Hamlin Wins Kansas; Playoffs Field Set for Round of Eight

KANSAS CITY, KS – As Denny Hamlin was finishing off a dominating day in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott stole perhaps an even bigger prize: a spot in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Hamlin, who led 153 of 277 laps, crossed the finish line .128 seconds ahead of Elliott in a second overtime to secure his fifth victory of the season, his second at Kansas Speedway and the 36th of his career.

But the real suspense in the second overtime featured a three-way battle among Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano for the final two spots in the Round of 8. Logano restarted 20th in a damaged No. 22 Ford and finished 17th to secure one of the Playoff positions.

Keselowski, who entered the race with a 20-point margin over Elliott, was bottled up on the final restart, fell from 13th to 19th in the running order and lost the final Playoff berth to Elliott by three points.

Fittingly, there were two celebrations on pit road: one for the winner and one for the runner-up.

“This is a great feeling,” said Hamlin, who led Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (third) and Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) into the penultimate round of the Playoffs. “That car was awesome to dominate that whole second half.

“I have to thank everybody who pushed me on the restarts, Kyle (Busch), the 9 (Elliott) at the end. Good to see him make it by points anyway. But, hey, I’m just really happy for this whole FedEx team. It’s been great. Been running really good. Cannot wait to get to Martinsville (next Sunday’s Round of 8 opener).”

Elliott is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to transfer into the Round of 8. Teammate William Byron was fifth on Sunday but missed the next round by 16 points. Alex Bowman suffered early damage and rallied to run 11th, but he finished the race 20 points behind Elliott for the last spot.

Clint Bowyer came home eighth and was eliminated from the Playoffs in 12th place, 21 points below the cut line.

“The good news was the bottom lane rolled good enough on the last restart to at least get back to second,” Elliott said. “So I appreciate the effort. We were really struggling there at one point in the race. You have to stay fighting in these things, especially with these late-race restarts.

“Just proud of the effort today. Just excited we get to fight another race. Back up against the wall, to come out here and battle for a win, that’s what you have to do when you’re in the position that we were in.

“If you ever get to Homestead (in the Championship 4 race), you’re going to have to fight for a win down there. Proud of the effort. Learned a lot. To be able to come out here and, like I said, in our minds have to win, come and fight for one, to finish second, I think is a step in the right direction for us. So excited to move on.”

Logano won the first 80-lap stage and added four points with a seventh-place finish in the second stage to give himself the buffer he needed at the end, after spinning through the infield grass on the next-to-last lap in the first overtime, the result of a collision with the Chevrolet of Ty Dillon.

Logano, the defending series champion, finished the Round of 12 nine points ahead of Keselowski, his Team Penske teammate.

An effective charge toward the end of the race netted Kurt Busch a fourth-place finish. Truex, Erik Jones, Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Jimmie Johnson completed the top 10.

Despite an off day, Harvick cruised into the next round of the Playoffs. Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney already were locked into the Round of 8, thanks to their respective victories at Dover and Talladega.

Race Results – Annual Hollywood Casino 400

            1. (23)  Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 277.

            2. (14)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 277.

            3. (18)  Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 277.

            4. (15)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 277.

            5. (25)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 277.

            6. (11)  Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 277.

            7. (20)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 277.

            8. (21)  Clint Bowyer (P), Ford, 277.

            9. (40)  Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 277.

            10. (12)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 277.

            11. (16)  Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 277.

            12. (28)  Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 277.

            13. (26)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 277.

            14. (5)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 277.

            15. (27)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 277.

            16. (19)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 277.

            17. (29)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 277.

            18. (22)  Paul Menard, Ford, 277.

            19. (4)  Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 277.

            20. (9)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 277.

            21. (3)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 277.

            22. (24)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 276.

            23. (13)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 274.

            24. (6)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 274.

            25. (17)  Matt Tifft #, Ford, 273.

            26. (2)  David Ragan, Ford, 273.

            27. (33)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 272.

            28. (31)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 272.

            29. (32)  Parker Kligerman(i), Toyota, 271.

            30. (36)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 271.

            31. (1)  Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, Accident, 270.

            32. (8)  Daniel Suarez, Ford, Accident, 270.

            33. (34)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 268.

            34. (35)  Garrett Smithley(i), Ford, 267.

            35. (10)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, Accident, 263.

            36. (37)  Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 262.

            37. (30)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 203.

            38. (39)  Joey Gase, Toyota, Accident, 107.

            39. (38)  Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Too Slow, 95.

            40. (7)  Ryan Newman, Ford, Accident, 72.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 136.491 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 39 Secs.

Margin of Victory: .128 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 32 laps.

Lead Changes: 15 among 12 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D. Hemric # 1-4;K. Larson (P) 5-6;B. Keselowski (P) 7-8;K. Larson (P) 9-48;W. Byron (P) 49;D. Hamlin (P) 50-58;K. Larson (P) 59-76;R. Blaney (P) 77-78;J. Logano (P) 79-82;C. Elliott (P) 83-86;D. Suarez 87-92;M. Truex Jr. (P) 93-125;D. Hamlin (P) 126-218;A. Bowman (P) 219-225;R. Stenhouse Jr. 226;D. Hamlin (P) 227-277.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Denny Hamlin (P) 3 times for 153 laps; Kyle Larson (P) 3 times for 60 laps; Martin Truex Jr. (P) 1 time for 33 laps; Alex Bowman (P) 1 time for 7 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 6 laps; Chase Elliott (P) 1 time for 4 laps; Daniel Hemric # 1 time for 4 laps; Joey Logano (P) 1 time for 4 laps; Brad Keselowski (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service