The final race before the All-Star “break”, the NASCAR Cup Series headed to Kansas Speedway. After a string of poorly received races, the hope was that Kansas could provide a great race to curve enthusiasm. Well, that did not happen. While calling Kansas a bad race would be a drastic overstatement, the AdventHealth 400 failed to live up to the hype. Maybe fan perception is damaged from the previous 5 races of poor entertainment. However, Kansas still was an improvement upon those races. That said, what Kansas did offer was a race of comers and goers, a dominate driver, and a bit of final stage calamity. Week 11 saw some movement in the rankings. What will Kansas do the FitStop Performance 2025 Week 12 Power Rankings?
#10 – Austin Cindric
Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
Back in the power rankings for the first time since Week 2, Austin Cindric completes the Team Penske trio this week. Although he barely missed a Top-10, Cindric had a strong race. Consistently, he ran inside the Top-10. Overcoming a pit stop snafu, the 2 team managed to stay competitive. Unfortunately, their long run speed faded in the final stage, resulting in their 11th place finish.
#9 – Chris Buescher
Previous Ranking: 10
A year after heartbreak at Kansas, Chris Buescher put together a solid weekend. Of course, Saturday’s qualifying had to end like last year’s race did with Kyle Larson barely beating Buescher for the pole. On Sunday, the 17 car had the reversal of the usual RFK strength. Normally, the 17 team has great long run speed but struggles on restarts. This weekend, Buescher was better on the launch than over a long run. This explains how Buescher was the only RFK driver not score stage points despite being the only one to start inside the Top-30.
#8 – Tyler Reddick
Previous Ranking: 6
Whatever magic 23XI Racing found at Kansas in 2022 and 2023 has left the team. Bubba Wallace’s poor run largely resulted from a pit stop penalty. However, Tyler Reddick simply was not too competitive. For the majority of the race, he ran in the teens. He failed to scored points in either stage. After the strong run at Texas, the expectation was Reddick to be a contender for the win. Instead, Reddick barely contended for a Top-10.
#7 – Chase Elliott
Previous Ranking: 9
On a week where Chase Elliott finally has race winning speed, his pit crew lets him down at the worst moment. To be fair, Elliott’s pit crew did grab the 9 car the lead during the Stage 2 caution. At the end of Stage 2, Elliott looked to be the better long run car to Larson. If his pit crew could have maintained his track position, there is a shot that Elliott could have won this race. Instead, the poor track position trapped Elliott in the mid-pack.
#6 – Joey Logano
Previous Ranking: 7
A week after picking up his first win (and Top-5) of the season, Joey Logano had another good race. Outside of the caution bonanza to start the final stage, Logano never threatened to be in contention for the win. However, the 22 car was a borderline Top-5 machine, especially on the launch. Momentum seems to be picking up for Logano, as his past 3 races have seen the 22 cross the finish line in the Top-10.
#5 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 3
An early tangle with the Turn 4 wall effectively ended the day for William Byron. Flashing early speed in Stage 1, the potential for Byron went out the window once he fell a lap down. He never found himself in position to grab the lucky dog nor was there a moment to take a wave around. Byron drops a few spots this week. The question for Byron post All-Star break is whether the usual summer slump in on the horizon.
#4 – Denny Hamlin
Previous Ranking: 4
Denny Hamlin lost the clutch in the 11 car in the middle of the race. Despite this, the long run speed for Hamlin was impressive. However, the lack of clutch meant that the 11 car was a ticking time bomb. Launching after a pit stop was going to be rough on the drivetrain, which was the result of Hamlin’s DNF. Back to back mechanical issues for Hamlin ruin his last 2 weeks.
#3 – Christopher Bell
Previous Ranking: 5
Running second most of the race, Christopher Bell still never seemed to be any competition for Kyle Larson. Bell could launch relatively well, but struggled on the long run. Still, Bell picked up Top-5s in every stage of the race. Although the race winning speed was not there, it was a bit of a return to form after Texas saw pure mediocrity from the 20 team.
#2 – Ryan Blaney
Previous Ranking: 2
Remaining second in this week’s rankings, Ryan Blaney fit nicely inside the Top-5 all race long. Once again, a premier feature for the 12 team was their long run speed. However, it did not match up to other tracks where Blaney is clearly the fastest car on track after 20 green flag laps. Still, it is difficult to complain about a solid Top-5 run on a track where Ford is slowly building pace.
#1 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 1
There was no question whether Kyle Larson would remain #1 in the FitStop Performance Power Rankings this week. Larson dominated the AdventHealth 400. Scoring every possible point, Larson set a track high with 221 laps led. Statistically speaking, there was no competition for Larson. However, the 5 car was getting tracked down at the end of both stages. Plus, Larson fell to third after Chase Elliott nabbed the lead from him. If Elliott’s crew is able to execute on pit road to keep him the lead, maybe this race ends differently.
Honorable Mention
Ross Chastain – Falling out of the rankings this week, Ross Chastain ran in the mid-pack all race long. Never fell a lap down but never drove toward the Top-10.
Alex Bowman – A strong run for Alex Bowman was needed after a few weeks of bad luck. During certain portions of the race, the 48 looked to be the best Hendrick car on track.
Ryan Preece – After starting 30th, Ryan Preece quickly drove through the field and managed to pick up points in both stages before his Top-10.
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