Chase Elliott survives wild overtime to win Kansas playoff race
- CEM
- Sep 28, 2025
- 2 min read
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service //
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — In the last few feet of race track in the second overtime Sunday afternoon, Chase Elliott came from oblivion to steal the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET and earn a berth in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
As his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sped wide open through the final corner on Lap 273 at Kansas Speedway, Elliott’s car bounced off the side of Denny Hamlin’s Toyota on the way to the finish line.
RELATED: Official results | At-track photos
Elliott, who restarted eighth for the final two-lap shootout, got to the stripe 0.069 seconds ahead of Hamlin, who led 159 laps and drove the final stretch of the second Round of 12 playoff race without benefit of power steering.
“Everything worked out perfect for me,” said Elliott, who picked up his second win of the season, his second at Kansas and the 21st of his career. “Had a great push through (Turns) 1 and 2. That kind of all started with the 6 (Brad Keselowski). Big run off of 2. Seas kind of parted and just was able to keep my momentum up. That was really it …
“I wasn’t going to lift, so I didn’t know what was going to happen. I figured at the end of the day, it was what it was at that point. We were both wide open corner exit. Wherever I ended up, I ended up. At that point, we were all committed.”
Hamlin was spent after man-handling his car around the 1.5-mile track in the closing laps of the race.
“Just super disappointing,” said Hamlin, who swept the first and second stages. “I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 (career victories) for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car, just really, really fast.
“Gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. Just couldn’t finish it there on the last corner.”
The good news for Hamlin is that he increased his margin over the current playoff cut line to 48 points entering next Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Barring disaster, Hamlin is all but assured of advancing to the Round of 8.
Christopher Bell finished third, followed by pole winner Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace, who led the field to green for the final overtime restart but faded to fifth after battling side-by-side with Hamlin on the final lap.
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I like the background to this race coming from eighth in a wild overtime finish to steal the win and lock into the Round of 8 shows just how unpredictable and exciting NASCAR can be! The way Elliott kept his composure under pressure made this one of the most memorable playoff moments of the season.
What an incredible finish Chase Elliott pulled off a dramatic overtime win at Kansas to punch his ticket into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs! His late-race charge from deep in the field made for one of the season’s most exciting moments on the track. If you’re also polishing up photos from today’s race or your own highlights, check out https://airbrush.com/image-extender to easily extend and enhance your images for sharing.
Amazing finish by Chase Elliott — what a clutch win in overtime! Love seeing drivers battle it out like that. Also, if anyone’s switching up their look while celebrating the race, check out this hairstyle changer — it’s a fun way to try out different hair ideas in your photos!
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