Chase Elliott steals Toyota's victory in the last second at Kansas!

The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet had started from tenth position on the final restart in overtime. Elliott therefore had two laps to achieve the best possible result, particularly against an armada of Toyota who seemed destined to cross the line in the first positions. Starting on the outside, Elliott gained several places from the first turn, and he then found himself in the front row for a final crazy lap between Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) and the three Joe Gibbs Racing cars.

Elliott edged out Christopher Bell before diving inside to meet Chase Briscoe. The latter brushed the wall, giving the No. 9 Chevrolet a chance to pass on the backstretch. Only Wallace and Hamlin remained in front. The former drives for 23XI Racing, the team created by the latter, and basketball legend Michael Jordan. It would have been easy to think that the boss would help his driver win...

Hamlin popped up the inside entering Turn 3. Experiencing power steering issues, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota understeered into the corner, hitting Wallace and sending him into the wall. This opened the door wide on the inside for Chase Elliott, who slid in alongside Hamlin. The two drivers touched slightly before speeding to the finish line, where Elliott won by 69 thousandths of a second over Hamlin. For Bill Elliott's son and Chevrolet, this meant an automatic qualification for the third round of the playoffs, while the Toyotas were left to cry...

"It's really very disappointing.", said Hamlin, who dominated the race, leading 159 of the 273 laps and winning the first two segments. “I really wanted it. It would have been my 60th career victory. The team did an incredible job with the car, which was really, really fast. It gave me everything I needed. I managed the restart I needed. But I couldn't finish in the last corner.”

"He was an idiot for doing that."

Unsurprisingly, Bubba Wallace was far from impressed with his boss's driving... “Two years ago, I probably would have said something stupid.”, he explained. "He's an idiot for doing that (on the last lap). I don't care if he's my boss or not. But we're going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet. The Toyotas were super fast, and I was proud to drive one. I thought it was written in the sand, but it wasn't."

In the championship, Elliott joins Ryan Blaney in the ranks of drivers qualified for the next round of the playoffs, thanks to their victories in the first two rounds of this segment where twelve drivers are still in the fight. It is at the Charlotte Roval, next Sunday, that the elimination of four drivers will be decided. Currently, Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing) is 13 points away from the eighth qualifying place, Bubba Wallace is 26 points behind, Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing), once again unlucky in Kansas, is 29 points behind, and Austin Cindric (Team Penske) is 48 points behind, a victory being absolutely necessary for him if he wishes to continue his adventure in the playoffs.

The race was marked by the impressive exit of Zane Smith (Front Row Motorsports), who ended his race by literally climbing the Turn 3 wall during the first attempt of overtime. After sliding perpendicular to the track on the guardrail, Smith rolled twice before landing on his wheels and exiting the car under his own power.

Zane Smith exited the vehicle under his own power after this incident late at @kansasspeedway. pic.twitter.com/vbF4OXvROl

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 28, 2025

NASCAR – Kansas
The classification of the race

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