Posted on by Data Skrive

Ryan Preece placed 12th in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, adding 25 points to his season total.

Preece now sits at 449 points on the season.

Denny Hamlin brought home the win in the race, with Chase Elliott finishing second, and Kyle Busch placing third. Kurt Busch brought home fourth place, followed by William Byron to round out the top five.

Hamlin has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Joey Logano came away victorious in Stage 1, and Hamlin finished out front in Stage 2.

Preece qualified in 28th position at 174.870 mph. He still is looking for career win No. 1, but owns one top-five finish and three finishes in the top 10.

Preece battled 39 other cars in the field and the race endured seven cautions and 32 caution laps. There were 15 lead changes before the checkered flag.

Toyota added 40 points to its season totals with Hamlin’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1167 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1127. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 1093 points on the season.

Ryan Preece Driver Page | Get Ryan Preece Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Jimmie Johnson placed tenth in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, adding 27 points to his season total.

Johnson now sits at 772 points on the season.

Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag in the race, with Chase Elliott taking second, and Kyle Busch placing third. Kurt Busch brought home fourth place, followed by William Byron in the No. 5 spot.

Joey Logano came away victorious in Stage 1, and Hamlin finished out front in Stage 2.

Hamlin has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Johnson qualified in 12th position at 177.253 mph. The 19th-year driver has piled up 83 career victories, 227 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 364 races.

There were 40 cars in the field, and the race endured seven cautions and 32 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 15 lead changes.

Toyota added 40 points to its season totals with Hamlin’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1167 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1127. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 1093 points on the season.

Jimmie Johnson Driver Page | Get Jimmie Johnson Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Clint Bowyer placed eighth in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, adding 31 points to his season total.

Bowyer now sits at No. 11 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings with 2181 points. He will not advance to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag in the race, with Chase Elliott finishing second, and Kyle Busch crossing the finish line third. Kurt Busch took fourth place, followed by William Byron in the No. 5 spot.

Hamlin has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Joey Logano came away victorious in Stage 1, and Hamlin finished out front in Stage 2.

Bowyer qualified in 21st position at 176.442 mph. The 15th-year driver has piled up 10 career victories, 80 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 212 races.

There were 40 cars in the field, and the race endured seven cautions and 32 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 15 lead changes.

Toyota added 40 points to its season totals with Hamlin’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1167 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1127. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 1093 points on the season.

Clint Bowyer Driver Page | Get Clint Bowyer Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

William Byron finished fifth in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, adding 39 points to his season total.

Byron now sits at No. 10 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 2181 points. He will not advance to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

Denny Hamlin brought home the win in the race, with Chase Elliott finishing second, and Kyle Busch placing third.

Hamlin has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Joey Logano came away victorious in Stage 1, and Hamlin finished out front in Stage 2.

Byron qualified in 25th position at 175.655 mph. He led once for a total of one lap, but relinquished the lead for good after Lap 49. Byron still is looking for career win No. 1, but boasts four top-five finishes and 16 finishes in the top 10.

There were 40 cars in the field, and the race endured seven cautions and 32 caution laps. There were 15 lead changes.

Toyota added 40 points to its season totals with Hamlin’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1167 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1127. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 1093 points on the season.

William Byron Driver Page | Get William Byron Gear | Race Center

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Kyle Busch finished third in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, adding 41 points to his season total.

Busch sits atop the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 4046 points. He’s collected 15 top-five finishes in 2019.

Denny Hamlin earned the checkered flag in the race, with Chase Elliott finishing second. Kurt Busch took fourth place, followed by William Byron in the No. 5 spot.

Hamlin has advanced to the next round of the Cup Series playoffs.

Joey Logano came away victorious in Stage 1, and Hamlin finished out front in Stage 2.

Busch qualified in 18th position at 176.771 mph. The 16th-year driver has collected 55 career victories, 198 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 293 races.

Busch battled 39 other cars in the field and the race endured seven cautions and 32 caution laps. There were 15 lead changes before the checkered flag.

Toyota added 40 points to its season totals with Hamlin’s victory. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 1167 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 1127. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 1093 points on the season.

Kyle Busch Driver Page | Get Kyle Busch Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Reid Spencer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Brad Keselowski thought his playoff run would continue when he came to pit road for fresh tires before the first of two overtimes in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Keselowski would have been fine, had a wreck out of Turn 4 in the first overtime not caused a caution with eventual race winner Denny Hamlin less than a car length from the white flag and an official race.

