Some NASCAR championship contenders found problems at Kansas Speedway. Joey Logano found a win and a tip to the Championship Four with a win in the Hollywood Casino 400.
Eight drivers started the race Sunday afternoon knowing that if they could survive the cold Kansas temperatures and win the race, they would advance to the final race with a chance to win the 2020 title in the NASCAR Cup Series. The first race in the Round of Eight was low in on track incidents, but high in bumper-to-bumper racing.
There were only six caution periods including a competition caution and the cautions at the end of the first two stages of the race. Chase Elliott won in stage one with Denny Hamlin scoring the win in stage two.
During the race 11 drivers exchanged the lead 17 times. There was even more hard racing for positions behind the leaders from the beginning to the end of the race. This hard racing brought about some big problems for a couple of the championship contenders. Kurt Busch experienced an engine failure making it a must win situation in the next two races for him to advance to the Championship Four. Denny Hamlin got into the outside wall. The result was a finish that left him with very little room to even stumble again … if he wants to advance to the final race with a shot at the title.
Kevin Harvick was the lap leader with 85 laps of the 267 lap race in position one. Prior to the final restart of the race Joey Logano had only led two laps. However, his pit crew got him out of the final pit stop with the lead. He held that lead when the green flag waived. Joey was able to continue to hold of a hard charging Kevin Harvick for the final 45 laps of the race to claim the win. It was his first win of the 2020 Playoffs and third of the season.
Kevin Harvick scored the runner-up finish. Alex Bowman was able to claim third place and Brad Keselowski grabbed fourth place. The highest placing non-contender was Kyle Busch (eliminated from the Playoffs last weekend at the ROVAL) rounding out the top five. See the complete results for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway here.
Joey now sits at the top of the Playoff standings with the win and clinch of a spot in the Championship Four at Phoenix November 8th. Kevin Harvick ranks second among the Round of Eight drivers with Denny Hamlin third and Brad Keselowski in fourth. Those are the transfer spots to the Championship Four. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
The next chance for the remaining seven drivers in the Round of Eight to join Joey Logano will be at Texas Motor Speedway in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Sunday, October 25th.
By: Buck Stevens
