RFK Racing and Chris Buescher have to be having flashbacks to last year’s Kansas race after Kyle Larson stole the pole from them. Larson was last to go in the qualifying session, and the NASCAR champion had his car on a rail.

29.391 seconds to 29.447 seconds. Funny enough, a much larger margin than Kyle Larson’s photo-finish victory over Chris Buescher in 2024. Heartbreak again for the No. 17 team, you couldn’t write it any better if you tried.

“Yeah, uh, pretty ironic, I guess to have us both on the front row here after our close finish a year ago,” Larson said after his lap. “It’s cool to finally get a poll here, too, at Kansas. I feel like I’ve just been short a number of times. I hope they still give out that pedal car because that’s what I’ve always wanted, and especially having some kids. So, I hope that’s still a thing.”

As far as the race itself, Kyle Larson expects the pace to be quick. He noted the faster times in qualifying today compared to last season’s race in the fall.

“It’s tough. It seems like the pace is a lot faster, too, throughout the round. I mean, just in qualifying, God, we’re three-quarters of a second faster than we were here in the fall with similar track conditions and temps. Yeah, the tires and the cars and setups have all gotten better, and it’s just a fast, I think it’s going to be a fast-paced race. So, we’ll see.”

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Here is the full Cup Series lineup for Sunday, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports . Fast Chevys, Fords, and Toyotas in the top-10. Who is going to come away with the win this weekend?

Kansas Speedway has put on some great races over the last few years. If there is one bright spot with the Next Gen car, it is undoubtedly the racing at this track in particular. We have seen Kyle Larson at the center of pretty much all of those races. Whether he’s going toe-to-toe with Denny Hamlin or beating Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds, he’s in the mix.

I think we could see Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick step up to take on Larson. Then again, last week’s winner, Joey Logano, showed how fast his team can be at the end of races. Now he appears to have short-run speed in that Ford Mustang. Is he turning his season around completely and winning back-to-back races?

This stretch of races in the next two months are going to be crucial. How many more wins can Kyle Larson add to his record? Will we see the championship favorites separate themselves further?