NASCAR takeaways: Kyle Busch crashes, Ross Chastain wins, Denny Hamlin gets angry

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ross Chastain captured his first win of the season, albeit a month later than he would have liked, but the win that played the spoils in the opening race of NASCAR’s quarterfinals.

Chastain missed the playoffs as only two winless drivers made the qualifying field for NASCAR’s 16-driver championship, but she created a great memory for 2024 by capturing Sunday’s Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

Leading on the restart with 21 laps remaining, the Trackhouse Racing driver held off William Byron for his fifth career victory. Chastain and Kyle Busch had traded the lead about 20 laps late in the race, but Busch spun and hit the wall with 32 laps remaining.

It was Chastain’s first win since the season ended in Phoenix last year.

“We haven’t left yet,” