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

Posted on by Data Skrive

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.

Posted on by Staff Report

Four drivers were eliminated from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway as the postseason field was trimmed from 12 drivers to eight.

Read on for a full update on the standings and results.

Eliminated drivers

• Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
• William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
• Alex Bowman, No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
• Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Advancing to the Round of 8

1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 4,046 points
2. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 4,042 points
3. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 4,037 points
4. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford, 4,030 points
5. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, 4,028 points
6. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, 4,024 points
7. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 4,011 points
8. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford, 4,009 points

MORE: Unofficial results

The ups

• Two drivers had clinched spots in the Round of 8 based on victories earlier in the round (Kyle Larson at Dover, Ryan Blaney at Talladega). Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin snapped up two more berths based on their performance in the first two stages at Kansas. Hamlin won Stage 2, and Truex gathered 15 points in the stages, tied with Chase Elliott for the most among playoff drivers.

• The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team benefited from a late caution period, and Chase Elliott converted the solid pit strategy and good fortune into a clinching second-place run that sealed the final Round of 8 berth. Elliott erased a 22-point gap to keep his postseason hopes intact.

• Joey Logano entered the Hollywood Casino 400 in the last transfer spot on the provisional playoff bubble, but bolstered his cause with a Stage 1 victory. The Team Penske No. 22 group rallied from an unscheduled pit stop for a wheel vibration, then used some pit strategy to emerge triumphant in a two-lap shootout at the opening stage’s end. A seventh-place finish worth four points at the end of Stage 2 helped keep his title defense going, offsetting a late spin that left him with a 17th-place finish.

The downs

• Some early damage and an ill-handling No. 88 Chevrolet hindered Alex Bowman’s long-shot chances to advance in the postseason. Though he recovered to briefly return to the lead lap, Bowman was closed out of the top 10 at the end of each stage, frittering away extra points and losing ground to his playoff rivals.

• Brad Keselowski faded out of the running for one of the final spots in the Round of 8 with an uncharacteristic 19th-place result that made it a tense run to the finish at Kansas, a venue where he won in May. Keselowski didn’t score a top-10 finish in any of the Round of 12’s three races.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, October 21
6 p.m., NASCAR America: Monday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, October 22
2 p.m., Glory Road: The Inaugural Brickyard (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Glory Road: NASCAR’s Lost Tracks (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., Glory Road: Controversial Finishes, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., Glory Road: IROC (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
9 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, October 23
Midnight, Glory Road: Controversial Finishes (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
12:30 a.m., Glory Road: IROC (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
Noon, NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, October 24
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
Noon, 1999 NAPA Autocare 500

Saturday, October 26
9 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
10 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App
11 a.m., NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (joined in progress on NBCSN) (Canada: TSN App)
1 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NGOTS, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200, FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)

On MRN
9 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice
Noon, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice
1 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

Sunday, October 27
10 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Martinsville, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN1, 4)
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin took the lead from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. with 34 laps remaining in the stage, pacing the field the rest of the way for the Stage 2 victory in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The victory was Hamlin’s fifth stage win of the 2019 season. Last week’s winner at Talladega, Ryan Blaney, placed runner-up in the stage.

Truex, who has led 33 laps thus far, faded to third, while Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and his defending race winner teammate Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. Stage 1 winner Joey Logano placed seventh.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Midway through the stage, Kyle Larson got into the back of the No. 66 of Joey Gase to send it spinning and bring out the caution. Gase then took his ride to the garage, thus ending his day.

Larson, in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, placed 14th despite having led 60 laps. He’s already locked into the Round of 8 with a victory earlier this month at Dover International Speedway.

Brad Keselowski was the lowest-finishing playoff driver, in 16th.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 9
3 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 7
5 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 6
6 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7 Joey Logano Team Penske 4
8 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 3
9 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 2
10 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 1

STAGE 1

Joey Logano stayed out during a late-stage caution and emerged during the ensuing restart to win Stage 1 in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Kansas Speedway.

It was the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford’s 10th stage win of the season, and it came after he went two laps down earlier in the stage with a loose wheel.

Right behind him was Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Rounding out the top five were Daniel Suarez in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Kyle Busch in the No. 18 JGR Toyota.

Series points leader Denny Hamlin led nine laps and placed eighth in the stage. Kyle Larson led 60 laps, but fell to 13th after the caution came out.

Coming off his first pole of the season, Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric quickly handed off the lead after pacing the field for five laps and finished 16th in the stage.

Ryan Newman and Alex Bowman made contact early in the stage, taking off a chunk of the right rear fender of the No. 6 Ford of Newman. It was contact between Newman and Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with five laps remaining in the stage, however, that brought out the caution to set up the restart at the end of the stage.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske 10
2 Chase Elliott (P) Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Joe Gibbs Racing 7
5 Kyle Busch (P) Joe Gibbs Racing 6
6 Brad Keselowski (P) Team Penske 5
7 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske 4
8 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing 1