chase elliott

Chase Elliott. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images

In a wild finish that came down to the final inches, Chase Elliott stole a dramatic NASCAR Cup Series Playoff win in the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, securing his spot in the Round of 8.

Elliott, driving the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, edged out a frustrated Denny Hamlin by a minuscule 0.069 seconds after two overtimes at Kansas Speedway.

The victory is Elliott’s second of the season, his second at Kansas, and the 21st of his career.

The finish was pure chaos. Restarting eighth for the final two-lap sprint, Elliott rocketed forward. He pulled alongside the race-long leader Hamlin through the final turn on Lap 273 and, with his car wide open, bounced off the side of Hamlin’s Toyota on the way to the finish line, just beating him to the stripe.

“Everything worked out perfect for me,” Elliott said of the final run. “Had a great push through [Turns] 1 and 2. That kind of all started with the 6 [Brad Keselowski]. Big run off of 2. The seas kind of parted and I was just 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.”

The loss was particularly stinging for Hamlin, who had dominated the day, leading 159 laps and sweeping both the first and second stages. In the closing laps, he was forced to wrestle his car around the 1.5-mile track after losing power steering.

“Just super disappointing,” a spent Hamlin said after the race. “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.”

Despite the heartbreak, the runner-up finish significantly boosted Hamlin’s playoff standing. He increased his margin above the elimination line to 48 points heading into next Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

The race was forced into overtime after a violent four-car collision in Turn 3 on Lap 267. Bubba Wallace was leading as he approached the white flag in the first overtime, only for the caution flag to fly before he could take it.

The wreck began when John Hunter Nemechek’s Toyota tagged Zane Smith’s Ford, sending Smith sideways into the outside wall. Smith’s car rolled onto its driver’s side before barrel-rolling down the banking and finally coming to rest upright.

“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.”

Wallace, who co-drives for the 23XI Racing team owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan, faded to fifth in the final run after battling with his co-owner on the last lap.

Wallace is now 10th in the standings, 26 points below the elimination line. Behind the leaders, Christopher Bell finished third, followed by pole winner Chase Briscoe in fourth.

Another Playoff contender, Austin Cindric, was collected in an 11-car wreck on Lap 217. He is now 48 points below the cutoff line, almost certainly needing a win at the Charlotte Roval to advance.

Meanwhile, Kyle Larson finished sixth and is a comfortable 54 points ahead of ninth-place Ross Chastain. Tyler Reddick finished seventh but sits 11th in the standings, 29 points below the cut line.

Shane van Gisbergen, despite an early pass-through penalty, impressed with a 10th-place finish, marking his first career top-10 on a NASCAR oval.

The Cup Series goes to Charlotte next weekend for the running of the Bank of America ROVAL race and the cutoff for the Round of 8.

NASCAR Cup Series Race
Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET
Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kansas
Sunday, September 28, 2025

  1. (4) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 273.
  2. (2) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 273.
  3. (5) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 273.
  4. (1) Chase Briscoe (P), Toyota, 273.
  5. (7) Bubba Wallace (P), Toyota, 273.
  6. (3) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 273.
  7. (12) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 273.
  8. (31) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 273.
  9. (11) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 273.
  10. (24) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 273.
  11. (9) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 273.
  12. (23) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 273.
  13. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 273.
  14. (21) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 273.
  15. (15) Chris Buescher, Ford, 273.
  16. (10) Erik Jones, Toyota, 273.
  17. (30) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 273.
  18. (22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 273.
  19. (29) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 273.
  20. (27) Cole Custer, Ford, 273.
  21. (35) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 273.
  22. (32) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 273.
  23. (14) Noah Gragson, Ford, 273.
  24. (37) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 273.
  25. (8) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 272.
  26. (19) Ryan Preece, Ford, 271.
  27. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 271.
  28. (17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 271.
  29. (6) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 269.
  30. (26) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 269.
  31. (28) Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 266.
  32. (25) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 266.
  33. (13) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 266.
  34. (36) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 261.
  35. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 236.
  36. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 216.
  37. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, Accident, 52.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.106 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 19 Mins, 35 Secs.
Margin of Victory: .069 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 48 laps.
Lead Changes: 20 among 11 drivers.