Ross Chastain Plays NASCAR Playoff Spoiler with Kansas Win

In less than three years, Trackhouse Racing and its drivers have gained the reputation as disrupters in NASCAR’s Cup Series, and Sunday at Kansas Speedway Ross Chastain threw a monkey wrench in the second round of the playoffs.

Chastain missed the playoffs this season, but in the Hollywood Casino 400, which kicked off the Round of 12, he defeated post-season title contender William Byron by 0.388 second. It was an ECR Engine vs. a Hendrick Engine duel that saw Chastain maintain the upper hand after taking the lead with 21 laps remaining in the 267-lap race at the 1.5-mile track.

“It’s what (team co-owner) Justin Marks bought into Trackhouse with Pitbull (team co-owner), bought into NASCAR with Trackhouse to do stuff like this, to disrupt,” a jubilant Chastain said after his first victory this season and fifth of his Cup career.

“Look, there’s been times this year where we couldn’t have disrupted the minnow pond outside of Darlington (Raceway), let alone a Cup race. To come and do this, there are times where I didn’t think after practicing, qualifying we had what it took. It didn’t feel great all day, but … it was better as the rubber went down, and the adjustments were great. Nobody has slowed us down other than ourselves, and today we were the fastest car.”

Even though Byron left Kansas with the lead in the driver standings, he wasn’t happy with his second-place finish. When the race restarted after the 10th and final caution period, leader Martin Truex Jr. took the outside lane and Chastain the inside. Byron was fourth behind Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman. Chastain grabbed the lead when Bowman tried to go between Chastain and Truex as they entered turn one. That left Byron stranded behind them.

“I feel like he (Chastain) got the restart he needed to, and I was in the second row just trying to clear those guys,” Byron said. “Once I got clear of them, my balance was OK. Just a little bit tight, but just kind of inching up on him. I needed probably … for it to be a longer run.

“Damn it! I wanted that one really bad. It just sucks! You’re so close and going to Talladega you know what that is. So, just sucks.”

Disappointment Haunts Busch

In the latter stages of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Kyle Busch appeared headed for his first victory this season. He dueled for the lead with eventual winner Ross Chastain, and took over the No. 1 position following the final green-flag stops in the 267-lap race.

Then on lap 236 disaster struck. With Chastain in second and gaining ground, Busch went to the outside of Chase Briscoe. It appeared Briscoe had gone low to give Busch the outside lane, but then Briscoe’s Ford moved up, leaving Busch a narrow opening. Busch brushed the wall and spun to the inside. He remained on the lead lap and restarted seventh, but his hopes for victory were gone.

“I am sure he (Briscoe) was racing to stay on the lead lap with whoever was in front of him,” said Busch, who led five times for 26 laps. “Granted, they have a race to run, but back in the old days when you were under 30 to go or whatever it was, lap traffic would kind of lay over and give you a lane and let the leaders race. I just wasn’t getting that, so I tried to force my hand into getting that and get to his outside. For whatever reason, it just gave all the air in all the wrong places, and I spun out.”

When Busch was asked if he thought Briscoe should have cut him a break, the 19th-place finisher replied, “It doesn’t matter what I expect. I don’t think anybody gives anyone anything anymore. It’s all take, take, take.”

Briscoe said he tried to give Busch a car width, plus a couple of inches, but he saw Busch get loose as soon as he got to the right rear of his Ford.

“It didn’t feel like I was trying to do anything,” Briscoe said. “I literally left him the top lane. These cars as soon as you get off to the right, especially here when you are running the wall, they just get really loose. I hate that we are a part of the conversation.”

Elliott Moves from Last to Top-10 Finish

Throughout practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott thought he had a cylinder issue in his Hendrick Motorsports engine.

After Elliot qualified 38th, his team changed the car’s engine. He escaped a five-car wreck on the first lap with minimal damage and spent the rest of the 267-lap race working his way through the field.

“We just had an uphill battle all day,” said Elliott, who finished ninth and found himself four points above the cutline with Joey Logano.

“Since we had a bad pit pick, ultimately, it just puts you in a bad position to lose spots on pit road. It just seemed like we would get a bunch of spots on the track, and then lose a bunch of spots on pit road. We tried to claw our way back up into the top 10, so it was nice to at least get that far.”

Xfinity Series Kick Off Playoffs

Part-time driver Aric Almirola kicked off NASCAR’s Xfinity Series playoffs at Kansas Speedway with a victory, shutting the dozen drivers seeking the championship out of acquiring a guaranteed berth in the Round of 8.

