Joey Logano held off Kevin Harvick by .31 seconds, after taking the lead with 43 laps to go, to win the Hollywood Casino 400, the opening race of the Round of 8, at Kansas Motor Speedway on Sunday. The win is Logano's third victory of the 2020 season and 26th of his career. Sunday's win also guarantees the Middletown, CT native will be one of the four drivers to compete in the championship race at Phoenix Raceway on November 8th.
Alex Bowman finished third, Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski fourth, and Kyle Busch fifth. Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and rookie Christopher Bell rounded out the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 31st, six laps down, in his final Kansas start.
Logano praised his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, and the number 22 pit crew for putting him in front to win the race.
"We never quit today...crazy good pit stops put us in position (to win)," Logano said. "We may not have had the best car but we have the best team."
Chase Elliott captured the Stage One win, while Denny Hamlin held off Harvick to win Stage Two. Both drivers lead the Cup Series in stage wins with Hamlin amassing 10 and Elliott, nine.
While Logano automatically secured a spot in the final four by winning, one playoff driver certainly must win one of the next two races in order to advance. Kurt Busch, who opened the Round of 12 with a win, lost the engine on his number 1 Chevy on lap 197. The Las Vegas native finished 38th, his fifth DNF of the season, and collected three points.
Busch is now eighth in points, of the eight remaining playoff drivers, 73 points below the cutoff line to make the championship race.
The Playoff standings after the Hollywood Casino 400 are as follows:
The Cup Series travels to Texas Motor Speedway this week for the second race in the Round of 8. This will be the second visit for NASCAR at the Great American Speedway after Austin Dillon captured the win there in July. The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 starts this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
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