NASCAR viewer’s guide for Kansas Speedway

The first round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs continues this weekend at Kansas Speedway after a historic start to the championship run last Sunday at Darlington Raceway.

Erik Jones won the Southern 500 at Darlington, becoming the first non-playoff driver to win the playoff opening race since the debut of the NASCAR postseason in 2004.

A fourth-place run at Darlington boosted Joey Logano into the playoff standings lead, and a last-place finish dropped Chase Elliott from first to ninth.

Sunday’s race (3 p.m. ET) will be televised by the USA Network. Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series races also are scheduled at Kansas.

When the checkered flag fell Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, the playoff standings immediately looked very different from their appearance at the beginning of the race.

For example, 15 of the 16 drivers in the standings changed position. Kyle Busch, who was 11th entering the race and 11th after the race, was the only driver who stayed in the same spot.

The biggest mover was Chase Elliott, whose last-place finish at Darlington dropped him eight spots to ninth in the standings. Kevin Harvick dropped seven places to 16th. Christopher Bell showed the biggest gain, moving from 10th to fourth.

Drivers below the cutoff line entering Kansas are Austin Cindric (-2), Austin Dillon (-4), Chase Briscoe (-10) and Harvick (-13).

Christopher Bell is upwardly mobile as the playoffs move on to Kansas.

He gained six positions in the standings with a fifth-place run at Darlington and trails only Joey Logano, William Byron and Denny Hamlin on the playoff leaderboard. One of three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the playoffs, Bell is making a serious run at a first championship.

Bell’s 15 top-10 finishes this year are