Toyota drivers dominated the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, combining to lead 235 out of 273 laps. But the old adage of race-car drivers putting their competitors in uncomfortable situations was on full display in double overtime.
After cruising to win both stages and banking 20 points, Denny Hamlin was in line to score yet another Kansas victory – he holds the track record with four – until a caution came out with 15 laps remaining in regulation. The No. 11 team, which has two interim crew members from Noah Gragson’s No. 4 bunch, had its only miscue of the race, dropping Hamlin five spots in the running order.
Meanwhile, Toyota teammates Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace restarted on the front row for overtime. The No. 23 car washed up the track through Turns 3 and 4, while Zane Smith got pinched into the wall mid-pack and rode on top of the wall and flipped over until he came to a screeching halt. Second OT incoming.
With a shove from 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick, Wallace prevailed with the lead in double overtime. Hamlin, co-owner of the No. 23 car, jumped to second at the white flag and had momentum exiting Turn 2. The No. 11 car dipped low down the backstretch and got tight through Turns 3 and 4 while batting an ongoing power-steering issue, squeezing Wallace into the outside wall. Chase Elliott, who took the green flag for the second overtime in 10th on four fresh Goodyear tires, snuck by along the inside line and made contact with Hamlin. Elliott crossed the checkered flag in first, earning the No. 9 team’s second victory in 2025 and the first multi-win campaign since 2022.
THIS FINAL LAP WAS INSANE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/g9ctVJ1TPx
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 28, 2025
“Just super disappointing,” Hamlin told NBC Sports. “I wanted it bad. It would have been [win number] 60 for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car, just really, really fast. Gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. Just couldn’t finish it there on the last corner.
“Obviously got really, really tight with [Wallace], and it just got real tight and we let [Elliott] win.”
After expressing his displeasure with Hamlin on the cool-down lap, Wallace regained his composure on pit road and approached Hamlin for a quick embrace.
“Two years ago, I’d probably say something dumb,” Wallace told NBC. “[Hamlin is] a dumbass for that move. 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 there.
“Toyotas were super-fast, and proud to be driving one. I thought it was meant to be, and then it wasn’t. All in all, the positives, though, we were minus 27 coming in. We’re minus 26 leaving. We gained a point.”
Therein lies the issue. Wallace entered Kansas, a track where he’s a previous victor in 2022, believing he needed to win in order to advance to the Round of 8 for the first time in his career. Had he scored the victory, the bubble battle would have tightened entering the cutoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. And while Wallace has improved his road-course skills, it’s not his specialty.
Instead of having an automatic berth into the Round of 8, Wallace resets to 10th on the playoff grid, 26 points behind Joey Logano. The No. 22 team had a middling 21st-place finish, but banked eight stage points throughout the race after dropping to the rear of the field for the initial start with an incident in practice on Saturday.
“It’s unfortunate. I was excited to race Denny for the win and we gave [Elliott] the win,” Wallace told a huddle of reporters after the race. “That’s what is frustrating the most. We couldn’t get Toyota to Victory Lane.”
Wallace admitted that his personal ethics are that he will always race competitors how he’s raced by them.
“Toyota drivers race hard each week, but we respect each other,” he said. “There is a fine line that gets crossed and you have to understand that.”
This dustup is on the heels of a mid-week meeting among Toyota drivers at Joe Gibbs Racing on how to race each other moving forward after Ty Gibbs, a non-playoff driver, raced Hamlin and Bell aggressively last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Through five playoff races, Toyota has led 66.9% of the laps run (1,124 of 1,681). Hamlin led a race-high 159 laps at Kansas, the most he’s ever led on a 1.5-mile track in a single race. He also became the 12th driver in series history to eclipse the 16,000 laps led barrier.
Elliott will take the victory, however, knowing he’s clinched a spot into the Round of 8 for the second consecutive season.
“Everything worked out perfect for me,” Elliott stated. “Had a great push through [Turns] 1 and 2. That kind of all started with [Brad Keselowski] Big run off of 2. Seas kind of parted and just was able to keep my momentum up. That was really it.”