Surprisingly, regular-season champion Martin Truce Jr. found himself in a dangerous zone with seven points after falling early in Kansas due to a broken tire.
Bubba Wallace (-19pts), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-22pts) and Michael Mcdowell (-40pts) also below the cutline.
Just above the cutline are two former Cup winners, with Kevin Harvick seven points ahead of Truex and Joey Rognao.
Tyler Ledick won Kansas last weekend to advance to the round of 12 with Darlington winner Kyle Larson.
This week, NASCAR reinstated Noah Gragson, a month after he was suspended for liking posts mocking George Floyd's murder in 2020 at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Gragson has since completed his diversity and inclusion training.
NASCAR also announced the return of stage brake precautions for road courses, starting with the round of 12 cutoff race at Charlotte Rovall.
Sam Mayer announced his stay at JR Motorsports for the 2024 season in the XFINITY series.