What Happened?
In the final corners on the final lap, Chase Elliott passed Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin on the low line to steal the win. Elliott survived contact with Hamlin, beating the No. 11 to the line. Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe finished third and fourth, with Wallace dropping to fifth after leading down the backstretch.
This is the second win of the season for Elliott, who was the first driver to take four tires on the final stop. It’s also Elliott’s second win at Kansas Speedway, and the No. 9 team is locked into the Round of 8.
What Really Happened?
The seas didn’t exactly part, but a pathway was cleared by Toyota teammates trampling one another yet again.
A week after Hamlin had controversy by spinning one of his Joe Gibbs Racing counterparts, he put his own racecar into the wall. Well, he put his owned racecar into the wall, allowing a Chevrolet to conquer the gaggle of Toyotas vying for the win.
Hamlin is just one of the parties to blame for the Toyota trip-up. On the previous restarts, Bell and Wallace took turns running each other up and nearly into the wall. That prevented them from getting separation from the pack.
Just a lap after Wallace ran Bell into the wall with two to go, Wallace drove on the door of the No. 11 which made that car on the inside very tight. In response, Hamlin pulled the same move and forced the No. 23 into even more contact with the wall.
Surely better decisions could have been made, especially for a guy in an ownership role for the car that had a golden ticket into the next round, and especially for a guy whose team is suing NASCAR. Hamlin had so much to gain by playing defense and watching his team drive into the next round.
Instead, he made the selfish move to dive to the bottom and chase the win for himself.
It follows a consistent pattern of Hamlin driving for himself. After all, people debated all week after Hamlin spun his own teammate out. Just a month ago after the race at Dover Motor Speedway, Hamlin showed his other teammates that he wasn’t willing to give an inch, even for a fellow Toyota.
The selfish driving also follows a consistent pattern of what makes Hamlin such a good racecar driver – and such an icon in the modern era.
In the days of playoff racing, drivers care more about helping shop and manufacturer, often times even foregoing their own interests.
It’s the reason why certain cars refuse to push others at superspeedways. It’s the cause of the shenanigans at the end of last fall’s controversial Martinsville Speedway race. Logically, playing the ‘good teammate’ role makes sense, but as a fan, it’s frustrating to watch.
During the final restarts, the 23XI Racing teammates had a few conversations about helping each other out, with Tyler Reddick even apologizing for not offering the kind of assistance Wallace felt he was owed.
Sure, Reddick and Wallace drive for the same team, and team owners hate it when their cars take each other out of contention. But the first priority for Reddick should be to get himself to victory lane, not to worry about which Toyota to push or how he would finish second to his teammate.
Just think of how boring the finish would have been if the Toyota teammates played nice and let each other in line, fearing consequences for racing each other. The storylines would have been just as compelling if Hamlin had stayed in line to let his driver and team win, and many would still be angry at the No. 11 for not making a move.
But that didn’t happen.
All Hamlin could see while rocketing down the backstretch was an open racetrack and a path back to the front to win No. 60. While he came up just short, that selfish thinking provided yet another memorable finish to go on highlight reels for decades to come.
Who Stood Out?
The results have been missing to showcase just how much Shane van Gisbergen has improved on ovals. Well, they were missing. The driver of the No. 88 team finally earned his first oval top-10 finish – and it wasn’t just because of the late-race carnage.
At the start of the race, van Gisbergen had to serve a stop-and-go penalty at the end of the first lap. That left him a lap down and deep in a hole. The Red Bull car definitely had some wings, even if it did fly under the radar.
My first detection of van Gisbergen having a surprisingly nice day happened whenever the first restart crash occurred in stage three. As cars were crashing, you can see the No. 88 on the inside of row five or six.
Mind you, this was a restart after a decent green flag run, meaning that van Gisbergen had found his way inside the top 15 on speed and strategy without needing any lucky yellows.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, SVG had a nice run going until he got tangled up in someone else’s mess. That felt like the case again when William Byron got tight exiting turn two, shoving the No. 88 into the door of Alex Bowman.
Still, van Gisbergen persevered with minimal damage – and still a ton of speed.
Through all of the late restarts, van Gisbergen maintained his track position around the early teens, and he made enough moves to snag a well-deserved top 10 at the end.
Who Fell Flat?
After a tremendous outing a week ago, Team Penske fell flat – literally – before the green flag even waved.
Flat tires and practice issues relegated the teammate trio to start at the rear. All three finished outside of the top 20.
To be completely fair, that doesn’t tell the story of their whole day. Ryan Blaney drove up to the top 10 in a backup car during the race. Joey Logano and his team utilized strategy to earn some stage points and run around the back of the top 10 as well. Austin Cindric was really the only one who lagged behind the other two.
All three were involved on the first restart crash in stage three, with Cindric’s car being the most wounded. Blaney had minimal damage, but a speeding penalty on the final stop ruined his shot at a good finish.
While Blaney is safe from his win at New Hampshire, Logano is the last man in, just 13 points ahead of Ross Chastain. Meanwhile, Cindric is 48 points below his teammate, likely in need of a win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Just a few new liveries hit the asphalt in Kansas this weekend. But for the second straight weekend, Daniel Suarez brought the best new look to the track.
The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and Suarez and the Trackhouse crew usually bring a great look to the track to honor the celebrations. This year, the typical white, blue, and green look on the Freeway Insurance car had a few more colors on it.
The orange and pink flowers stood out but didn’t clash with the rest of the car but instead offered a nice touch to the scheme.
What’s Next?
The NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Charlotte Motor Speedway, but they take to the infield road course for the only time this season. The Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL is Sunday, Oct. 5, and it starts at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!