How about that?
The intensity of the Cup Series Playoffs doesn’t get any better and there will be drama leading in and throughout elimination weekend as the circuit returns to North Carolina with the Round of 12 elimination race next Sunday at the Charlotte Roval (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). From a dominant performance that went for naught to a thrilling overtime finish, let’s take a closer look at playoff drivers who improved their footing at Kansas Speedway and who will need to rally before the Roval.
WINNER
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. One of the prime examples of ‘where did he come from?’ After taking four tires on the final stop, the 2020 series champion found himself in the latter half of the top 10. It was already a great points day for the No. 9 team, but they were given a gift as another yellow forced double OT and Elliott sliced through four Toyotas, contacting Denny Hamlin off Turn 4 to score his second win of 2025. Elliott joins Ryan Blaney in the Round of 8 and both can just sit back and watch the chaos unfold on the left- and right-turn Charlotte course next Sunday.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Kansas
WHO’S HOT?
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. On paper, it was a near-perfect day for the No. 11 team. They led a race-high 159 laps and swept both stages. However, multiple drivers took the fight for the lead to Hamlin all race long and Hamlin reported steering issues as the race wound down. Pit-road demons also reared their ugly head, but through it all, the 44-year-old put himself in a position to take the checkered flag on the final lap. A tight car in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 resulted in Hamlin putting his co-owned No. 23 car into the wall and Elliott had the momentum to side swipe the No. 11 and pass Hamlin at the checkered flag with a narrow 0.069-second victory.
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota. Kansas is going to be a what-could-have-been for Wallace as a victory slipped through his grasp on the final corner. An ill-handling race car from the jump mired Wallace outside the top 15 for most of Stage 1, but the No. 23 pit crew worked on the car throughout the race to put Wallace in a position to score points in Stage 2, and ultimately, a shot at a ticket to the Round of 8. Despite the top-five result, Wallace only gained a point on the cutline and a 26-point deficit ahead of the Roval is going to be near must-win territory.
WHO’S NOT?
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. A ninth-place finish rarely gets you down here, but Byron had a miserable Sunday at Kansas minus what the end result says. The Regular Season Champion ran outside the top 20 and was nowhere close to competitive at the 1.5-mile oval, nearly falling a lap down on multiple occasions. However, a handful of late cautions put Byron in a position to maximize the result and hold a 40-point cushion heading to the Roval where he’s scored consecutive top-five results.
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford. A disastrous Saturday looked like it would be a setup for failure during the race, but a special from crew chief Paul Wolfe to put on two tires for a late Stage 1 restart gave Logano second life as he took four points in the first two stages. However, Logano was collected in a multicar incident on Lap 218 that knocked his result down to 21st. Logano has just a 13-point cushion on Ross Chastain at the playoff cutline, but the three-time champ’s Roval numbers are pretty stout with an 8.6 average finish.
BUBBLE WATCH
| RANK | DRIVER | +/- |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | +48 |
| 5 | Christopher Bell | +44 |
| 6 | William Byron | +40 |
| 7 | Chase Briscoe | +21 |
| 8 | Joey Logano | +13 |
| CUTLINE | ||
| 9 | Ross Chastain | -13 |
| 10 | Bubba Wallace | -26 |
| 11 | Tyler Reddick | -29 |
| 12 | Austin Cindric | -48 |
NASCAR INSIGHTS
Thirty-fifth place. According to NASCAR Insights, Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 pit crew had the third-worse day at Kansas, which found Reddick restarting at the rear of field on multiple occasions. Reddick still managed to finish seventh, but goes to an elimination race minus-29 to the cutline where he may need a victory to advance. If Reddick is to win at the Roval, he’ll need his pit crew to pick up the slack and have better communication on who’s pitting around him to avoid the same mistakes from Sunday.
QUOTABLE
“Just mechanical failures and different things have really hindered us in years past. 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.”. — Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, on the difficulty of solving Kansas.
NEXT RACE
It’s time to cut four more drivers and build out the semifinal round of the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs. The Charlotte Roval has produced its fair share of drama and walk-off winners from beneath the cutline. Coming off a Kansas top 10, Shane van Gisbergen will no doubt be a favorite to play spoiler, while 2023 Roval winner AJ Allmendinger will look to do the same. Of the playoff drivers not locked into the Round of 8 just yet, only Kyle Larson and Bell own victories at the road course/oval hybrid.
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