{"id":189772,"date":"2025-09-29T12:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T12:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/189772\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T12:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T12:06:07","slug":"elliott-surges-as-hamlin-collides-with-wallace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/189772\/","title":{"rendered":"Elliott Surges as Hamlin Collides with Wallace"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just one race left before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8, the pressure is rising, and so are the number of wild on-track moments. Kansas Speedway delivered yet another unforgettable and chaotic finish<\/a>, which turned out to be a gut-wrenching twist for Bubba Wallace<\/a>. And it was a crucial win for Chase Elliott, who rocketed from 10th to 1st on the final restart of the day.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin’s aggressive pursuit of his 60th win left fans (and his 23XI Racing driver) shaking their heads, while several big names either stumbled or clawed their way back into the Playoff picture.<\/p>\n

Race Results: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas<\/a><\/p>\n

This week’s Power Rankings reflect the wild swings we saw on track at Kansas Speedway.<\/p>\n

Christopher Bell quietly continues to look like a title favorite, while Elliott seems to be surging at the right time. With the ROVAL looming, everyone on the Playoff bubble knows that one mistake could end their championship dreams. At the same time, non-Playoff contenders are starting to step up as they try to build momentum for the 2026 season. Without further ado, here are the power rankings exiting Kansas and entering the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.<\/p>\n

1. Christopher Bell<\/p>\n

Another solid run for Christopher Bell might actually have the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE in the shadows when it comes to their chances at a NASCAR Cup Series championship. Runs like this will go a long way in seeing that Bell returns to the Championship 4 in 2025 after a Martinsville scandal shut them out last season. (Previously: 2nd)<\/p>\n

2. Chase Elliott<\/p>\n

Electric. That’s the only word that can be used to describe Chase Elliott’s drive in the closing laps of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, a race he won despite restarting from 10th spot in double overtime. Elliott’s second win of the season marks the third top-five finish in his last four starts. (Previously: 7th)<\/p>\n

3. Chase Briscoe<\/p>\n

The speed has returned to the Joe Gibbs Racing camp, and Chase Briscoe is back to securing base hits with a top-five result at Kansas Speedway. Briscoe isn\u2019t locked in to the next round of the Playoffs, by any stretch of the imagination, but without a major issue the No. 19 should be advancing. (Previously: 4th)<\/p>\n

4. Denny Hamlin<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been an interesting couple of weeks for Denny Hamlin. In New Hampshire, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wrecked his teammate Ty Gibbs<\/a> over frustration about how he had been raced. Then, this weekend at Kansas, Hamlin drove Bubba Wallace (the car he owns, by the way) into the wall trying to get a win \u2013 and came up short. Puzzling. (Previously: 6th)<\/p>\n

5. Ryan Blaney<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney crashed in practice on Saturday and didn\u2019t even set a qualifying lap, starting last in the 37-car field at Kansas. He ultimately finished 24th, undoubtedly grateful that his New Hampshire win<\/a> eliminated any playoff implications from his Kansas weekend. (Previously: 1st)<\/p>\n

6. William Byron<\/p>\n

Obviously, Chase Elliott will be regarded as the driver, who parlayed the most out of the late race restarts in Kansas, but boy, how fortunate is William Byron that things got a bit crazy at the end of the race? He went from a guy, who was going to be lucky to finish mid-20s, to a top-10 finish. (Previously: 5th)<\/p>\n

7. Kyle Larson<\/p>\n

It was a solid, solid day for Kyle Larson at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet led 48 laps, and honestly, ran better than his sixth-place finish indicates. Still, the momentum is trending in the right direction, and Larson nabbed his 18th top-10 finish of the season, which matches his total in each of the last two seasons. (Previously: 9th)<\/p>\n

8. Joey Logano<\/p>\n

Considering how his Saturday went, Joey Logano\u2019s Sunday at Kansas has to feel like a bit of a moral victory. A flat tire in practice set back the No. 22 team, and he qualified 35th. He earned stage points in both stages before being collected in a lap 218 incident, and still recovered to finish 21st. (Previously: 3rd)<\/p>\n

