Kansas City, Kan. (AP) – The chances were stacked against Chase Elliott while he was disputed eighth in overtime at Kansas Speedway in a pivot race of the Nascar qualifiers.
He had five Toyota pilots in front of him, including Denny Hamlin, who dominated Sunday until a slew of late guard cases turned the race.
Even thus, even Elliott’s crew did not think that Nascar’s most popular driver could not steal the victory and shut himself up in the third round of the playoffs.
“No. No,” said crew chief Alan Gustafson when he was asked if he thought that Elliott had a chance at the start of overtime. “I didn’t say to myself:” Oh, damn, we have a good blow. A restart couple has not made our way, and yes, you are a little frustrated.
And yet, Elliott removed it, coming from nowhere to hunt Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and the Toyotas fleet. He made a clam of door to access the checkered flag first – his second victory of the season – and the driver of Hendrick Motorsports joined Ryan Blaney while the two pilots were already locked in the third round of the Nascar qualifiers.
Elliott said he thought it was the most exciting victory for his 21 career cup victories.
“There are days and moments like today that bring a level of final excitement for everyone,” said Elliott. “I didn’t know what was going to happen more than anyone else. You live these kinds of things, you live these moments and I made fractional decisions according to the information I had in front of me at that time.
“I really think there is a level of excitement to this one that I am not sure I have lived in the Cup series to this point. Any victory, however, is great. I’m not going to complain.”
Hamlin dominated and led 159 laps until a multitude of the last numbers refused him his luck in career n ° 60 for Joe Gibbs Racing. The race had a slew of late warnings – Hamlin fell in advance at a seventh stop at the slow stand – which put Wallace in a position to win the race. A red flag stop for Zane Smith, returning his car, installed the final restart in overtime and Wallace was held firmly in a door battle with Christopher Bell for victory.
Then Hamlin came from nowhere to catch Wallace, who led for the co -ownership team with Michael Jordan, and Wallace scratched the wall as he tried to hold his boss. It was then that Elliott suddenly entered the frame and shattered Hamlin in the door to exceed him for his second victory of the season.
Elliott and Blaney are locked up in the Channel of eight of the playoffs. The field will be cut off from 12 pilots after next week’s race in Concord, in North Carolina, and Elliott said that once he was in a victory position, he did not give up.
“I thought that at the end of the day, that was what he was at that time,” said Elliott. “Everywhere I found myself, I found myself.”
Hamlin finished second and was clearly discouraged by defeat. The triple winner of Daytona 500 is considered the biggest pilot to never win a cup title and needs victory to lock his place in the next round of the playoffs. He also has a victory for the 60th Cup as a major career goal and is blocked on 59 victories.
He led the last 50 laps and more with his power steering on the Fritz.
“Just super disappointing. I wanted it to be bad. It would have been 60 for me,” said Hamlin. “Obviously, he is really very tight with (Wallace), and he became very tight and we let (Elliott) win. Dude, I wanted it for my father. I wanted it for everyone. I just wanted it a little too hard.”
Hamlin followed his teammates JGR Bell and Chase Briscoe, who were third and fourth.
Wallace ended fifth and even if the victory would have pushed him more deeply in the playoffs than ever in his career, he was satisfied given the malice of his car earlier in the race. He was not even angry with Hamlin and shook his boss’s hand on Pit Road.
“To have even a shot to victory with the way we started … You could have mistaken me. We were not good,” said Wallace. “Two years ago, I would probably say something stupid (about Hamlin). He is a stupid for this decision. I don’t care if my boss is or not. But we are going for victory. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there.”
Elliott, in a chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was the only non-toyota driver in the top five.
Four lower
The four pilots in danger of elimination of the playoffs on Sunday at the race next Sunday are Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Wallace.
Red Reddick
Reddick ran on Sunday and finished seventh, a few hours after his wife revealed on social networks that their newborn son was despite several months.
Alexa Reddick posted that she was in the cardiovascular intensive care unit in a North Carolina hospital with a recruit, the couple’s second son born in May, working to improve their “heart function”. She wrote that she was looking for medical care for the recruit for some time without obtaining concrete answers for what seemed to be “signs of heart failure that were missed.
“Always trust your mom,” she added.
The next
An elimination of the playoffs during Hybrid Oval / Road at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Kyle Larson won a year ago.
