AP photo by Charlie Riedel / Denny Hamlin, front right, and Chase Elliott, front left, lead the pack out of the final caution before the end of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. Hamlin won in overtime as Elliott finished second.KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Denny Hamlin was surrounded by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates at the front on the final restart Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, and that put Chase Elliott in the most difficult and precarious of situations.
Somehow, Elliott figured, he needed to find a way to beat them all to advance in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
It turned out second place was good enough.
Hamlin roared away with a push from teammate Kyle Busch on the second shot at a green-white-checkered finish, and Elliott was unable to chase him down. But deep in the field, Brad Keselowski was going backward, and the spots he lost in the elimination race were enough to send Elliott through in the final cut-off spot to the third round in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet.
Hamlin won the race. Elliott, who survived as the playoff field was cut from 12 drivers to eight, felt almost as if he did.