Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Kansas
By Nick Tylwalk
Martin Truex Jr. won an unusually wild Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway, but was it enough to get to the top of the Cup Series points race?
Kansas Speedway is a wide intermediate track that usually doesn’t lend itself to all-out craziness. But there are exceptions to the norm at every track, and the Go Bowling 400 featured enough wild moments to expect some shake-ups in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.
Yet Martin Truex Jr., who clearly had one of the fastest cars all evening, managed to stay out of trouble and win his second race of the year, and points leader Kyle Larson had a good enough night to remain in first place on the season as well.
The driver who suffered the most misfortune on Saturday was Chase Elliott. After running into Michael McDowell on pit road early in the race, Elliott could only manage to come home 29th.
As a result, the gap between the top three drivers and the rest of the field has widened. Only two other drivers, Truex and Brad Keselowski, are within 100 points of Larson. Until the 42 team runs into some bad luck, it’s going to be tough to see that changing.
Still, Larson could use a second win to keep pace with Truex, Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson, each of whom has two victories on the season. And drivers like Ryan Blaney, who challenged for his first career victory but didn’t have the late speed to seal the deal, will keep hoping for repeat winners so they can make the playoffs on points.
Next: Stage points widening the NASCAR Cup Series points race
In any case, the Cup Series points race continues to bring intrigue thanks to its mix of new and returning contenders, and we’re now far enough into the regular season to expect that will be the case all the way until the start of the playoffs.
2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Kansas
(11 out of 26 regular season races)
- Kyle Larson, 475 points, 1 win
- Martin Truex Jr., -44, 2 wins
- Brad Keselowski, -67, 2 wins
- Chase Elliott, -114 points
- Jamie McMurray, -121 points
- Kevin Harvick, -128 points
- Kyle Busch, -150 points
- Jimmie Johnson, -152 points, 2 wins
- Joey Logano, -155 points, 1 win (win is encumbered for playoff purposes)
- Clint Bowyer, -158 points
- Ryan Blaney, -184 points
- Denny Hamlin, -186 points
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., -199 points, 1 win
- Trevor Bayne, -225 points
- Kurt Busch, -229 points, 1 win
- Kasey Kahne, -233 points
- Ryan Newman, -237 points, 1 win
- Matt Kenseth, -242 points
- Daniel Suarez, -258 points
- Erik Jones, -258 points
- Ty Dillon, -271 points
- Austin Dillon, -282 points
- Aric Almirola, -287 points
- Paul Menard, -302 points
- Dale Earnhardt Jr., -302 points
- Chris Buescher, -320 points
- David Ragan, -331 points
- Michael McDowell, -338 points
- Cole Whitt, -339 points
- A.J. Allmendinger, -345 points
- Landon Cassill, -347 points
- Matt DiBenedetto, -352 points
- Danica Patrick, -360 points
- Corey LaJoie, -398 points
- Reed Sorensen, -419 points
- Gray Gaulding, -424 points
- Jeffrey Earnhardt, -426 points
- Michael Waltrip, -446 points
- Derrike Cope, -459 points
- D.J. Kennington, -474 points
- Cody Ware, -474 points