Truck Series Preview Saturday, September 26, 2026

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Race at Kansas

Kansas Speedway

Laps 134 Distance 201 mi Type intermediate Coverage FS1 · 1:00 PM ET

1.5

asphalt

Surface

Race Date

Saturday, September 26, 2026

1:00 PM ET

Pre-Race Race Day Post-Race

The Hook

Your watchlist, historical context, and race-week curiosities.

Your Drivers' Outlook

Historical Context

Denny Hamlin has 40 starts at Kansas Speedway with 5 wins and a 12.4 average finish.
Chase Briscoe has 17 starts at Kansas Speedway with 1 win and a 15.0 average finish.
Ryan Blaney has 28 starts at Kansas Speedway with a 14.3 average finish.

Based on Truck Series results at Kansas Speedway from 1995-2026.

The Story

The narrative arc, drivers to watch, and race-weekend color.

The Data

Schedule, predictions, entry list, track history, fantasy, and betting angles.

TV & Start Time

What channel is the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Race at Kansas on?

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Race at Kansas airs on FS1 on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET, broadcast from Kansas Speedway. Every 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race airs on FS1, available through cable, satellite, and live-TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and fuboTV.

What time does the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race start today?

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Race at Kansas green flag is set for 1:00 PM ET on Saturday, September 26, 2026, airing on FS1. All NASCAR start times are listed in Eastern Time.

NR-Rating Track Rankings

#	Driver	Badge	Elo Rating	Starts	Wins	Last Finish
1	Denny Hamlin	Prev Winner	1679	28	4	P4(2026)
2	Chase Briscoe		1605	11	0	P3(2026)
3	Chris Buescher		1579	21	0	P10(2026)
4	Ryan Blaney		1568	23	0	P24(2026)
5	Chase Elliott	Prev Winner	1560	21	2	P8(2026)
6	Christopher Bell		1559	13	0	P20(2026)
7	William Byron		1555	17	0	P7(2026)
8	Tyler Reddick	Prev Winner	1544	14	2	P1(2026)
9	Bubba Wallace	Prev Winner	1544	17	1	P5(2026)
10	Daniel Suarez		1526	19	0	P19(2026)

NR-Rating: Elo-based rating from the NR-Rating prediction model. Higher = stronger at this track type. = Previous winner at this track

NR-Rating Predictions

Last updated: Sun, Aug 16, 2026, 07:09 AM ET

#	Driver	Tier	Exp. Finish	Win %	Top 5 %	Top 10 %
1	Denny Hamlin Best in Field	Favorite	6.2	18.2%	58.6%	76.5%
2	Chase Briscoe	Favorite	7.8	17.8%	58.4%	76.5%
3	Ryan Blaney	Favorite	8.2	16.3%	55.9%	74.6%
4	Chris Buescher	Favorite	9.2	15.4%	54.1%	72.9%
5	Christopher Bell	Favorite	9.2	12.8%	49.3%	69.3%
6	Chase Elliott	Favorite	10.1	11.0%	46.4%	67.2%
7	Ty Gibbs	Contender	10.7	9.9%	43.9%	65.4%
8	William Byron	Contender	10.7	8.7%	41.6%	63.4%
9	Tyler Reddick	Contender	11.2	7.7%	38.1%	60.3%
10	Joey Logano	Contender	11.9	6.7%	35.8%	58.9%
11	Daniel Suarez	Contender	12.7	5.5%	33.7%	57.5%
12	Bubba Wallace	Contender	12.7	5.2%	31.7%	56.0%
13	Kyle Larson	Contender	13.1	4.5%	28.6%	53.7%
14	Carson Hocevar	Contender	13.2	3.9%	26.3%	50.8%
15	Ryan Preece	Mid-Pack	13.3	3.6%	24.9%	50.1%
16	Ross Chastain	Mid-Pack	14.5	3.1%	21.7%	47.6%
17	Erik Jones	Mid-Pack	14.7	2.8%	19.3%	44.4%
18	Austin Cindric	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.2%	16.4%	40.4%
19	Brad Keselowski	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.2%	16.4%	40.4%
20	Alex Bowman	Mid-Pack	16.2	1.7%	13.6%	36.6%
21	Michael McDowell	Mid-Pack	16.9	1.3%	12.4%	34.0%
22	A.J. Allmendinger	Mid-Pack	17.1	0.9%	10.1%	30.1%
23	Shane van Gisbergen	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.7%	8.9%	27.7%
24	John Hunter Nemechek	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.7%	8.1%	25.7%
25	Zane Smith	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.5%	7.3%	24.6%
26	Todd Gilliland	Mid-Pack	19.1	0.5%	6.6%	22.7%
27	Casey Mears	Dark Horse	19.1	0.5%	6.1%	21.9%
28	Austin Dillon	Dark Horse	19.9	0.4%	5.5%	20.9%
29	Riley Herbst	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	5.0%	19.7%
30	Kevin Magnussen	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.7%	18.4%
31	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.6%	18.6%
32	Jimmie Johnson	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.1%	16.9%
33	Josh Berry	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.4%	13.1%
34	Noah Gragson	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.0%	11.0%
35	Cole Custer	Dark Horse	22.0	0.1%	2.0%	11.7%
36	Ty Dillon	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	1.9%	10.4%
37	Katherine Legge	Dark Horse	22.2	0.1%	2.1%	12.0%
38	B.J. McLeod	Dark Horse	24.7	0.1%	1.3%	7.8%
39	Connor Zilisch	Dark Horse	26.1	0.0%	0.5%	5.3%
40	Cody Ware	Dark Horse	57.0	0.0%	0.1%	1.3%

Win probabilities reflect full-field Monte Carlo simulations. A 10% pWin means roughly 1-in-10 chance of winning, higher than most bettors realize for a 36-car field where the average driver has ~2.8% odds. Top 5 and Top 10 percentages similarly reflect simulated outcomes, not historical averages. Learn how the model works.

Predictions powered by NR-Rating model (MAE: 8.5 positions)

Prediction Scorecard

Anduril 250: Model picked Chase Elliott at P1 → Actual P12

(1/5 top-5 hits)

37% top-5 hit rate across 13 races

History at Kansas Speedway

Truck Series data from 1995-2026 (19 races)

Recent Results

Year	Race	Winner	Margin	Laps Led
2025	NASCAR Truck Series at Kansas	Carson Hocevar	—	75
2024	NASCAR Truck Series at Kansas	Corey Heim	—	64
2024	NASCAR Truck Series at Kansas	Corey Heim	—	79
2023	NASCAR Truck Series at Kansas	Christian Eckes	—	2
2023	NASCAR Truck Series at Kansas	Grant Enfinger	—	65

All Results at This Track

2025 Hocevar 2024 Heim 2024 Heim 2023 Eckes 2023 Enfinger 2022 Nemechek 2022 Smith 2021 Busch 2020 Moffitt 2020 Crafton 2020 Hill 2019 Chastain 2018 Gragson 2017 Busch 2016 Byron 2015 Crafton 2014 Busch 2013 Crafton 2012 Buescher

Laps Led Leaders

Driver	Total Laps Led
Kyle Busch	277
Corey Heim	266
Carson Hocevar	135
Grant Enfinger	134
Matt Crafton	134

Track Type Tendencies

intermediate

Intermediate tracks like Kansas Speedway reward the complete package: car setup, pit strategy, and driver consistency all factor in. These are the races where elite teams separate themselves.

Track position and tire management are critical, especially in long green-flag runs.