Denny Hamlin wins final race in Round of 12
For the fifth time this season, Denny Hamlin — driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota — pulled into victory lane in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this past Sunday.
Winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the 38-year-old driver made a case for himself as the championship favorite heading into the Round of 8.
“It’s step by step, week by week,” Hamlin said post-race. “I’m not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We concentrate every week as if it’s the most important one. This win here kind of shows that.”
Hamlin entered Kansas Speedway — the final race in the Round of 12 — in a pretty comfortable position. 56 points above the cutoff line, it would take a calamitous race for him not to advance.
That was never an issue. Hamlin had by far the dominant car, leading 153 of the eventual 277 laps (the originally scheduled distance was 267 laps). In fact, after winning Stage 2, Hamlin locked himself into the next round regardless of where he ultimately finished.
Now the series heads to one of Hamlin’s best tracks, Martinsville Speedway, where the he has accrued five wins in 27 starts, finishing fifth and second in his last two starts at the track.
Martinsville, along with the other two tracks in the Round of 8, Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway, will determine the four drives who will race for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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Chase Elliott knocks Brad Keselowski out of playoff contention
Heading into Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, 12 drivers were still in playoff contention.
By the time the race was over, however, only eight were still in play.
Such was the case as the Round of 12 came to an end, meaning four drivers would see their 2019 championship hopes fade away.
The last driver in was Joey Logano. The first out was Alex Bowman. Logano had an 18-point advantage over Bowman ahead of Sunday’s race — far from a “comfortable” position, but certainly manageable enough for the defending champion.
However, as Bowman experienced trouble early on, it became clear that the last playoff spot was going to come down to Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski.
Though Logano had troubles of his own, it was mostly Keselowski and Elliott who were exchanging spots on the playoff grid as the laps ticked off.
Keselowski went into the race in a similar position to Team Penske teammate Logano, with a 20-point advantage over Bowman. Though the driver of the No. 2 was in the top five for much of the first couple of stages, contact with Erik Jones in the final stage damaged his racecar.
Both Keselowski and Jones were able to continue, but the damage caused handling issues and Keselowski was unable to continue challenging the leaders.
At one point going a lap down, Keselowski was involved in a late-race crash, and knew he was in trouble. Elliott was running in the top five, challenging for the lead, so finishing outside the top 15, or worse, was not an option if the No. 2 team wanted to keep their championship hopes alive.
Keselowski’s crew chief Paul Wolfe made one last-ditch effort to gain track position, pitting for fresh tires and hoping that the No. 2 would be able to gain some much-needed ground this way.
It didn’t quite work out that way. Elliott finished in the second position, and Keselowski finished 19th after scraping the wall during the final restart.
Three points cost Keselowski his chance at a second title.
“We didn’t make it,” Keselowski said post-race. “I pushed as hard as I knew how and didn’t quite do good enough on the last restart and that was it. We clawed as hard as we could and there were times it looked like we were going to be fine and times it didn’t. In the end it didn’t work out.”
Elliott, on the other hand, made a legitimate run at the victory, though he wasn’t able to outrun the dominant Hamlin.
Still, it was good enough for him to continue working towards his first career Cup Series title.
Elliott will compete against Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Logano in the Round of 8.
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Logano hangs on to playoff berth by skin of his teeth
Joey Logano entered the final race of the Round of 12 with only an 18-point advantage over Alex Bowman at a track where the driver of the No. 22 had previously earned two career victories.
Piece of cake, right? Have a nice, quiet day somewhere in the top 10 and cruise on through to the next round.
He made it — but just barely.
Logano qualified in the 29th position — not good for his playoff position — and struggled to work his way through the field, ultimately making an unscheduled stop due to a vibration (later discovered to be a loose wheel).
The No. 22 driver used pit strategy to come back and win Stage 1, but was now off cycle with the rest of the leaders. He ran in the back half of the top 10 and top 15 for much of the race, which would have been good enough, but ran into trouble in the last few laps of the race.
In the first NASCAR overtime attempt, a collision between Logano’s teammate Keselowski and Daniel Suarez turned into a five-car incident, including Logano.
The damage to Logano’s right front was significant, and he headed to pit road.
The crew was able to repair just enough of the damage for Logano to continue, and he held on for a 17th-place finish, good for a nine-point advantage over the cutoff line, and moving the No. 22 team on to the Round of 8.
“We needed every point we could and it looked like we were in a good spot,” said Logano. “Next thing you know they are wrecking on the outside and I get hit and I am going through the grass. I felt comfortable before that but the next thing you know – I am watching it here on the replay for the first time – I didn’t hit anything so I got lucky for sure.
“I have been lucky a few times,” Logano continued. “We were able to finish Talladega and I parked the thing and there was a hole in the radiator. It was hard fought and blue collar round for sure. We just have to smooth it out a little bit. We need to not have as much carnage out there and finish some of these things. On to the next round. We get to reset, thank God. We will fight from there.”
Logano had already had a tumultuous Round of 12, starting in Dover where the team wasn’t even able to take the green flag due to a mechanical issue, followed by Talladega where they got caught up in an accident.
While the last few races have put this team through the ringer, Logano heads to the Round of 8 and three tracks where he has previously had success.
If they can keep their nose clean, maybe, just maybe, the No. 22 team will have a shot at defending their title in Homestead.