Through eight Cup Series races, five different drivers have been the first to the checkers and positioned their teams nicely at the top of the standings.

Reigning series champion Kyle Larson is hoping it’s his turn to join that list Sunday at the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

In its effort to crown a championship by creating more competition in every race instead of a Game 7 scenario for just four drivers, NASCAR scrapped its system and revisited the “Chase” format reminiscent of 2004’s Chase for the Nextel Cup, which had 10 drivers competing in a 10-race playoff.

Some variations made their way into the new 16-race postseason, but the most significant is the 55-point reward to each race winner, a 15-point bump from 2025.

Though five drivers have won a race so far, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick has been victorious in half, owning four total victories to give him a 62-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.

Winning mattered a lot in 2025. First, it was a “win and you’re in” the playoffs, then it was tacking on postseason points with another. Finally, winning in the final three stages advanced a driver to the next one.

However, winning matters even more now and can create a gap from the pack from Race 1 to Race 36, even after a lone 26-race reset that favors the points leader.

Win a lot and a hot shoe can be in Reddick’s perch, sitting pretty in the catbird seat.

Denny Hamlin, Bristol first-time victor Ty Gibbs and Chase Elliott occupy third through fifth, which leads to the first non-winner in sixth place, Larson.

Hamlin arrives at Kansas as one of the betting favorites, but Larson appears on a quest because the Hendrick Motorsports pilot has yet to end a race as the top dog on a Cup Series Sunday.

It’s been a minute since grabbing the checkers.

Larson finds himself in a unique position Sunday: It marks the final time this regular season where he is a defending race winner. The Elk Grove, Calif., product also won at Homestead-Miami (this season’s finale) in March of 2025 and Bristol last spring.

“I feel like we’re really close, like we could have won four to five races in this time span of not winning, maybe even more,” said Larson, who has 260 points and is second to Blaney with 72 stage points. “It’s kind of wild to think it’s been almost a year since I’ve won because I don’t feel like we’re that bad. … It just hasn’t happened.”

Larson, 33, said last November’s championship in the Arizona desert made his current 32-race winless streak seem like no big deal, saying, “Ultimately, celebrating the championship in Phoenix felt like a win in a lot of ways.”

The two-time series champ does not lead single-digit laps at Kansas. Larson runs the point in chunks and is usually the guy being chased at the leaderboard’s perch.

Larson led 221 laps a year ago in his last victory and is a three-time winner at the 1.5-mile track in the past nine races.

Since 2021, his No. 5 Chevy has paced 761 circuits there, more than double that of Hamlin (337), the next highest leader.

But just leading the final one Sunday will be fulfilling.

–Field Level Media

Top-seeded Elena Rybakina escaped in a third-set tiebreaker while No. 2 Coco Gauff and No. 3 Iga Swiatek were upset victims to Karolina Muchova and Mirra Andreeva, respectively, in Friday’s quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

No. 7 Muchova saved 12 of 15 break points during a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory that marked her first win over Gauff in seven career meetings. The Czech will next face No. 4 Elina Svitolina after the Ukrainian delivered a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Czech Linda Noskova.

No. 6 Andreeva of Russia rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win to defeat Swiatek of Poland for the third consecutive time. Andreeva saved 9 of 14 break points while winning in two hours, 36 minutes.

Andreeva next faces Rybakina, who staved off a second match point against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez as part of winning the final three points to score a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory. Rybakina had a 7-6 edge in aces and hit 51 winners while winning in three hours, two minutes.

Rouen Metropolitan Open

Teenage qualifier Veronika Podrez of Ukraine reached the semifinals in her first main-draw tournament by rolling to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Brit Katie Boulter in Rouen, France.

Podrez, 19, had 28 winners against 11 unforced errors while finishing off Boulter in 78 minutes. Podrez’s semifinal opponent will be second-seeded Sorana Cirstea after the Romanian registered a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Anna Bondar of Hungary.

Top-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Tatjana Maria of Germany will meet in the other quarterfinals. Kostyuk ousted Ann Li 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3, while Maria beat Belarus’ Iryna Shymanovich 7-6 (5), 6-2.

–Field Level Media

Illinois standout guard Andrej Stojakovic said Friday he is returning to the Fighting Illini for the 2026-27 season.

Stojakovic posted the news on his Instagram account, asking, “Did I make you nervous?” In an attached video, he lowers a newspaper then lowers his sunglasses and says, “I’m back.”

His return is a crucial one for an Illini squad that reached the Final Four before losing to UConn. Illinois went 28-9 this season and figures to be among the top five ranked teams in next season’s preseason poll, depending how the transfer portal and NBA declarations shake out nationally in upcoming weeks.

The 6-foot-7 Stojakovic averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 34 games despite missing some time with an ankle injury.

It was his first season at Illinois after one-season stints with Stanford (2023-24) and Cal (2024-25). Stojakovic averaged 17.9 points in his one season with the Golden Bears before transferring again.

Stojakovic has career averages of 12.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 95 games (59 starts). He has made 95 3-pointers to go with 53 blocked shots and 49 steals.

–Field Level Media