Today, NASCAR heads to the southwest to Kansas City, Missouri for the second stop in the Round of 12, the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Last week, Ryan Blaney managed to hold off Josh Berry to win and advance to the Round of 8. Today, another Playoff spot loomed and hungry drivers were ready to do whatever it takes to secure their spot in the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs. A lot of eyes were on the bubble drivers today. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, and Bubba Wallace all entered Kansas below the cutline. Surprisingly, the two 23XI drivers were in the worst shape following an abysmal race at New Hampshire. Were they able to bounce back today and dig themselves out of the hole they found themselves in?
Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, the Hendrick teammates of William Byron and Kyle Larson were looking good, both being over 40 points above the cutline. All they needed today was a clean, uneventful race. How’d they do? And who might need to win next week at the Roval? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
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Just shy of the 50 laps to go mark, we had our first big incident involving a couple of Playoff drivers. The incident occurred on a restart following a brief caution caused by the spin of J. J. Yeley. In mid pack, we had a big stack-up where Noah Gragson bounced off Playoff driver Joey Logano and ricocheted to turn Logano’s Penske teammate, Austin Cindric. As Cindric spun, he collected Joey Logano, Rickey Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Dillon. Also receiving minor damage in the wreck was Playoff driver Ross Chastain. With this incident, Cindric lost his power steering.
Also, during this incident, Denny Hamlin reported that he, too, was having a power steering issue. At the time, he led the race and did not come down pit road to address the issue. The race restarted with 46 laps remaining. On the restart, Denny Hamlin was able to fend off his JGR teammate, Christopher Bell, and his 23XI driver, Bubba Wallace. According to the radio communication of the 11 team, power steering was still a huge issue, and the handling of his Sports Clips Toyota was starting to go away. Still, the No. 11 car remained out front, ahead of Bell by 0.75 seconds. As the laps were winding down, drivers started to push their machines to the limit. A number of drivers got into the wall, including the Kyles of Busch and Larson, trying to get every little out of their hotrods.
The caution came out with 15 laps to go for debris. The debris in question seemingly came from the No. 8 car of Kyle Busch as he got into the wall again, causing a flat. During the caution, the field came down pit road. Hamlin had issues on pit road, causing him to lose six spots. His chances to win were effectively over at that point. Christopher Bell won the race off of pit road with Bubba Wallace coming out behind him. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott took four tires on his stop. He was hoping to make up the difference in a hurry.
The race restarted, and it was a mess up front. Bubba and Bell battled hard, running side-by-side for several laps. Meanwhile, Hamlin was desperately trying to make up the ground he’d lost. The caution came out again when Carson Hocevar spun. This put us into NASCAR Overtime.
The race restarted for our first overtime attempt–a two-lap shootout to decide the next driver to advance to the Round of 8. Bell got a great jump but Bubba battled back on the inside. Behind them, Briscoe came into the picture. They almost came together and somehow managed to keep it straight. Coming out of turn four to take the white flag, Bubba ran Bell wide up the track. As that was going down, he had a huge wreck between John Hunter Nemechek and pushed Zane Smith up against the wall. Smith turned on his side and flipped upside down, tumbling down the track. Also involved in the aftermath was last week’s runner-up, Josh Berry. Check out the madness!
This insane incident triggered a red flag. After an extensive cleanup, we restarted. Again, Bubba, Bell, and Briscoe were in a three-wide battle for the lead. Bell and Bubba made contact, opening the door for a horde of drivers behind, including Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott. On the last lap, Denny Hamlin, with no power steering, ran Bubba high. Bubba got into the wall and Hamlin had to lift. This allowed Chase Elliott to snake his way through the chaos and score the victory. This was his second year on the year and it locked him into the Round of 8!
For the seventh time this season, driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Chase Briscoe, led the field to the green flag. Briscoe led the first 19 laps of the race before being passed by teammate Denny Hamlin. Meanwhile, the Hendrick duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott flexed some muscle early, challenging Hamlin for the race lead. However, Hamlin continued to hold them off. He managed to survive a cycle of green flag pit stops as well as an early crash by Cody Ware, which triggered the first caution of the day, to stay in the lead. Hamlin went on to win the stage after a very controversial start to the Round of 12 when he tangled last week with teammate Ty Gibbs.
Of the top 10 in the stage, perhaps the most notable is Joey Logano. Logano started today’s race in the back of the pack but somehow managed to use pit strategy and his speed to work his way up to seventh. This earned him a chunk of stage points, which he desperately needed to keep his playoff hopes alive.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The JGR drivers of Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell continued their dominance in the second stage. Hamlin was able to once again survive green flag pit stops and, by the end of the stage, had extended his lead over bell to 1.5 seconds. The driver of the No. 11 continued making the statement that this was his year. He went on to win the stage, making for a clean sweep to maximize points.
It should be noted that Bubba Wallace earned stage points in this stage. He desperately needs them as he was in a deficit heading into today’s race.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
These drivers have clinched berths into the Round of 8 by securing wins during the Round of 12. Ryan Blaney locked himself in by winning last week at New Hampshire. This week at Kansas, Chase Elliott won, securing a spot in the next round.
The following drivers are currently above the cutline heading into the final race in the Round of 12 next week at the Charlotte Roval. William Byron and Kyle Larson are sitting pretty well and just need a clean race next week. However, other’s might need to win in order to be completely safe.
That does it for our coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway! What did you think about this wild race? I’m sure Elliott Nation is thrilled today. Are you heartbroken for Bubba Wallace? How is your Playoff bracket doing? Who do you have moving on to the Round of 8 following next week’s race at the Roval? Let us know what you think!
And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com for all the latest news and stories straight out of the NASCAR garage as we gear up for the Charlotte Roval!