Almirola defeated series regular season champion Cole Custer by 0.660 second in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300. However, Custer assumed a five-point lead over Chandler Smith in the playoff standings. A wreck on lap 70 involving Justin Allgaier, who was seeded No. 1 entering the race, and Sheldon Creed left Allgaier 36th in the rundown and minus one below the cutline. Other drivers below the cutline are A.J. Allmendinger minus 13, Parker Kligerman minus 18 and Sammy Smith minus 23.

The second race in the playoffs is next weekend at Talladega.

Rhodes Won’t Defend Truck Series Title

Two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes’ bid for a third consecutive title ended at Kansas Speedway. Rhodes’ 22nd-place finish in Friday night’s Kubota Tractor 200 left him below the cutline when the series first round in the playoffs ended.

Also eliminated from the playoffs was Daniel Dye, who finished 27th.

Advancing into the Round of 8, which kicks off next weekend at Talladega, are Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger and Taylor Gray.

Heim won the final event in the three-race round, the only playoff driver to emerge victorious in a post-season event. Layne Riggs, who won the other two races, will probably be remembered for dislocating a shoulder during his victory lane celebration at the Milwaukee Mile in late August instead of dominating the first round of the playoffs.

Results

NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400

Kansas Speedway

1. (20) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267.

2. (6) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.

3. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.

4. (7) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.

5. (2) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 267.

6. (12) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 267.

7. (1) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 267.

8. (8) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.

9. (38) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.

10. (15) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 267.

11. (25) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.

12. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.

13. (10) Daniel Suarez (P), Chevrolet, 267.

14. (5) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.

15. (27) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 267.

16. (37) Ryan Preece, Ford, 267.

17. (13) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267.

18. (24) Noah Gragson, Ford, 267.

19. (3) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 267.

20. (30) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 267.

21. (32) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 267.

22. (26) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.

23. (28) Harrison Burton, Ford, 267.

24. (9) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, 267.

25. (4) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 267.

26. (11) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.

27. (33) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267.

28. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267.

29. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.

30. (31) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 267.

31. (34) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 267.

32. (14) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 267.

33. (23) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266.

34. (17) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 263.

35. (16) Erik Jones, Toyota, 263.

36. (35) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, 257.

37. (36) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 118.

38. (29) Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 0.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.294 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory: .388 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 10 for 47 laps.

Lead Changes: 30 among 15 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Bell (P) 1-21;*. Yeley(i) 22;C. Bell (P) 23-72;W. Byron (P) 73-82;D. Hamlin (P) 83;J. Logano (P) 84-86;W. Byron (P) 87-100;T. Gibbs 101;K. Busch 102-105;C. Bell (P) 106-141;R. Blaney (P) 142-144;C. Bell (P) 145;Z. Smith # 146-148;C. Bell (P) 149-161;A. Bowman (P) 162-167;T. Gibbs 168-171;C. Hocevar # 172-176;R. Chastain 177-202;K. Busch 203;R. Chastain 204;K. Busch 205-210;T. Reddick (P) 211-217;C. Bell (P) 218;B. Keselowski 219;K. Busch 220-224;R. Chastain 225;K. Busch 226-235;R. Chastain 236-238;B. Keselowski 239-241;M. Truex Jr. 242-246;R. Chastain 247-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Christopher Bell (P) 6 times for 122 laps; Ross Chastain 5 times for 52 laps; Kyle Busch 5 times for 26 laps; William Byron (P) 2 times for 24 laps; Tyler Reddick (P) 1 time for 7 laps; Alex Bowman (P) 1 time for 6 laps; Ty Gibbs 2 times for 5 laps; Carson Hocevar # 1 time for 5 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 5 laps; Brad Keselowski 2 times for 4 laps; Zane Smith # 1 time for 3 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Joey Logano (P) 1 time for 3 laps; * JJ Yeley(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,22,12,11,20,54,2,19,48,77

Stage #2 Top Ten: 48,54,12,24,6,77,8,19,9,14

Updated Playoff Standings

After one of three Round of 12 races:

William Byron 3,074

Ryan Blaney 3,068

Christopher Bell 3,068

Kyle Larson 3,058

Denny Hamlin 3,051

Alex Bowman 3,048

Chase Elliott 3,044

Joey Logano 3,044

Tyler Reddick 3,040

Daniel Suarez 3,030

Chase Briscoe 3,019

Austin Cindric 3,015