Ross Chastain played spoiler to the Playoff drivers in the Hollywood Casino 400 and smashed a watermelon (his unique victory celebration) at the finish line at Kansas Speedway.
The first race in the Round of 12 began with Playoff driver Christopher Bell in the pole position. Christopher appeared to have the car to be all race. He led a race high 122 laps in the 267-lap race. However, at the end of each stage of the race, Christopher seemed to have issues that would cause him to fall back out of the lead.
William Byron took advantage of Christopher’s misfortune in stage one to claim the win and bonus points at the end of the stage. Alex Bowman was in position to claim the win and bonus points in stage two when Christopher again went backwards in the running order.
Ross Chastain started the day mid-pack when the green flag flew. His crew adjusted on the car and made it better throughout the race. Ross did what he does behind the wheel and worked his way toward the front of the field throughout the race. He was able to take the lead of the race for the first time early in stage three. Ross took the lead of the race a total of five times for a total of 52 laps (second most laps led in the race).
Ross took the lead for the fifth and final time on lap 247. He was able to hold off challenges for the lead for the final 21 laps of the race. That included a last lap charge from William Byron. Ross crossed the finish line first to claim his first win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Season. It was also his first win at Kansas Speedway and his fifth career Cup Series victory.
Playoff driver William Byron did claim the second-place finish. Martin Truex Jr. was eliminated from the Playoffs a week ago, but was able to take home a third-place finish at Kansas Speedway. See the complete race results of the Hollywood Casino 400 here.
William Byron’s runner-up finish was enough to put him at the top of the Playoff Standings. Ryan Blaney is in the second slot with Christopher Bell in third place. Since a non-playoff driver won the race Sunday, none of the Round of 12 drivers earned the automatic advancement to the next round in the post-season. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings here.
Next up is a race at a track that is always a wild-card, Playoffs or not. The second of the three races in the Round of 12 is the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday, October 6th at 1p.m. central time (2p.m. eastern).
By: Buck Stevens