9. Tyler Reddick<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick was in the mix for the win late in the race and came away with a seventh-place finish. The downside, however, is that he didn\u2019t earn any stage points and didn\u2019t make up much ground on the cutoff for the Round of 8 in spite of his top 10 finish. He\u2019ll be looking for a win at the ROVAL. (Previously: 12th)<\/p>\n

10. Bubba Wallace<\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace went from battling for the win to fifth on the chaotic final lap at Kansas, and that could be a season-defining last lap. A win would have pushed him into the round of 8. Now, 26 points below the cutoff, he\u2019ll need either good fortune or a win at the ROVAL to move on. (Previously: 15th)<\/p>\n

11. Ross Chastain<\/p>\n

Ross Chastain was hoping to find something like the Coca-Cola 600, or even last Fall\u2019s event at Kansas Speedway, this weekend, but instead, an average 11th-place finish was all the Trackhouse Racing driver could muster \u2013 leaving him below the cutline going to the ROVAL. (Previously: 11th)<\/p>\n

12. Brad Keselowski<\/p>\n

Where the hell did Brad Keselowski come from? No, seriously? The guy was a lap down for a large portion of the event, and ran outside the top-25 for a good long bit. In the end, he got his lap back, charged through the field, and it was Keselowski, who actually gave the race-winning shove to Chase Elliott heading into the final lap. Wild. (Previously: 13th)<\/p>\n

13. Chris Buescher<\/p>\n

I think everyone, Chris Buescher included, expected more than a 15th-place result Sunday at Kansas. But it was another decent outing for the RFK Racing driver, who will now look to nab his first win of the season at the ROVAL next weekend. (Previously: 10th)<\/p>\n

14. Carson Hocevar<\/p>\n

Carson Hocevar took the scening route to a 29th-place finish at Kansas, involved in multiple incidents throughout the race. It breaks up a nice string of four straight races inside the top 15, including the Xfinity Fastest Lap award one week ago at New Hampshire. (Previously: 8th)<\/p>\n

15. Michael McDowell<\/p>\n

Another workmanlike day for Michael McDowell saw the driver of the No. 71 rally from a lap down to a 14th-place finish. They\u2019ve rarely come easy for the veteran driver this year, but there is no quit in him or his Spire Motorsports team. (Previously: 17th)<\/p>\n

16. Ryan Preece<\/p>\n

An early race incident with John Hunter Nemechek caused damage to Preece’s car, which led to the driver dropping two laps to the leaders and he would be credited with a 26th-place finish. (Previously: 14th)<\/p>\n

17. Erik Jones<\/p>\n

Erik Jones was good early, got mired in the pack mid-race, and rebounded for a solid 16th-place finish. It isn’t a win, but if 16th-place runs are the disappointing weeks for the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver, it shows the progress that the No. 43 team has made this year. (Previously: 23rd)<\/p>\n

18. Alex Bowman<\/p>\n

The rocky season continues for Alex Bowman as the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the lone HMS finisher outside the top-10 on Sunday at Kansas. Bowman finished a disappointing 28th. (Previously: 16th)<\/p>\n

19. Shane van Gisbergen<\/p>\n

That\u2019s two weeks in a row that Shane Van Gisbergen has shown legitimate pace on an oval, finishing 10th Sunday at Kansas Speedway. The Auckland, New Zealand-native doesn\u2019t appear to be far from mastering the science of oval racing in NASCAR. (Previously: 31st)<\/p>\n

20. Todd Gilliland<\/p>\n

Todd Gilliland has now scored back-to-back top-20 results after getting his Dean\u2019s Dip Ford Mustang Dark Horse into 12th when the checkered flag dropped at Kansas Speedway. It\u2019s the best result of the three Front Row Motorsports drivers. (Previously: 29th)<\/p>\n

21. Ty Gibbs<\/p>\n

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things is not like the rest. While his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates scored top-fives, Ty Gibbs found himself finishing a dismal 25th in his No. 54 \u2013 after never really getting higher than the back-half of the top-10 all afternoon. (Previously: 19th)<\/p>\n

22. Kyle Busch<\/p>\n

Considering how far off Kyle Busch was speed-wise for a large portion of the race, and considering he had a tire carcass fly off to cause a caution on Lap 253, and needed a free pass on Lap 260 to get back on the lead lap going into Overtime, it’s actually incredible that he finished 19th. It’s not good by any means, but better than it could have been, for sure. (Previously: 27th)<\/p>\n

