Kansas winners and losers

Take a look at the winners and losers after Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway:

Kurt Busch — Kurt Busch’s Kansas triumph was significant in a number of ways. In addition to scoring his first win at the 1.5-mile speedway, Busch brought home a trophy for 23XI Racing, the organization’s second victory in addition to Bubba Wallace‘s Talladega win in October 2021. That makes team co-owner Michael Jordan a multiple-race winner in NASCAR with the Jordan Brand covered across the No. 45 Toyota in Victory Lane. It also signifies the team is capable of winning when the pit crew has a clean day, which has not been a guarantee in the team’s first year as a multi-car organization. Suddenly, Busch is in the playoffs again and has some room to breathe over the second half of the regular season.

Denny Hamlin — One of the only people happier about Busch’s win was the team’s other co-owner, Hamlin. In addition to a fourth-place finish — only his second top 10 of the season — Hamlin saw the fruits of his team’s labor come to fruition when Busch took the checkered flag. Hamlin was emotional after the race: “Certainly, there’s been no win that I’ve had that has equaled the emotions of this one for sure.” Starting from the rear after replacing the diffuser Saturday, Hamlin drove to 11th in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2 before notching a top five.

Christopher Bell — Bell was on the receiving end of some good luck Sunday. When Daniel Suarez spun at Lap 62 with a left rear tire flat, Bell was leading the race — and suffering a flat of his own. Bell nursed the car to pit road, then rallied back to finish fifth for his third top five of the year and sixth top 10 in the past eight races.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Stenhouse could hardly buy a good finish