‘I Wasn’t Gonna Lift’: NASCAR’s 2020 Champion Rips Kansas Win Away from Hamlin, Wallace
After a wild 400 miles that saw Denny Hamlin battle mechanical issues, pit stop follies, and Zane Smith ride the wall in turns three and four, it was Chase Elliott who got the overtime win in Kansas. This was Elliott’s second win of the season after he broke through in Atlanta in the regular season. He has now punched his ticket straight to the Round of Eight in the NASCAR Playoffs. Hamlin swept the opening stages, but his mechanical problems and a poor pit stop took him out of contention. Overall, it was a dominant day for the Toyota camp, with five cars finishing in the top seven.
Toyota’s Crazy Day
The day started with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Hamlin on the front row. Briscoe soon fell back, and though he ran near the front the whole day, he just didn’t have race-winning speed. Hamlin did, however. He fought off Elliott and Christopher Bell to sweep the stages. It was looking well for Hamlin to win until he told his crew that he was losing power steering. On a restart with 51 laps to go, Hamlin had to wrestle the car the rest of the way, but he had the lead. Unfortunately for Hamlin, an issue with the jack on a pit stop under caution a few laps later caused him to fall from first to seventh, ultimately ending his shot to win. Hamlin finished
For 23XI, it had its own problems early in the race. Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace had poor races the week prior in New Hampshire and entered Kansas 23 and 27 points below the cutline, respectively. A pit road mishap for Reddick near the end of stage one put the No. 45 car in a bad spot with poor track position. Reddick didn’t waiver and made his way through the pack in stage two and ultimately found himself in the top 10 early in the final stage. On the final overtime restart, Reddick lined up on the inside of row two, behind Wallace, and brought it home for a seventh-place finish. Reddick leaves Kansas 29 points below the cutline, heading to next week’s race at the Charlotte Roval, the only road course in the playoffs.
Wallace found himself with a shot to get to the front of the field in the middle of stage two. He worked his way up to fourth on lap 105 and kept the car up there for a while. Wallace took the lead under pit cycles a few laps later, but Hamlin ultimately tracked him down. It wasn’t until the waning moments that Wallace claimed the lead again. He led the field to the green flag for the final two restarts, and though he moved Bell out of the way, Hamlin did the same to Wallace on the final lap. It pushed both near the wall, and Hamlin finished second, while Wallace placed fifth. Wallace sits 26 points below the cutline.
Chase Elliott Steals the Show
For the whole race, Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson were in the shadow of the Toyotas up front. He found the lead at the beginning of the final stage, but Hamlin took it back moments later on lap 196. Elliott hung around and pitted late for four fresh tires after the two late cautions in the race. On the final restart, Elliott restarted on the outside of row five, in 10th place. As the Toyotas up front fought for position, Elliott carved his way through, cutting inside and outside to reel in the leaders. When Hamlin and Wallace made contact, Elliott hit Hamlin’s door off the final corner and hammered home for the win. In his post-race interview, Elliott said that he wasn’t going to lift when Hamlin came down in the final turn.
