In a chaotic double-overtime finish that saw Denny Hamlin get together with his 23XI Racing driver and fellow playoff contender Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott muscled his way around the two exiting Turn 4 to pick up his second win of the season and lock up his Round of 8 berth.
Here are three takeaways from the middle race in the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs:
Elliott spoils Toyota party in wild finish
In a race dominated by Toyota, including four of the top five finishers and five of the top seven, Elliott played spoiler for his second Kansas win and 21st of his career. Despite restarting eighth for the double-overtime restart, the HMS driver maneuvered his way to the front and edged ahead of Hamlin to win by 0.069 seconds in a thrilling finish.
It capped a successful weekend all around for Elliott, who has struggled in qualifying all season. He took the green in fourth on Sunday, led 24 laps and scored the fourth-most stage points (15) of any driver, showing some positive signs midway through the playoffs.
Elliott joins Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney as the only two drivers currently locked into the Round of 8 and can rest easy going to next week’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval.
What could have been for Toyota
For much of Sunday’s race at Kansas, it looked like Hamlin was on his way to extending his track record to five wins in the