It was a quiet yet interesting weekend at Kansas Speedway. While some drivers found joy on the prairie, others, in need of a good run, found themselves down and out when it mattered most. So, who are the biggest losers from NASCAR’s weekend at Kansas Speedway?
Another weekend and more heartbreak for Chase Elliott fans. While it looked as if the No. 9 had race-winning speed, it wasn’t the driver or his Crew Chief that ended his day; rather, it was his pit crew, giving Kyle Larson the track position to walk home the field Sunday afternoon. It may hurt that Chase didn’t win, but even more brutal was his teammate, and race winner Kyle Larson literally saying to SiriusXM that he wasn’t sure he had the best car.
During a round of stops, and after leading 29 laps, his second most this season, a slow pit stop essentially ended the day for the No. 9 team, as Kyle Larson took back over his dominant lead shortly after. This was not on Elliott nor his Crew Chief Alan Gustafson, but with a losing streak well over a year long, and another weekend choked away, when will it be time to make some changes at the No. 9 team or even HMS?
Entering this year, the story surrounding Denny Hamlin was his uncertain future. With no anchor sponsor, a new, underperforming Crew Chief, and a changing of the guard at JGR, it seemed as if time was running out for the No. 11. However, so far this year, Denny has secured that support from sponsor Progressive and is a two-race winner.
Regardless, the No. 11 team’s downfall is happening as scheduled. It was roughly this time last season that Hamlin began his losing streak, and now, Hamlin is suffering from back-to-back mechanical failures. This week, it was a broken transmission; last week, it was a blown engine. His blown engine last week was his first non-lead lap finish since Daytona last Summer, and the last time he did so back-to-back was Sonoma and Iowa.
So, is this another start to a long losing streak for Hamlin? It’s hard to tell this early on, but it’s not unlike Denny or JGR to choke away a great start to the season.
If Denny had bad luck on Sunday, his 23XI Racing team is in a similar spot. This weekend, the team was set to enter four cars for the first time, with the addition of the No. 67 for prospect Corey Heim. At a track that 23XI has historically run so well at, their prospect, in his open entry, would have the best afternoon of all.
Heim scored a career-best 13th-place finish, beating out Tyler Reddick, a championship contender and fourth-place starter, in 17th, Riley Herbst in 27th, and Bubba Wallace in 33rd.
While Wallace and Reddick have not had bad seasons by any means, this weekend showed that the team has yet to ascend to the level most thought they had last season. As most suspected, Riley Herbst’s ascent to the Cup Series has been an absolute flop, and this weekend proved that with Heim in the wings, his term at 23XI could be a short one.
It’s hard to put into words just how pathetic Brad Keselowski’s 2025 season has been. So here’s a quick look at the stats behind his 2025 downfall. Of course, this year, Brad has yet to have a top ten finish; he had five through the first twelve races last season. Furthermore, his average finish has dropped from 15.6 last year to 27.2 this season.
Brad entered this weekend with a 26.3 average finish, and it appeared this number was trending upward as he charged to the front of the pack at the start of the final stage. The No. 6 snagged second from Kyle Larson and was faster than leader Chase Elliott. This speed lasted until his right-rear tire decided the No. 6 car’s good luck was over. Knasas was Brad’s fifth finish outside the top 30 this season, and he has finished on the lead lap just twice in 2025.
Of course, we’re not calling out all NASCAR fans, but we want to mention a select few this week. In modern NASCAR, fans often complain about the lack of characters or personality on the track on any given weekend. However, one character on track this weekend received a certain amount of pushback.
As a Cup Series driver competing in the Truck Series, people were going to push back at Carson Hocevar this weekend. However, the fandom’s reaction to his actions after a hard-fought battle with Layne Riggs was once again another shining example of NASCAR fans’ indecisiveness.
We are constantly looking for drivers with outgoing personalities who are not scared of the spotlight. While Hocevar has presented himself that way, some fans continue to push back. Whether it’s flipping of Riggs or streaming iRacing during the Daytona 500 rain delay, Hocevar continues to be one of the best personalities in the garage, so for once, can we all appreciate him for that?
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