September 11, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Bubba Wallace collects second Cup win for the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Bubba Wallace made it a clean sweep for the No. 45 23XI Racing team at Kansas Speedway.

And for the second-straight week, a non-Playoff driver won in the postseason putting pressure on the 16 drivers vying for the title.

After his Camry came alive in the final stage of the Hollywood Casino 400, there was no stopping Wallace over the long, green-flag run.

“Man, just so proud of this team, so proud of the effort that they put in each and every week,” Wallace said after his second Cup win. “Just thankful for the opportunity, right? Took this jump from an idea two years ago from a text from Denny before it all even happened. He was ready to get the deal done. Appreciate him.

“Just so proud. Pit crew was awesome today. We had one loose wheel. Just thankful. Thanks for the opportunity, and thankful to shut the hell up for a lot of people.”

Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell finished second and third to give Toyota the podium.

“I nearly wrecked to catch him off of four,” said Hamlin, who finished one-second behind Wallace. “I got loose and hit the fence. I was driving as hard as I could. Nothing will ever come free when you are driving for me. If you think I'm going to let you win, you better get another job.

“Proud of my team. Great for Root Insurance as well. Thankful for their support. Just what a great day overall for Toyota.”

Alex Bowman, who led a race and season-best 107 laps, finished fourth followed by Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez.

NASCAR called a competition caution on lap 25 but Kevin Harvick drew the second yellow flag nine laps later. Harvick restarted sixth after the first caution. But as Logano, Chastain and Wallace were battling for third, the No. 45 Toyota slid in front of the 4 and Harvick slammed into the Turn 4 wall.

"When he came up in front of me, the nose just took off,” Harvick said.

Harvick was scored 36th, the first driver out and remains in the Playoff cellar. Polesitter Tyler Reddick was the next Playoff victim. After leading 38 laps, he hit the wall coming out of Turn 2 after his tire went down.

"We've had fast cars,” Reddick said. “We blow tires and crash them.”

Bell won the first stage and restarted third after Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell stayed out on the track. The first signs of execution issues among the Playoff drivers started under caution. Blaney had a loose wheel and was forced to return to the pits.

Ty Gibbs hit the wall coming out of Turn 2 on Lap 90. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a left rear tire go down on Lap 110 while running second. On Lap 116, Erik Jones ran into Corey LaJoie and collected Almirola and Harrison Burton in Turn 1 to trigger the seventh caution on Lap 115.

Kyle Busch, who endured a pit road penalty on Lap 112 while running third, spun off of Turn 4. He had recovered from 23rd to 12th before losing control of his car on Lap 138. Busch dropped to 30th and would finish 26th, two laps down.

Bowman had led the previous 74 laps and remained at the point to grab the Stage 2 win. The final stage began on Lap 172 with Bowman leading Wallace, Byron, Larson, Bell, Joey Logano and Hamlin. While Wallace dropped a few spots at the restart, he returned to second on Lap 180.

Over the next 20 laps, Wallace had Bowman in his sights. He went low coming out of Turn 4 and took the lead on coming to the line on Lap 200.

“We had a good day for our No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1,” Bowman said. “Proud of all of my guys. We had a good weekend - Obviously, we didn’t want to throw those stage points away in stage one like we did, but we overcame that in a hurry.

“I’m just proud of Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the guys. We had a great racecar. The last 15-laps of a run is where we would fall off and get beat, but I’m still proud of all of the guys. We ended up with a solid points day.”

With the exception of pitting on Lap 215, Wallace dominated the final 67 circuits.

“Been doing this for a really long time,” Wallace said. “I haven't won a race like that in a really long time, but just knowing getting excited is going to mess you up, so it was just cool, calm, and collected, and here we are.

“True fans that are out there, thank you, guys. I love you. It's been a tough road. You guys are the best. Let's keep this train rolling.”

Chase Elliott finished 11th followed by Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon. Logano finished 17th. Bell took of the points lead with a 10-point advantage over Byron. 

“I'm very happy that we're finally getting the results that this team deserves,” Bell said. “Our speed has been there all year, and I feel like we've given up a couple of good finishes. Last couple of weeks we've been building on it, and hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”

The No. 45 team moved up to fifth in the standings with Wallace's win. Kurt Busch, who carried the number when the car won in the spring, tweeted: We are winners again! Proud of @BubbaWallace and @23XIRacing for getting it done today.

The Cup tour moves to Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday for the third race of the Round of 16.