Elliott Rises and Wins in Kansas: NASCAR Playoffs Red Hot!

Kansas City, Kan. – Chase Elliott staged an incredible comeback at Kansas Speedway, going from eighth place to the checkered flag in a two-lap overtime sprint, thus securing his place in the third round of the NASCAR playoffs. The race, with an electrifying finish, seemed destined for Denny Hamlin, who dominated the competition by leading 159 laps. However, a series of incidents in the final laps denied him what would have been his 60th career victory for Joe Gibbs Racing. The multiple yellow flags in the final stages of the race, including a slow pit stop that relegated Hamlin to seventh place, positioned Bubba Wallace for the victory. The interruption caused by Zane Smith’s rollover set up the final restart in overtime, with Wallace and Christopher Bell battling side-by-side for the win. Hamlin, coming out of nowhere, caught up to Wallace, driver for the team co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan. Wallace grazed the wall in his attempt to defend himself from his boss, at which point Elliott appeared and overtook Hamlin to secure his second victory of the season. What a crazy finish! I hope everyone enjoyed it. I certainly did.

Elliott, along with Ryan Blaney, have already secured their place in the third round of the playoffs. The group will be reduced from 12 to eight drivers after next week’s race in Concord, North Carolina. Elliott stated that, once in a winning position, he did not give up.

I wasn’t going to lift, so I didn’t know what was going to happen. In the end, it was what it was in that moment. Wherever we ended up, we’d end up. It was really cool to start eighth on the restart and somehow win with a green and white flag. Pretty good.

Chase Elliott

Hamlin, visibly disappointed after finishing second, needed the victory to secure his place in the next round. Furthermore, he aimed to reach his 60th Cup victory, but he stayed at 59.

Simply very disappointing. I wanted it a lot. It would have been 60 for me. Obviously, I got very, very tight with Wallace, and it just got very tight and we let Elliott win.

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin ran the last 50 laps with the power steering failing. Bell and Chase Briscoe, Hamlin’s teammates at JGR, finished third and fourth respectively. Wallace, despite finishing fifth and the victory would have taken him further in the playoffs than ever before, was satisfied.

To have a chance to win with the way we started… you could have fooled me. We weren’t good. Two years ago I probably would have said something stupid [about Hamlin]. He’s an idiot for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet.

Bubba Wallace

Elliott, with a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports, was the only non-Toyota driver in the top five. The next race will be an elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s hybrid oval/circuit, where Kyle Larson won last year. After next Sunday’s race, the playoff field will be reduced from 12 to eight drivers. The four drivers at risk of elimination from the playoffs are Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Reddick, and Wallace.

Obviously, there’s only one thing we can do in Charlotte (win), and that’s what we’ll focus on.

Reddick