Chase Elliott races from eighth to win in two-lap OT at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Chase Elliott someway stole Sunday's contention astatine Kansas Speedway, wherever helium drove from eighth to the checkered emblem during a two-lap overtime sprint to gain a spot successful the 3rd circular of NASCAR's playoffs.

It was a chaotic ending to a contention that astir apt should person been won by Denny Hamlin, who dominated and led 159 laps until a bevy of precocious issues denied him his accidental astatine vocation triumph No. 60 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The contention had a slew of precocious cautions -- Hamlin dropped from the pb to seventh connected a dilatory pit halt -- that enactment Bubba Wallace successful presumption to triumph the race. A red-flag stoppage for Zane Smith flipping his car acceptable up the last overtime restart and Wallace was holding choky successful a door-to-door conflict with Christopher Bell for the victory.

Then Hamlin came from obscurity to drawback Wallace, who drives for the squad Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan, and Wallace scraped the partition arsenic helium tried to clasp disconnected his boss. That's erstwhile Elliott abruptly entered the framework and smashed Hamlin successful the doorway to get past him for his 2nd triumph of the season.

"What a brainsick finish. Hope you each enjoyed that. I surely did," NASCAR's astir fashionable operator told the assemblage aft collecting the checkered flag.

Elliott joins Ryan Blaney arsenic the 2 drivers locked into the 3rd circular of the playoffs. The tract volition beryllium chopped from 12 drivers to 8 aft adjacent week's contention successful Concord, North Carolina and Elliott said erstwhile helium got successful presumption for the victory, helium wasn't giving up.

"I wasn't going to lift, truthful I didn't cognize what was going to happen. I figured astatine the extremity of the day, it was what it was astatine that point," Elliott said. "Wherever I ended up, I ended up. At that point, we were each committed. Really chill conscionable to beryllium eighth connected the restart and someway triumph connected a green-and-white checkered. Pretty neat."

Hamlin finished 2nd and was intelligibly dejected by the defeat. The three-time Daytona 500 victor is considered the top operator to ne'er triumph a Cup rubric and needed the triumph to fastener up his spot successful the adjacent circular of the playoffs. He besides has a 60th Cup triumph acceptable arsenic a large vocation extremity and is stuck connected 59 victories.

He drove the last 50-plus laps with his powerfulness steering connected the fritz.

"Just ace disappointing. I wanted it bad. It would person been 60 for me," Hamlin said. "Obviously got really, truly choky with [Wallace], and it conscionable got existent choky and we fto [Elliott] win.

"Man, I wanted it for my dad. I wanted it for everybody. Just wanted it a small excessively hard."

Hamlin was followed his JGR teammates Bell and Chase Briscoe, who were 3rd and fourth.

Wallace coiled up 5th and adjacent though the triumph would person moved him deeper into the playoffs than he's ever been successful his career, helium was satisfied considering however poorly his car was moving earlier successful the race. He wasn't adjacent upset with Hamlin, and helium shook hands with his brag connected pit road.

"To adjacent person a changeable astatine the triumph with the mode we started ... you could person fooled me. We were not good," Wallace said. "Two years agone I'd astir apt accidental thing dumb [about Hamlin]. He's a dumbass for that move. I don't attraction if he's my brag oregon not. But we're going for the win. I hatred that we gave it to Chevrolet there."

Elliott, successful a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was the lone non-Toyota operator successful the apical five.

Next up is simply a playoff elimination contention astatine the hybrid oval/road people astatine Charlotte Motor Speedway, wherever Kyle Larson won a twelvemonth ago. The playoff tract volition beryllium chopped from 12 drivers to 8 pursuing adjacent Sunday's race.

The 4 drivers successful information of playoff elimination headed into that contention are Ross Chastain, Read Entire Article