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NASCAR Kansas: Elliott claims win from Kyle Busch, Round of 8 sealed

Chase Elliott claimed his third NASCAR Cup win of the season in Kansas, as third place finisher Kyle Larson just missed out on a place in the Round of 8

After running in the bottom half of the top 10 in the first two stages, Elliott came through to snatch second from Ryan Blaney early in the final stage.

He was promoted to the net race lead after Kevin Harvick, who had battled at the front of the field throughout the race, was handed a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Up ahead, play off competitor Brad Keselowski was risking an alternate strategy in an attempt to find a way through to the Round of 8.

The Team Penske driver stayed out late, hoping a caution would gift him a free pit stop, but he eventually had to come in under green flags.

Elliott came through to take the race lead, but he was not assured of victory.

Kyle Busch spent the closing stages of the race all over the back of Elliott's Chevrolet, but had to settle for second, finishing 0.903-seconds behind.

Larson bounced back from a difficult start to the weekend - the Chip Ganassi Racing driver badly damaged his car in practice and struggled to find pace in qualifying - to finish third.

But, with the 10-point penalty he received at the last race in Talladega for a technical infringement upheld after an appeal, it still was not enough to seal his place in the next stage of the playoffs.

Erik Jones took fourth ahead of Martin Truex Jr and Keselowski, who also failed to score enough points to continue to the third playoff stage.

Polesitter Joey Logano dominated the opening stage, leading 60 of the 80 laps and only briefly losing the race lead after the pit stops.

His team-mate Ryan Blaney inherited the position with a quick two tyre stop, but he could not hold onto the race lead and dropped back to third, behind Harvick, before the end of the stage.

Harvick's second place in stage one was enough to secure his Round of 8 position.

The trio continued to battle at the front of the field in stage two, with Harvick snatching the lead 22 laps before the end of the stage, where Blaney took second ahead of Logano.

Logano's race came undone in the caution period at the end of the second stage, as a hose was caught under his car during the stops, delaying his getaway and dropping him out of the lead fight.

Blaney also could not repeat his stage one and two performances and ended the race seventh, just ahead of Logano.

After making contact with the wall early in the race, Alex Bowman took ninth but will not continue into the third playoff stage.

Aric Almiola finished 10th, but he continues to the next stage due to his win at Talladega last weekend.

Almiola joins Kyle Busch, Harvick, Truex Jr, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Logano, and Elliott in the Round of 8.

Results - 276 laps

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2h38m02.s
2 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0.903s
3 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1.256s
4 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9.227s
5 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 11.852s
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 16.114s
7 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 18.641s
8 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.312s
9 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.024s
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 24.320s
11 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 25.229s
12 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.552s
13 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.822s
14 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1 Lap
15 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
16 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
17 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
18 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1 Lap
19 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 2 Laps
20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 Laps
21 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps
22 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3 Laps
23 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 3 Laps
24 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4 Laps
25 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 4 Laps
26 Darrell Wallace Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 4 Laps
27 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Laps
28 Regan Smith Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 8 Laps
29 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 9 Laps
30 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 9 Laps
31 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 11 Laps
32 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 11 Laps
33 B.J. McLeod Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 17 Laps
34 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 48 Laps
35 Kyle Weatherman StarCom Racing Chevrolet Transmission
36 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Vibration
37 Jeffrey Earnhardt Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota Transmission
38 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Engine
39 Ross Chastain Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Accident
40 Timmy Hill MBM Motorsports Toyota Engine

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