RELATED: Race results | Who’s in, who’s out

Keselowski restarted 13th for the second overtime but got bottled up in the middle of the pack, brushed the backstretch wall on the final lap and faded to 19th at the finish. Chase Elliott, who restarted third and finished second, edged Keselowski by a scant three points for the final berth in the Round of 8 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which continue next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

“We didn’t make it,” Keselowski said. “I pushed as hard as I knew how and didn’t quite do good enough on the last restart, and that was it.

“We clawed as hard as we could, and there were times it looked like we were going to be fine and times it didn’t. In the end it didn’t work out. … I needed to get up to the top of the track on the last restart. I couldn’t get up. I got sandwiched. Somebody went three-wide and got me in the middle of (Turn) 4—just all bad.”

Despite three wins this season, Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, won’t be eligible for a second title this year.

The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, however, does have a single-minded purpose after his elimination.

“Go win Martinsville,” Keselowski said.

 

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Thanks to a brilliant pit call by crew chief Todd Gordon — staying out on old tires in the first stage of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Joey Logano won the first stage of the race and collected 10 points for his effort.

In the second stage, he earned four points for a seventh-place finish — and put them to good use after contact from Ty Dillon’s Chevrolet sent him spinning through the infield grass near the end of the first lap of overtime.

RELATED: Race results | Who’s in, who’s out

Logano finished 17th, but buoyed by the stage points, he reached the Round of 8 in the Playoffs with nine points to spare over Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, who was the first driver eliminated.

“Today, whew, we got that stage win which was great, and that’s a (playoff) point that will continue on, so that is a big deal,” Logano said. “We needed every point we could, and it looked like we were in a good spot. Next thing you know, they are wrecking on the outside and I get hit and I’m going through the grass.

“I felt comfortable before that, but the next thing you know — I am watching it here on the replay for the first time — I didn’t hit anything so I got lucky for sure. I’ve been lucky a few times. We were able to finish Talladega, and I parked the thing and there was a hole in the radiator.

“It was hard-fought and blue-collar round for sure. We just have to smooth it out a little bit. We need to not have as much carnage out there and finish some of these things. On to the next round. We get to reset, thank God. We will fight from there.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin passed post-race technical inspection Sunday at Kansas Speedway with no issues.

The No. 11 Toyota was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Hamlin won the third and final Round of 12 race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Erik Jones (finished seventh), though, had one lug nut not safe and secure. Also, the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Kurt Busch (finished fourth) will go back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

With post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Official race results

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the Research & Development Center.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It wasn’t a win, but a runner-up finish got the job done for Chase Elliott at Kansas Speedway.

Elliott’s clutch effort in Sunday afternoon’s Hollywood Casino 400 propelled him into the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, earning the final berth over Brad Keselowski by just three points. The final NASCAR Overtime restart served as Keselowski’s kryptonite, as he lost six spots and faded to a 19th-place finish.

RELATED: Unofficial race results | Who’s in, who’s out

Facing a 22-point deficit at the start of the day, Elliott earned a total of 15 points for finishing second in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2 to add to his race total, while Keselowski collected just five stage points.

“To battle for the win, I was proud of that,” Elliott said. “We weren’t the best car by any stretch, but I felt like we kind of came here with a mindset of having to win.”

After pitting for tires in the closing laps, Elliott was able to work his way up from eighth to the second-place position. Elliott gave eventual winner Denny Hamlin a run for the lead before Bubba Wallace spun in Turn 2 to set up the first of two overtime restarts.

“To be honest with you, I was liking my chances before the caution came out,” Elliott said. “I was on four tires. I think Denny was on two. I had a little momentum. Who knows if I could have ever passed him, but I felt like that was going to be my best shot to win the race.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, also thought Elliott was in an ideal position to take over the top spot from Hamlin before the Wallace incident.

“We passed Kyle (Busch) and he thought he was squared up to pass Denny there when the 43 (Wallace) wrecked,” Gustafson said. “You think you’re in good shape and then that happens. We just knew we had a good opportunity. It was close with the 2 (Keselowski). He was struggling. Just good we could get all we could get.”

Both Elliott and Gustafson acknowledged the Round of 12 was tough, kicking it off with a last-place finish at Dover International Speedway and overcoming a crash to place eighth at Talladega Superspeedway.

