Denny Hamlin had to survive a late-restart and stave of contention from his teammate Kyle Busch and a charging Chase Elliott to win the Hollywood Casino 400. This article will highlight four keys which made this race watchable.
1. The 2019 Aero package
2. Perseverance from Elliott and Kyle Busch
3. The Playoff Pressure
4. Late battle for the win.
The Playoff race at Kansas Speedway was exciting. The aerodynamics package which NASCAR has used this season has put on NASCAR on jack stands. Pin and needles have caused fans to ridicule NASCAR. Yesterday’s race at Kansas completely changed my opinion on the package. The race was the best race at a 1.5-mile track this season by far. Battling for position was constant and consist throughout the race. Battling for the lead was as frequently as I’ve seen in a while, essentially in every race except plate races. Denny Hamlin had to weather two late-race restarts. He’d need to stave off battles from Busch and Elliott.
Busch reported an issue with his throttle early in the race. Actually, he reported couple of times. Once he got his issue fixed, he was potent. He had a spirited battle with Busch and Elliott. Elliott’s fortunate throughout the race gave him the confidence he needed to hound Hamlin for the win. Elliott soldiered on your finish 2nd and Busch finished 3rd, respectively.
Playoff pressure was the highest of the Round of 12 because Kansas was the cutoff race. The entire race was dominated by the broadcasters focusing on the drivers on the cut line? And rightly so. The final spot wasn’t decided until the bitter end. Logano had to overcome unbelievable drama again to advance because he was involved in a late-race incident. Luckily for him, he’d accumulated enough assurance by points previously gain to ensure his advance. Elliott advanced time the Round of 8 by a slight margin over Brad Keselowski, and Alex Bowman, Clint Bowyer and William Byron we’re eliminated as well.