23. Noah Gragson<\/p>\n

Noah Gragson and the No. 4 team continue to find some solid speed in the NASCAR Cup Series week after week, but the finishes aren\u2019t materializing in the way that the third-year driver would like. P23 again, leaves his average over the last six races at 24th. (Previously: 26th)<\/p>\n

24. Austin Cindric<\/p>\n

Collected in the lap 218 multi-car incident, Austin Cindric finished 30th at Kansas. Consider the ROVAL a must-win for Cindric\u2019s playoff hopes as he sits 48 points below the cutoff following the Hollywood Casino 400. (Previously: 21st)<\/p>\n

25. John Hunter Nemechek<\/p>\n

Boy, John Hunter Nemechek triggered two incidents on Sunday, the second one was of the more spectacular variety as he single-handedly sent Zane Smith up on to the outside retaining wall. No easy feat. Nemechek would finish 32nd on what was a rough afternoon. (Previously: 18th)<\/p>\n

26. Austin Dillon<\/p>\n

Austin Dillon finished 27th at Kansas, and before you start complaining about how bad of a finish that is, Dillon actually ran worse than that for most of the day. The rally to finish 27th, two laps down, was actually a decent recovery all things considered. (Previously: 22nd)<\/p>\n

27. Justin Haley<\/p>\n

With an 18th-place finish at Kansas, it\u2019s two top-20s in the last three races for Justin Haley. It isn\u2019t glamorous, but it\u2019s the kind of run Haley has needed to close out his 2025 season on a high note. (Previously: 30th)<\/p>\n

28. Zane Smith<\/p>\n

I swear, everything that can happen in a season of bad luck has happened to Zane Smith, including ending up on his side riding along the SAFER Barrier in Turn 3. Whenever the world decides Smith has paid his debts, he\u2019ll be a consistent top-10 runner. (Previously: 24th)<\/p>\n

29. Josh Berry<\/p>\n

The runner-up finish for Josh Berry at New Hampshire meant he had turned his bad luck around, right? Nah. Berry was collected in the overtime crash that saw Zane Smith go tumbling down the banking and finished 33rd. (Previously: 20th)<\/p>\n

30. AJ Allmendinger<\/p>\n

AJ Allmendinger probably doesn\u2019t want to see Kansas Speedway any time soon. In the spring, he made just six laps and finished 38th after an engine issue. On Sunday, he finished 36th after being involved in the lap 218 fracas. (Previously: 25th)<\/p>\n

31. Ty Dillon<\/p>\n

Snapping a long slide of disappointing results, Ty Dillon finished 13th at Kansas. He qualified 33rd to start the weekend, but battled back for a solid finish in the Hollywood Casino 400. (Previously: 35th)<\/p>\n

32. Cole Custer<\/p>\n

Nothing super crazy happened to Cole Custer on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, but a top-20 finish is exactly what the doctor ordered for Haas Factory Team, who, while improving somewhat, has still failed to secure consistent results of this caliber. (Previously: 33rd)<\/p>\n

33. Riley Herbst<\/p>\n

It\u2019s back-to-back 22nd-place finishes for Riley Herbst at Loudon and Kansas after his 18th-place finish at Bristol. After a trying 2025 season, it\u2019s a step in the right direction for the No. 35 team. (Previously: 32nd)<\/p>\n

34. Daniel Suarez<\/p>\n

After three finishes of 35th or worse, Daniel Suarez needed something to cleanse the palate of the No. 99 Chevrolet heading into the final five events of his tenure driving for Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. (Previously: 34th)<\/p>\n

35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.<\/p>\n

Things were looking so good early in the race for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., even running as high as the top-five at various points throughout the race. However, a wreck in the final stage totally derailed any hope that HYAK Motorsports had of getting a good finish. (Previously: 28th)<\/p>\n

36. Cody Ware<\/p>\n

Cody Ware’s day was over before it really had a chance to begin. The driver suffered a flat tire on Lap 55, which sent him hard into the Turn 4 wall, and it ended his day. Ware finished dead-last in 37th. (Previously: 36th)<\/p>\n

Recommended Articles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just one race left before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8, the pressure is rising,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[425,99],"class_list":["post-189772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}