Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway was one for the books, as Florida driver, Ross Chastain, who missed this years’ NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, stole a victory from Playoff drivers, William Byron and a hard-charging Christopher Bell. This is Chastain’s first victory of the season, and the second for Trackhouse Racing, whose other driver, Daniel Suarez, is competing for his first ever Cup Championship. Here’s how Sunday’s opening race of the Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs went.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs started on the front row, but it didn’t take long for the field to wad up. Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Josh Berry was spun by the Wood Brothers Racing Driver, Harrison Burton, after Burton made contact with Kaulig Racing’s full-time driver for next season, Ty Dillon on Lap 1. This caused Berry to be eliminated from the race, as NASCAR’s flawed Damaged Vehicle Policy states that if a driver is towed back to the pits or garage, their race is over, which left Berry’s Crew Chief, Rodney Childers angry on Twitter/X. Berry’s #4 Bed Bath and Beyond Ford just needed new tires, but NASCAR declared their race over due to the DVP. Also involved in the accident was seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Jimmie Johnson, who was competing in one of his nine schedule races for 2024.
The race resumed not long after, and various drivers had issues in Stage 1, with one of the Championship favorites, Kyle Larson, scraping the wall on Lap 19, warranting NASCAR to throw out a caution for the Hendrick Motorsports driver pacing slowly on the outside retaining wall. Towards the end of Stage 1, Christopher Bell would lose the lead, also due to getting into the Turn 2 wall, just like Larson did prior. This allowed for Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Team Penske’s Joey Logano to sneak by him, with Byron winning the opening stage, collecting those valuable ten Championship Points and a single Playoff Point.
Stage 2 kicked off on Lap 87, with Bell following closely behind Byron, before Bell regressed to fifth-place. The caution flew once again for Legacy Motor Club driver, Erik Jones losing control, spinning into the Frontsretch Grass and needing help from the NASCAR officials to get out. The race resumed with a lot of on-track passing and battles for the lead, allowing for defending Cup Champion, Ryan Blaney to take the lead with 23 laps to go in Stage 2. The Team Penske driver passed Christopher Bell on the inside coming out of Turn 4, before Kaulig Racing driver, Daniel Hemric slammed the wall, bringing out another caution. During yellow flag pit stops, Denny Hamlin had issues on pit road, but was able to continue.
Stage 2 resumed with Spire Motorsports Rookie, Zane Smith, leading the charge and was being challenged for the lead from Bell, before his teammate, Justin Haley lost control and spun into Legacy Motor Club driver, John Hunter Nemechek on the Backstretch, after Haley misunderstood his spotter and turned left into Nemechek, bringing out another caution. During the next green flag run, Team Penske driver, Austin Cindric wrecked on the backstretch, but was able to continue.
The final restart of Stage 2 took place with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman having to hold off Ty Gibbs for the stage win. Bowman collected ten points and one Playoff Point in the process. Stage 3 saw Ryan Blaney come down pit road for a loose wheel, causing him to lose track position in the process. However, the action continued to heat up with Kyle Busch battling Ross Chastain for the lead, with both drivers looking for their first wins of the season, as both missed the Playoffs this year since they did not win before the post-season Championship battle. Playoff contender, Chase Briscoe, attempted to hold off a hard-charging Kyle Busch with 32 laps to go, squeezing Busch up the track in an attempt to block, sending Busch’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet sideways coming out of Turn 2.
On the next restart, Martin Truex Jr., who has yet to win in his final season, surged ahead to the lead, before Spire Motorsports Rookie, Carson Hocevar wrecked on the Backstretch. The final restart consisted of Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain leading, with William Byron chasing him in the final laps of the Hollywood Casino 400. It was not enough for Byron, as Chastain ran the high line throughout the last several laps, allowing his disappointing season to finally strike gold. Chastain performed his signature celebration, smashing a watermelon on the Start/Finish line, after describing his recent triumph in the closing stages of exciting race at Kansas Speedway. Chastain soaked in all of the confetti in Victory Lane and he hopes this gets his momentum going heading into 2025.
This weekend’s Yellawood 500 will take place at Talladega Superspeedway, which is NASCAR’s biggest and fastest track on the circuit. Anything can happen at any time, and with this race being a true wildcard, the 12 remaining Playoff Drivers will want to stay on their toes, collecting as many points as possible before competing on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Road Course configuration the following weekend. The 500-miler at Talladega can be seen on NBC, Sunday at 2:00PM EST, and you won’t wanna miss this one! Be sure to tune in Sunday, to see if Chastain can play spoiler on back-to-back weekends, or if a Playoff Contender can lock themselves into the second-to-last round of the Playoffs.
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
Leave a comment