in a rain-shortened race. He took care of that lingering issue Sunday with a dominant win, leading the final 43 laps. Interestingly, Wallace carried the car number 45 to a bit of history. Kurt Busch won in the No. 45 earlier this year. Wallace’s win made the 45 the first number to be driven to victory by different drivers at the same track in the same season for the first time since David Pearson and A.J. Foyt drove the No. 21 to wins at Daytona International Speedway in 1972.
Christopher Bell — Bell’s third-place finish Sunday boosted him into the playoff point lead and also guaranteed him a spot in the Round of 12. He leads the points by 10 over second-place William Byron.
Denny Hamlin — Hamlin was a double winner — of sorts — Sunday. Bubba Wallace drove a Hamlin-owned car to victory, and Hamlin was next best, finishing second to Wallace. Hamlin stayed in third place in the point standings.
Alex Bowman — Bowman was a bit of a showman Sunday, leading a race-high 107 laps, finishing fourth and gaining four spots in the point standings to sixth.
LOSERS
Kevin Harvick — The first round of the playoffs has been nasty for Harvick. He left the opening race at Darlington after his car caught on fire. At Kansas, he finished last after slamming the wall early in the race in tight traffic. He’ll be looking for a saving win at Bristol.
Tyler Reddick — Reddick absorbed the day’s biggest drop in points among the playoff contenders, plummeting six positions to 11th after finishing next-to-last.
Kyle Busch — Busch had misadventures along pit road and on track, losing control of his car and sliding across the grass adjacent to the apron. He finished the race but wound up 26th, two laps down. He is 13th in points, one position below the cutoff line.
