{"id":48301,"date":"2024-09-29T20:22:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T01:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=48301"},"modified":"2024-09-29T20:50:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T01:50:25","slug":"ross-chastain-plays-spoiler-in-nascar-cup-round-of-12-opener-at-kansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/29\/ross-chastain-plays-spoiler-in-nascar-cup-round-of-12-opener-at-kansas\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Chastain plays spoiler in NASCAR Cup Round of 12 opener at Kansas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Kubota Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, Kansas \u2014 Enter the Great Disrupter.<\/p>\n

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Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Kubota Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ross Chastain\u2019s No 1. Trackhouse Chevrolet came to life in the second half of Sunday\u2019s Hollywood Casino 400 and beat William Byron\u2019s Chevrolet to the finish line in a hotly contested Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.<\/p>\n

Chastain grabbed the lead from Martin Truex Jr. moments after the final restart on Lap 248 at Kansas Speedway and held off a charging Byron by 0.388 seconds to thwart the Playoff driver\u2019s bid for automatic advancement into the Round of 8.<\/p>\n

Having failed to qualify for the postseason this year, Chastain reveled in his first victory of the season, his first at Kansas and the fifth of his career.<\/p>\n

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Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Kubota Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFor us on this 1 team, it’s what Cup racing is all about,\u201d said Chastain, who led 52 laps. \u201cIt’s what (team co-owner) Justin Marks bought into Trackhouse with Pitbull, bought into NASCAR with Trackhouse to do stuff like this\u2014to disrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, there’s been times this year where we couldn’t have disrupted the minnow pond outside of Darlington, let alone a Cup race. It’s hard. It’s really tough.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo come and do this, there are times where I didn’t think after practicing and qualifying we had what it took. I thought we have been way stronger here in the past. It didn’t feel great all day, but our Kubota Chevy, it was better as the rubber went down, and the adjustments were great.”<\/p>\n

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Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 BetMGM Chevrolet, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Kubota Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Byron led 24 laps but couldn\u2019t overcome Chastain\u2019s aerodynamic advantage over the closing laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, just clean air,\u201d Byron said ruefully. \u201cI feel like he got the restart he needed to, and I was in the second row just trying to clear those guys. Once I got clear of them, my balance was OK. Just a little bit tight, but just kind of inching up on him. I needed probably, you know, for it to be a longer run being in second.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn it, I wanted that one really bad. It just sucks, man. You’re so close, and you know going to Talladega you know what that is. So just sucks, but proud of the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, and Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, lead the field to a restart during the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Truex finished third after restarting in the top lane and surrendering the first two positions to Chastain and Byron. Playoff driver and defending series champion Ryan Blaney rallied to finish fourth after an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel.<\/p>\n

Ty Gibbs, eliminated from the Playoffs at Bristol in the final Round of 16 race, came home fifth, followed by Playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell (the pole winner), Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott, who started from the rear of the field after an engine change in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

Byron heads to next Sunday\u2019s race at Talladega Superspeedway as the series leader, with a six-point edge over Bell and Blaney and a 34-point margin over ninth-place Tyler Reddick, the first driver below the cut line for the next round.<\/p>\n

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Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamlin and Bowman are fifth and sixth in the standings, 11 and eight points above the cutoff, respectively.<\/p>\n

For Kyle Larson, top seed in the Playoffs entering the Round of 12, Sunday\u2019s race was an unwelcome instance of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. Reminiscent of his early exit after a slamming the wall in Turn 2 in the first Round of 16 race at Atlanta, Larson cut a right rear tire and bounced of the Turn 2 wall on Sunday at Kansas just 19 laps into the race.<\/p>\n

During the subsequent 56-lap green-flag run to the end of Stage 1, Larson complained of a vibration in his No. 5 Chevrolet. fell one lap down and finished the stage in 35th place.<\/p>\n

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William Byron, driver of the #24 Valvoline Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Larson got his lap back as the beneficiary car under caution for Daniel Hemric\u2019s spin on Lap 143 and mitigated some of the damage to his points position with a 26th-place finish. Larson leaves Kansas fourth in the standings, 18 points above the current cut line for the Round of 8.<\/p>\n

Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric weren\u2019t as fortunate.<\/p>\n

Reddick, the defending race winner, could only manage a 25th-place result and leaves Kansas four points below the cutoff. Suarez finished 14th and trials Elliott and Joey Logano (tied for eighth) by 14 points.<\/p>\n

Briscoe fought an ill-handling car and finished 24th, falling 25 points down to eighth place. Cindric sustained damage during a spin on the backstretch on Lap 157, finished four laps down in 34th and trails Logano and Elliott by 29 points.<\/p>\n

