Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET: Chase Elliott steals Kansas victory from Toyota drivers

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott found his way to the front of the field on the final lap of NASCAR Overtime at Kansas Speedway to get his second win of the 2025 Cup Series season in a “Heartland” thriller.

At the start of the first overtime attempt of the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET, Elliott was the first car in line that had taken four tires on the previous pit stop. After double overtime and Toyota teammates clashing, Elliott kept his foot on the throttle and took advantage of the situation to punch his ticket to the next round of the Cup Series Playoffs.

“Everything worked out perfect for me,” Elliott said. “Had a great push through (turns) one and two. That kind of all started with the No. 6 (Brad Keselowski). I had a big run off of two. The seas kind of parted and I just was able to keep my momentum up. That was really it. Obviously, we still had pretty good tires compared to those guys, but what a crazy finish. Hope you all enjoyed that. I certainly did.

“Really proud of this No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet team. Had a really solid weekend, win or no win. Really nice to qualify really well. We’ll certainly enjoy this, man. This is pretty cool. Just never take this stuff for granted because it’s hard to come by. Learned that the hard way. Always enjoy it. Always appreciate it.

“Thanks to everybody at KBB. What a great partner. This is our 10th season together, which is pretty cool. Everybody at Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports, I appreciate it. Glad to be bringing one home.”

Elliott entered Kansas 14 points above the cutline. After scoring 55 points and getting the win, he will advance to the Round of 8.

The most dominant car of the race was Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin. He led 159 laps (career-high on a 1.5-mile intermediate track), swept the stages and earned a race-high 56 points to give him a large cushion heading into the Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Roval. The driver of the No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota also complained about power steering issues for the majority of the final stage.

On the final restart, Hamlin went from fifth to second with only Toyota teammate Bubba Wallace in front of him. Hamlin made contact with the No. 23 US Air Force Toyota (the car he co-owns), which sent the 23XI Racing driver into the wall as Hamlin lifted off the throttle. Unfortunately for Hamlin, a hard-charging Elliott was something he could not hold off coming to the checkered flag.

Hamlin went on to finish second after making contact with Elliott exiting Turn 4.

“It’s super disappointing,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 (wins) for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car. It was really, really fast. They gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed, I just couldn’t finish there on the last corner. I got really, really, tight with the 23 (Bubba Wallace) and let the 9 (Chase Elliott) win.”

Hamlin was also asked if Kansas was a tough place for him to figure out.

“Just mechanical failures and different things have really hindered us in years past,” Hamlin added. “We had no power steering on the last run and low voltage, just a lot of things. I’m just disappointed because I’ve never had a car that good to the competition. I wanted it for my dad, I wanted it for everybody. I wanted it a little too hard.”

After battling his car for most of Stage 1, Wallace picked up the pace in Stage 2 and it continued into the final stage. Despite only leading 13 laps, it seemed like Wallace was going to find Victory Lane for the second time in 2025 and for the second time at Kansas. Due to the contact from hard racing with his car owner, Hamlin, Wallace ultimately finished fifth and gained just one point toward the cutline after scoring 37 points.

“To say we had a shot at the win with the way we started, you could have fooled me,” Wallace said. “We were not good. We missed it on the fire-off speed. I just really appreciate the team. Two years ago, I’d probably say something dumb. Or say he’s a dumbass for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it away there. Toyotas were super fast, and proud to be driving one. I thought it was meant to be, and then it wasn’t. All in all the positives were we are minus 26 coming in — or minus 27 coming in. We’re minus 26 leaving. We gained a point.”

Results from the 2025 Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway are listed below:

Zane Smith Goes Upside Down

An unlikely incident occurred during the final laps at Kansas Speedway, as John Hunter Nemechek made contact with Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith, causing the No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford to ride the wall and flip upside down.

Smith, who was running toward the front of the field for the majority of the race, got out of his car under his own power.

“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. He just drives through me and then I was sliding on the wall. I was just mad at that point from how our day was going and this just pissed me off even more because that’s what really hurt was just flipping down the track. It was violent, no doubt, but we had such a fast Speedy Cash Ford today. It’s just a bummer.

“Right before that caution came out, we were gonna have a top-10 day, racing up inside the top 10 a majority of the day and it’s a shame that it has to come to an end out there. I want to give a shout-out back to everyone at FRM for bringing another really good car, especially at a mile-and-a-half. Hopefully, five more. Hopefully, we bring some more good ones.”

Coincidentally, it was 22 years to the day when Elliott Sadler, who was also driving a No. 38 Ford, flipped during a race, which then was won by a NAPA-sponsored driver.

Other Race Facts

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe finished third and fourth as both drivers continue to earn top-five finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Bell led 43 laps and scored 50 points, while Briscoe led 19 laps and scored 44 points.

“I honestly don’t know what I could have done [on the final restart],” Bell said. “I’m leaving here feeling pretty satisfied. That was a bummer when I lost the lead on the restart when I caught the wrong timing line. Looking back, it was such a 50/50 call on those restarts, whether you wanted to be on the outside or the inside. I don’t know what I would have done differently. I felt like we left it all on the table.”

“It was tough,” Briscoe said. “I’ve never really been in a situation like that, where I needed really anybody but Bubba to win in that situation. I wanted to still put it in a position where I could still win the race too. It was just tough with those restarts. They’re so circumstantial. One thing goes your way, and you can end up winning the race. One bad thing goes your way, and you end up running fifth to seventh. Just crazy the runs and how fast they develop.

“I thought I was going to still have a really good shot to win the race and when Bell got in the fence off of (turn) four, I had to all but stop, and it just ruined my momentum. Scrappy day for our Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota. Would have loved to be, obviously, a little bit better today. Crazy, I think we’re averaging a top-five finish in the playoffs and we’re only 20 points above. Never feel safe at the Roval, but go there and try to do our job. Our road-course stuff is pretty good there. See what we can do.”

In his first race without his regular crew chief, Stephen Doran, who was ejected from the event after inspection violations, Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen powered his way to his first career top-10 finish (10th) on an oval track, despite having to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 1.

“It was really cool to get a top-10 finish at Kansas Speedway,” van Gisbergen said. “It was good to do it in a Red Bull car. We’ve had some really cool partners this year and stoked to be able to do it here at Kansas Speedway. I feel like we’re getting better and better at these tracks. It was difficult starting a lap down and having that penalty, but Chais Eliason (interim crew chief) did a great job. We had really good speed at points of the race, so I’m stoked to get a top 10. I’m over the moon with that.”

In a race that saw nine cautions, multiple playoff drivers were involved, including all three Team Penske drivers. Austin Cindric took the biggest hit as he finished 30th, while Ryan Blaney finished 24th and Joey Logano finished 21st.

The Cup Series Standings have been updated heading into the Round of 12 elimination race:

GRID RANKING

Week 26 of the GRID Ranking saw four of the five NASCAR contenders finish inside the top six. Denny Hamlin maintained a spot inside the top 10 of the GRID Ranking, while another impressive day from Christopher Bell helps him jump back ahead of Ryan Blaney.

The next race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, Oct. 5. Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

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