Chase Elliott Scores Surprise Win In Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

Chase Elliott capitalized on a hectic overtime restart, moving from fifth to first on the final lap to win the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Elliott restarted on the cusp of a top-10 finish ahead of the overtime restart, set up by a multi-car incident which included Zane Smith flipping in turns three and four after contact with John Hunter Nemechek.

Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell lined up on the front row for the restart, and battled fiercely for the top spot. That opened the door for Denny Hamlin, Bell's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and co-owner of 23XI Racing which fields Wallace's No. 23.

Race Results: NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

The final lap saw Wallace and Hamlin make contact in turns three and four battling for the top spot, sending both cars towards the outside wall. This opened the door for Chase Elliott to sneak by both drivers on the inside line.

Hamlin and Elliott raced side-by-side to the finish line, with Elliott taking the win by 0.069 seconds ahead of Hamlin. It capped an improbable comeback on the final two laps of the race for the Dawsonville, Georgia driver.

"Everything worked out perfect for me," said Elliott in his post-race interview on the USA Network. "I had a great push through one and two that kind of all started with the 6 [of Brad Keselowski].

"Big run off of two, the seas kind of parted, and I was just able to keep my momentum up. That was really it. Obviously, we had pretty good tires, compared to those guys, but what a crazy win.

"I wasn't going to lift," Elliott continued. "I didn't know what was going to happen, but at the end of the day, it was what it was at that point. We were both wide open, corner exit. Wherever I ended up, I ended up at that point. We were all committed. It was really cool, just to restart 10th and somehow win it on a green-white-checkered was pretty neat."

With the victory, Elliott is guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. It is the second win of the season for the 2020 series champion, capping off a weekend that saw Elliott qualify fourth ahead of Sunday's race.

"I'm really proud of our team. We had a really solid weekend. Win or no win, it was nice to qualify really well. We'll certainly enjoy this, man. Pretty cool, you know. You never take this stuff for granted, because they're hard to come by. Always enjoy it, always appreciate it."

While Elliott celebrated his win, Hamlin and Wallace both lamented seeing a victory slip from their grasp.

"It's just super disappointing, obviously," said Hamlin. "It would have been 60 [career wins] for me. The team just did an amazing job on the car. Really, really fast, gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. I just couldn't finish it there on the last corner.

"It got really, really tight with the 23, and I just got real tight. We let the 9 win."

"To even have a shot at the win with the way we started, I told [Steve] Post, you could have fooled me," said Wallace, who finished fifth. "We were not good. We missed it on fire-off speed. I just really appreciate the team.

"Two years ago, I'd probably say something dumb. I mean, he's a dumbass for that move, for sure. I don't care if he's my boss or not. But we were going for the win. I hate that. We gave it to Chevrolet there. Toyotas were super fast and proud to be driving one."

Hamlin also battled a lack of power steering near the end of the race, adding to the deflating sensation of missing out on the win after leading 159 of the race's 273 laps.

"Mechanical failures and different things have really hindered us in years past," said Hamlin." We had no power steering that last run and low voltage. A lot of things. It's just disappointing because I don't think I've ever had a car that good to the competition. I wanted it for my dad, I wanted it for everybody. I wanted it a little too hard."

Chase Elliott joins New Hampshire winner Ryan Blaney in the field for the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. One race remains in the Round of 12 following the Hollywood Casino 400. Next Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series tackles the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 5 on USA Network, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images