Chase Elliott steals NASCAR Cup Playoff win at Kansas Speedway
Photo by Todd Surprise
KANSAS CITY, Kansas—In the last few feet of race track in the second overtime Sunday afternoon, Chase Elliott came from oblivion to steal the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET and earn a berth in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
As his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sped wide open through the final corner on Lap 273 at Kansas Speedway, Elliott’s car bounced off the side of Denny Hamlin’s Toyota on the way to the finish line.
Elliott, who restarted eighth for the final two-lap shootout, got to the stripe 0.069 seconds ahead of Hamlin, who led 159 laps and drove the final stretch of the second Round of 12 Playoff race without benefit of power steering.
“Everything worked out perfect for me,” said Elliott, who picked up his second win of the season, his second at Kansas and the 21st of his career. “Had a great push through (Turns) 1 and 2. That kind of all started with the 6 (Brad Keselowski). Big run off of 2. Seas kind of parted and just was able to keep my momentum up. That was really it…
“I wasn’t going to lift, so I didn’t know what was going to happen. I figured at the end of the day, it was what it was at that point. We were both wide open corner exit. Wherever I ended up, I ended up. At that point, we were all committed.”
Hamlin was spent after man-handling his car around the 1.5-mile track in the closing laps of the race.
“Just super disappointing,” said Hamlin, who swept the first and second stages. “I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 (career victories) for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car, just really, really fast.
“Gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. Just couldn’t finish it there on the last corner.”
The good news for Hamlin is that he increased his margin over the current Playoff cut line to 48 points entering next Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Barring disaster, Hamlin is all but assured of advancing to the Round of 8.
Christopher Bell finished third, followed by pole winner Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace, who led the field to green for the final overtime restart but faded to fifth after battling side-by-side with Hamlin on the final lap.
Wallace was leading as he approached the white flag in the first overtime, but a violent four-car collision in Turn 3 on Lap 267 necessitated a caution that slowed the field before Wallace could reach the flag stand.
“Two years ago, I’d probably say something dumb,” said Wallace, who drives for the 23XI Racing team Hamlin co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. “He’s a dumbass for that move (on the final lap). 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 there.
“Toyotas were super-fast, and proud to be driving one. I thought it was meant to be, and then it wasn’t.”
Despite the fifth-place finish, Wallace leaves Kansas 10th in the standings, 26 points below the elimination line for the next round.
He was tantalizingly close to his second win of the season before John Hunter Nemechek knocked the Ford of Zane Smith into the outside wall in Turn 3 in the first overtime.
The impact from Nemechek’s Toyota turned Smith’s Ford sideways against the outside wall, with Smith’s car sliding on the driver’s side through the corner before barrel-rolling down the banking and coming to rest upright on four wheels.
“It was a wild ride, no doubt,” Smith said. “Before I knew it, I had a decent restart going and I just get wrecked by the 42 (Nemechek). He just drives through me and then I was sliding on the wall.
“I was just mad at that point from how our day was going, and this just pissed me off even more, because that’s what really hurt was just flipping down the track. It was violent, no doubt, but we had such a fast Speedy Cash Ford today. It’s just a bummer.”
Playoff driver Austin Cindric was collected in an 11-car wreck in Turn 1 on Lap 217 and heads to the Charlotte Roval 48 points below the elimination line and almost certainly needing a victory to advance.
Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick ran sixth and seventh on Sunday but head to Charlotte in very different positions. Larson is 54 points ahead of ninth-place Ross Chastain, while Reddick is 11th in the standings, 29 points below the cut line.
Keselowski finished eighth at Kansas, followed by Playoff driver William Byron, who fought and ill-handling car until his No. 24 Chevrolet came to life in the final run.