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Zane Smith, driver of the #71 Focused Health Chevrolet, and Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway on September 29, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeking his first victory of the season\u2014with a record 19-year streak of winning at least one race per season on the line\u2014Kyle Busch held the lead on Lap 26, with Chastain in pursuit. But as Busch attempted to put Briscoe a lap down though a narrow gap at the top of the track, his car broke loose and spun off Turn 2, causing the ninth caution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he was racing to stay on the lead lap with whoever was in front of him there,\u201d said Busch, who finished 19th. \u201cGranted, they have a race to run, but back in the old days when you were under 30 (laps) to go or whatever it was, lapped traffic would kind of lay over and give you a lane and let the leaders race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wasn\u2019t getting that, so I tried to force my hand into getting that and get to his outside, and for whatever reason, it just gave all the air in all the wrong places, and I spun out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The race featured 30 lead changes among 15 drivers, the latter a track record. Bell led a race-high 122 laps. Hendrick teammates Byron and Bowman won stages 1 and 2, respectively.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NCS Race Winner – Ross Chastain (No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet) – <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Phil Surgen and Tony Lunders (No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Crew Chief and Chief Operating Officer at Trackhouse Racing) –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/KS2NCSPhilSurgenTonyLunders092924.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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NASCAR Cup Series Race – Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN Bet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kansas Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kansas City, Kansas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, September 29, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

                    1. (20)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    2. (6)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    3. (19)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    4. (7)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    5. (2)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    6. (12)  Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    7. (1)  Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    8. (8)  Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    9. (38)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    10. (15)  Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    11. (25)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    12. (22)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    13. (10)  Daniel Suarez (P), Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    14. (5)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    15. (27)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    16. (37)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    17. (13)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    18. (24)  Noah Gragson, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    19. (3)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    20. (30)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    21. (32)  Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    22. (26)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    23. (28)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    24. (9)  Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    25. (4)  Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    26. (11)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    27. (33)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    28. (18)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    29. (21)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    30. (31)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 267.<\/p>\n

                    31. (34)  Kaz Grala #, Ford, 267.<\/p>\n

                    32. (14)  Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 267.<\/p>\n

                    33. (23)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266.<\/p>\n

                    34. (17)  Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 263.<\/p>\n

                    35. (16)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 263.<\/p>\n

                    36. (35)  Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, 257.<\/p>\n

                    37. (36)  JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 118.<\/p>\n

                    38. (29)  Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 0.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  123.294 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .388 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  10 for 47 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  30 among 15 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Bell (P) 1-21;*. Yeley(i) 22;C. Bell (P) 23-72;W. Byron (P) 73-82;D. Hamlin (P) 83;J. Logano (P) 84-86;W. Byron (P) 87-100;T. Gibbs 101;K. Busch 102-105;C. Bell (P) 106-141;R. Blaney (P) 142-144;C. Bell (P) 145;Z. Smith # 146-148;C. Bell (P) 149-161;A. Bowman (P) 162-167;T. Gibbs 168-171;C. Hocevar # 172-176;R. Chastain 177-202;K. Busch 203;R. Chastain 204;K. Busch 205-210;T. Reddick (P) 211-217;C. Bell (P) 218;B. Keselowski 219;K. Busch 220-224;R. Chastain 225;K. Busch 226-235;R. Chastain 236-238;B. Keselowski 239-241;M. Truex Jr. 242-246;R. Chastain 247-267.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Christopher Bell (P) 6 times for 122 laps; Ross Chastain 5 times for 52 laps; Kyle Busch 5 times for 26 laps; William Byron (P) 2 times for 24 laps; Tyler Reddick (P) 1 time for 7 laps; Alex Bowman (P) 1 time for 6 laps; Ty Gibbs 2 times for 5 laps; Carson Hocevar # 1 time for 5 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 5 laps; Brad Keselowski 2 times for 4 laps; Zane Smith # 1 time for 3 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Joey Logano (P) 1 time for 3 laps; * JJ Yeley(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 24,22,12,11,20,54,2,19,48,77<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 48,54,12,24,6,77,8,19,9,14<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kansas \u2014 Enter the Great Disrupter. Ross Chastain\u2019s No 1. Trackhouse Chevrolet came to life in the second half of Sunday\u2019s Hollywood Casino 400 and beat William Byron\u2019s Chevrolet to the finish line in a hotly contested Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Cup Series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":48304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[213,16,655],"class_list":["post-48301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kansas-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-ross-chastain"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/GettyImages-2175537716.jpg?fit=1963%2C1353","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-cz3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48301"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48321,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48301\/revisions\/48321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}