“It’s never easy,” Gustafson said. “Dover was tough. That was probably in my career one of the more difficult things to go through. You come off the high of winning at the (Charlotte Motor Speedway) Roval and we worked really hard to accrue a good amount of bonus points.”

But in the end, being at the right place at the right time gave Elliott a chance to fight another day.

“We just got lucky, really,” Elliott said. “To run second was good; wish we could have won. But the rest of it really didn’t have to do with me, just good fortune and getting the right amount of points.

“To go through all the stuff we did these past two weeks and still move on is a … is a wonder, that’s for sure.”

Despite coming up just short of picking up his fourth win of the year, Elliott believes the second-place result showcased what the No. 9 team is made of moving forward into the final push toward the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“For us to go out and battle for the win is what a really good team is made of and what you’re going to have to do if you’re ever going to make it to Homestead,” Elliott said. “That’s the reality of where we are. Glad we get to fight another week and we’ll go to Martinsville (Speedway) and try to get a win in one of these next three weeks.”

Now the team moves on to the first Round of 8 race next weekend at Martinsville, a place where Gustafson has visited Victory Lane before to make the Championship 4 with Jeff Gordon in 2015.

“Just looking forward to getting there and going at it,” Gustafson said. “We’ve been kind of finicky, kind of hit or miss. … I’m excited to go there, but I need to go to work on it now to make sure all the I’s are dotted and all the T’s are crossed.”

Elliott echoed his crew chief’s analysis.

“I felt like we’ve had good runs there, I felt like we had bad runs there,” Elliott said. “I really haven’t done anything different. We just really need to do our homework this week and focus on it.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – As Denny Hamlin was finishing off a dominating day in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott stole perhaps an even bigger prize — a spot in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Hamlin, who led 153 of 277 laps, crossed the finish line .128 seconds ahead of Elliott in a second overtime to secure his fifth victory of the season, his second at Kansas and the 36th of his career.

RELATED: Unofficial results | SHOP: Hamlin gear

But the real suspense in the second overtime featured a three-way battle among Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano for the final two spots in the Round of 8. Logano restarted 20th in a damaged No. 22 Ford and finished 17th to secure one of the playoff positions.

Keselowski, who entered the race with a 20-point margin over Elliott, was bottled up on the final restart, fell from 13th to 19th in the running order and lost the final playoff berth to Elliott by three points.

Fittingly, there were two celebrations on pit road — one for the winner and one for the runner-up.

“This is a great feeling,” said Hamlin, who led Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (third) and Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) into the penultimate round of the playoffs. “That car was awesome to dominate that whole second half.

“I have to thank everybody who pushed me on the restarts, Kyle (Busch), the 9 (Elliott) at the end. Good to see him make it by points anyway. But, hey, I’m just really happy for this whole FedEx team. It’s been great. Been running really good. Cannot wait to get to Martinsville Speedway (next Sunday’s Round of 8 opener).”

Elliott is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to transfer into the Round of 8. Teammate William Byron was fifth Sunday but missed the next round by 16 points. Alex Bowman suffered early damage and rallied to run 11th, but he finished the race 20 points behind Elliott for the last spot.

Clint Bowyer came home eighth and was eliminated from the playoffs in 12th place, 21 points below the cutline.

“The good news was the bottom lane rolled good enough on the last restart to at least get back to second,” Elliott said. “So I appreciate the effort. We were really struggling there at one point in the race. You have to stay fighting in these things, especially with these late-race restarts.

“Just proud of the effort today. Just excited we get to fight another race. Back up against the wall, to come out here and battle for a win, that’s what you have to do when you’re in the position that we were in.

“If you ever get to (the Championship 4 race), you’re going to have to fight for a win down there. Proud of the effort. Learned a lot. To be able to come out here and, like I said, in our minds have to win, come and fight for one, to finish second, I think is a step in the right direction for us. So excited to move on.”

Logano won the first 80-lap stage and added four points with a seventh-place finish in the second stage to give himself the buffer he needed at the end, after spinning through the infield grass on the next-to-last lap in the first overtime, the result of a collision with the Chevrolet of Ty Dillon.

Logano, the defending series champion, finished the Round of 12 nine points ahead of Keselowski, his Team Penske teammate.

An effective charge toward the end of the race netted Kurt Busch a fourth-place finish. Truex, Erik Jones, Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson completed the top 10 in order.

Despite an off day, Harvick cruised into the next round of the playoffs. Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney already were locked into the Round of 8, thanks to their respective victories at Dover International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.