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The 1.5-mile track is where the Next Gen car comes to life, and the Hollywood Casino 400 certainly lived up to the billing. We had multiple groves, constant lead changes, and best of all, last-lap drama. Toyota race cars came in hot with the speed, but in the end, it was Chase Elliott who had the final say in what was a blockbuster playoff race in Kansas.

Stage 1: Starting from the front row, Denny Hamlin took command of the race and bagged the Stage 1 win despite the green flag pit stops.

Stage 2: The HMS Chevys made some good adjustments and contested for the lead. But once again, Hamlin was unstoppable as he won the second stage.

Final Stage: It almost looked like the Toyotas would kick-start their domination again in the playoffs. But Bubba Wallace and Hamlin fighting for the lead allowed Elliott to thread the needle in the final corner.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Denny Hamlin had been recovering from last week's controversy. Early on in the race, it felt as if the veteran driver had made his peace with Ty Gibbs and focused on the playoffs. With back-to-back stage wins and the most laps led, it looked like a strong comeback for the #11 team.

Then came the late race restarts and overtime finish. Ideally, manufacturers help each other out in such scenarios, but in the playoffs, every man is for themselves. 23XI Racing got itself out of the ditch and saw both Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick find themselves within touching distance of a win.

On the final overtime restart, four of the top 5 cars were Toyotas. Wallace led the field while Christopher Bell was on his outside. Hamlin wasn’t in the mix as he lost his lead because of bad pit stop. The script flipped on the final lap as Hamlin, who restarted 6th, found himself on the bumper of the #23 car.

Power steering or not, he made a charge on the backstretch. Hamlin side-drafted Wallace and even ran him up the wall coming off turns 3 and 4. That was it, the JGR veteran looked set for his 60th career win, but Chase Elliott was lurking in the back. The momentum on the inside lane was strong as he dashed the #11 car out of the way to grab the checkered flag. Here, have a look at the intense finish in case you missed the real-time action.

Before Hamlin could make any sense of what had happened, the #9 Chevy was out there doing burnouts. Elliott locked himself in the Round of 8 with this victory, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for his team. Although Hamlin is more or less safe with the points situation, the same cannot be said for Wallace.

Kansas was perhaps the best place for playoff drivers to secure their advance to the Round of 8. No team wants to head into the Charlotte Roval weekend in a must-win situation. Yet, this has become the reality of the 23XI Racing pair, along with Austin Cindric.

The bottom four have remained relatively unchanged with Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Austin Cindric. However, the points difference has become steeper after Sunday’s race. Cindric, who was -19 coming into Kansas, stares at cutting down a 48-point deficit in the last spot. Not a good look for the Penske team, which struggled the entire week.

Reddick is just above Cindric and will have to cut a 29-point difference. This is a must-win situation, as it hard to see all the playoff cars could have a bad day at Roval. Top-10 finishes just won’t cut it for the #45 team. Then we have Bubba Wallace and the #23 team, who could’ve avoided being in this position had it not been for their team owner’s sketchy last-lap run.

Wallace is sitting in the 10th spot and will have to close down the 26-point gap or book his spot in the next round with a win. The 23XI Racing driver tried his best not to stir another controversy involving Hamlin. But he certainly sounded off in this post-race interview.

Ross Chastain, sitting right under the cutline, needs a clean race. Stage points and a top 5 finish could be enough for him to survive the chaos and get the reset. Keep an eye out for Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe as they are going to be directly affected by a positive result from the bottom four drivers. Logano is right on the bubble with a buffer of 13 points, which can be chalked off in a single stage or a wreck.

Meanwhile, Briscoe is +21, in a little comfortable position, provided he finishes the race clean and inside the top 10.

Continue Reading: Kansas Empty Seats Expose NASCAR’s Scheduling Problem

Strategy calls from Alan Gustafson and the #9 team have been under scrutiny this year. Be it an unlucky yellow or just a pit strategy gone wrong, Elliott’s results have suffered massively. Before this wild crash by Zane Smith, where his car was riding on two wheels on the wall, the script seemed to repeat itself for the #9 team.

Most of the teams opted for a two-tire call, but Gustafson decided to do things differently and opted for four fresh Goodyear tires. Heading into overtime in 8th place isn’t ideal for a win, yet the grip on these four tires made all the difference for his last lap charge. Elliott struggled for grip initially, but things worked out for him on the final green-white checkered.

In the post-race interview, he explained how this strategy call allowed him to stage the last-lap move for the win.

Christopher Bell was another driver who looked like a real threat throughout the race. He could’ve used similar tactics like Hamlin to get past Wallace or even the #11 car. But, with enough points in the bag, the driver felt he did his job at Kansas with a solid top 5 finish.

“We are doing a really good job of controlling what we can control and getting good finishes out of it and we are running well too. I’m excited about the Roval. We’ve been really excited about the road courses, and we have some breathing room, so it should be a lot of fun,” Bell said after the race.

Kansas has to be a disappointing result for Denny Hamlin. Having braved the mechanical failure, he looked set for a solid points day himself. But he wanted more. With a historic 60th Cup win on the line, he chose his personal milestone over his race team’s chances of making it into the playoffs. Wallace winning at Kansas with a solid P2 would’ve been a win-win for everyone.

He left the track disappointed, trying too hard, and then falling flat is something we’ve all seen from Hamlin. “Just couldn’t finish it there on the last corner. Obviously got really, really tight with the 23, and it just got real tight, and we let the 9 win… Man, I wanted it for my dad. I wanted it for everybody. Just wanted it a little too hard.”

While this wasn’t that big of a deal like last weekend's drama, this certainly riled up Bubba Wallace, who didn’t hold back in reacting to his team owner's questionable racing tactics.

Continue Reading: Jeff Gordon Admits Playoff Pressure as HMS Faces Uphill Battle

Toyota drivers just can’t seem to help each other out, even if it is in their best interest. Now we are accustomed to seeing drivers help each other at tracks like Daytona and Talladega. But at a mile-and-a-half track like Kansas with playoff spots on the line, things can get a little hairy. But was the aggression by Hamlin on Bubba warranted?

Coming off the final corner on the money lap, Hamlin clearly ran Wallace up the racetrack. So much so that the #23 Toyota Camry made contact with the wall. This is a perfect textbook move that drivers use in tense situations. However, knowing the playoff scenario, Hamlin could’ve restrained himself and not spoiled the day for everyone involved.

He didn’t get his 60th win, nor did Wallace lock himself into the next round. In fact, it was Elliott who picked up the pieces, making the Toyota drivers look like fools. Bubba is all for hard racing, even against his Toyota teammates. But at Kansas, he felt that his team owner crossed that line. Listen to Wallace answer some tough questions in the aftermath of the race.

Well, he might have been tight-lipped in answering the question, but on the racetrack, he couldn’t control his emotions. On the cool-down lap, Wallace rolled past Hamlin’s car and showed him the finger. He didn’t care about him being his boss or team owner; in that moment, he wanted to let Hamlin know what he was feeling.

Here, watch the clip of Bubba flipping Hamlin off on the cool-down lap.

It is tough to conclude whether or not Hamlin was right in racing Wallace that hard on the final lap. But if the #23 team fails to advance to the Round of 8, this will be the moment everyone will look back at. Toyota teammates need to develop better chemistry within their group; at this rate, they are allowing their rival to make gains on them, even if they aren’t on par with the performance or the speed.

Continue Reading: Chase Elliott Admits Tire Gamble Nearly Backfired in Kansas