Ross Chastain‘s No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet raced ahead in the second half of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, decisively beating William Byron’s Chevrolet to win the first race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Chastain took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. right after the final restart on Lap 248 at Kansas Speedway, staying ahead of Byron by 0.388 seconds, which blocked Byron’s chance to automatically move into the Round of 8.
Even though he didn’t make the playoffs this year, Chastain celebrated his first win of the season, making it his first victory at Kansas and the fifth of his career.
“For us on this 1 team, it’s what Cup racing is about,” Chastain said confidently after leading 52 laps. “This is exactly why team co-owner Justin Marks and Pitbull invested in Trackhouse and NASCAR—to create a disruption.”
Video: Ross Chastain plays NASCAR playoff spoiler
Chastain acknowledged that there were times this season when they had trouble performing, even in smaller races, which made winning a significant challenge.
“Winning today is satisfying,” he said. “I had doubts after practice and qualifying; I thought we had been better in previous races here. It didn’t feel right all day, but our Kubota Chevy improved as the track conditions changed, and our adjustments worked well.”
Byron led for 24 laps but couldn’t catch Chastain in the final laps.
“Yeah, just clean air,” Byron said. “I think he got the restart he needed while I was stuck in the second row, trying to pass people. Once I finally got clear, my car felt okay, just a bit tight. I needed a longer run in second place.”
“I really wanted that win. It’s frustrating to be so close, especially with Talladega coming up. It’s disappointing, but I’m proud of our effort.”
Truex finished third after starting in the top lane. Defending champion Ryan Blaney fought back to finish fourth after an unexpected pit stop for a loose wheel.
Ty Gibbs, who was eliminated from the playoffs at Bristol, ended up in fifth place, closely followed by playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell (the pole winner), Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott, who started from the back after changing engines in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Byron heads into next Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway leading the series with a six-point advantage over Bell and Blaney and a 34-point cushion over ninth-place Tyler Reddick, who is just below the cut line for the next round.
Hamlin and Bowman sit in fifth and sixth place in the standings, 11 and 8 points above the cutoff, respectively.
For Kyle Larson, the top seed entering the Round of 12, Sunday’s race was a troubling reminder of past issues. Like his early exit at Atlanta, Larson had a problem with his right rear tire and hit the Turn 2 wall just 19 laps into the race.
During a 56-lap green-flag run to complete Stage 1, Larson reported a vibration in his No. 5 Chevrolet, fell a lap down, and ended the stage in 35th place.
Larson got his lap back during a caution for Daniel Hemric‘s spin on Lap 143 and managed to finish 26th, leaving him in fourth place, 18 points above the cut line for the Round of 8.
Unfortunately, Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric had more issues.
Reddick, last year’s race winner, finished 25th, which puts him four points below the cutoff. Suarez finished 14th and trails Elliott and Joey Logano (both tied for eighth) by 14 points.
Briscoe struggled with his car, finishing 24th and falling 25 points behind eighth place. Cindric had damage from a spin on Lap 157 and finished four laps down in 34th, trailing Logano and Elliott by 29 points.
Kyle Busch, looking for his first win of the season and trying to keep a 19-year winning streak alive, led on Lap 26 with Chastain close behind. However, while trying to lap Briscoe, Busch’s car lost control and spun off Turn 2, causing the ninth caution.
“I understand he was racing to stay on the lead lap,” Busch said after finishing 19th. “They had their own race to run, but in the past, with under 30 laps to go, lapped traffic would give the leaders room.
“I wasn’t given that courtesy, so I tried to get to his outside, which messed up the airflow and caused my spin.”
The race featured 30 lead changes among 15 drivers, setting a new track record. Bell notably led a race-high 122 laps. Teammates Byron and Bowman won stages 1 and 2, respectively.
The series moves on to Talladega next week.
Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN Bet
Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kansas
Sunday, September 29, 2024
- (20) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267.
- (6) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.
- (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.
- (7) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.
- (2) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 267.
- (12) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 267.
- (1) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 267.
- (8) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.
- (38) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.
- (15) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 267.
- (25) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.
- (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.
- (10) Daniel Suarez (P), Chevrolet, 267.
- (5) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.
- (27) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 267.
- (37) Ryan Preece, Ford, 267.
- (13) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267.
- (24) Noah Gragson, Ford, 267.
- (3) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 267.
- (30) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 267.
- (32) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 267.
- (26) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.
- (28) Harrison Burton, Ford, 267.
- (9) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, 267.
- (4) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 267.
- (11) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.
- (33) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267.
- (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267.
- (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.
- (31) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 267.
- (34) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 267.
- (14) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 267.
- (23) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266.
- (17) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 263.
- (16) Erik Jones, Toyota, 263.
- (35) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, 257.
- (36) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 118.
- (29) Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.294 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory: .388 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 10 for 47 laps.
Lead Changes: 30 among 15 drivers.
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