Despite a pass-through penalty on the first lap for an inspection failure, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen followed Byron, posting his first career top-10 finish on a NASCAR oval.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 31
Race Results for the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET - Sunday, September 28, 2025
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 273 Laps - 409.5 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 9/28/2025 @ 06:45 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 4 9 Chase Elliott (P) Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 273 3 4 55 Running 2 24 5
2 2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 273 1 1 56 Running 5 159 2
3 5 20 Christopher Bell (P) Rheem Toyota 273 4 2 50 Running 5 43
4 1 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 273 6 5 44 Running 1 19
5 7 23 * Bubba Wallace (P) U.S. Air Force Toyota 273 6 37 Running 2 13
6 3 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 273 2 3 48 Running 1 1
7 12 45 * Tyler Reddick (P) The Beast Toyota 273 30 Running
8 31 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 273 29 Running 1 5
9 11 24 William Byron (P) Cincinnati Chevrolet 273 28 Running
10 24 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Red Bull Chevrolet 273 27 Running
11 9 1 Ross Chastain (P) Kubota Chevrolet 273 5 8 35 Running
12 23 34 * Todd Gilliland Dean's Dip Ford 273 25 Running
13 33 10 Ty Dillon Draft Kings Chevrolet 273 24 Running
14 21 71 Michael McDowell Gainbridge Chevrolet 273 23 Running
15 15 17 Chris Buescher Body Guard Ford 273 8 25 Running
16 10 43 Erik Jones Advent Health Toyota 273 21 Running
17 30 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Hispanic Heritage Chevrolet 273 20 Running 1 6
18 22 7 Justin Haley NationsGuard Chevrolet 273 19 Running
19 29 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 273 18 Running
20 27 41 Cole Custer Haas/Andy's Ford 273 17 Running
21 35 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 273 7 7 24 Running
22 32 35 * Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 273 15 Running
23 14 4 * Noah Gragson Beef A Roo Ford 273 14 Running
24 37 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 273 9 15 Running 1 1
25 8 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 272 12 Running
26 19 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Minute Rice Ford 271 11 Running
27 16 3 Austin Dillon BPS/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet 271 10 Running
28 17 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 271 10 10 Running
29 6 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 269 10 9 Running
30 26 2 Austin Cindric (P) Discount Tire Ford 269 7 Running
31 28 38 * Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 266 9 8 Accident
32 25 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 266 5 Accident 1 1
33 13 21 Josh Berry Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 266 4 Accident 1 1
34 36 44 * JJ Yeley(i) PCNY Concierge Chevrolet 261 0 Running
35 18 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ram Self Storage Chevrolet 236 2 Running
36 20 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 216 1 Accident
37 34 51 Cody Ware Evel Knievel Museum Ford 52 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # 11 lap 224 / 30.278
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 19 Mins, 35 Secs. Average Speed: 123.106 MPH Margin of Victory: .069 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 5, 9, 20, 1, 19, 22, 17, 38, 77
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 20, 5, 9, 19, 23, 22, 1, 12, 48
Race Comments: Chase Elliott has won the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway, his 21st victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 10, 14, 25 (Unapproved Adjustments). Additional penalties: Nos. 71 and 88 - Unapproved adjustments (Splitter), crew chiefs ejected, loss of pit selection, start at the rear of the field, the vehicle must perform a stop and go
penalty after receiving the green flag.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 9 for 48 laps; Laps: 56-62 (#51 Incident Turn 4 [8]); 82-87 (Stage 1 Conclusion [71]); 91-94 (#42, 60 Incident Frontstretch [88]); 167-172 (Stage 2
Conclusion [6]); 212-216 (#44 Incident Frontstretch [54]); 218-222 (#1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 16, 22, 47, 54, 77 Incident Turn 1 [41]); 254-258 (Debris Turn 4 [34]); 261-266 (#77, 17 Incident Backstretch [8]); 268-271 (#38, 21, 54, 42 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag: 00:08:48] [35]).
Lead Changes: 20 among 11 drivers; C. Briscoe (P) 1-19; D. Hamlin (P) 20-37; J. Berry 38; R. Blaney (P) 39; B. Keselowski 40-44; D. Hamlin (P) 45-83; C. Bell (P) 84-86; K. Larson (P) 87; C. Bell (P) 88-122; J. Nemechek 123; D. Suarez 124-129; D. Hamlin (P) 130-172; C. Elliott (P) 173-195; D. Hamlin (P) 196-221; C. Bell (P) 222; D. Hamlin (P) 223-255; C. Bell (P) 256-258; *. Wallace (P) 259-265; C. Bell (P) 266; *. Wallace (P) 267-272; C. Elliott (P) 273.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: October 5, 2025 - Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
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CURRENT NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF STANDINGS
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet ROUND of 12 PLAYOFF WIN - 2 TOTAL WINS PLUS BUSCH LITE CLASH WIN
2 12 Ryan Blaney Ford ROUND OF 12 PLAYOFF WIN - 3 TOTAL WINS
3 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet +54 3 TOTAL WINS
4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota +48 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 5 TOTAL WINS
5 20 Christopher Bell Toyota +44 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 4 TOTAL WINS PLUS ALL-STAR RACE WIN
6 24 William Byron Chevrolet +40 2 TOTAL WINS
7 19 Chase Briscoe Toyota +21 1 PLAYOFF WIN - 2 TOTAL WINS
8 22 Joey Logano Ford +13 1 TOTAL WIN
CUTOFF LINE - FOUR DRIVERS TO BE ELIMINATED AFTER THE CHARLOTTE ROVAL (OCT. 5)
9 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet -13 1 TOTAL WIN
10 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota -26 1 TOTAL WIN
11 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota -29
12 2 Austin Cindric Ford -48 1 TOTAL WIN
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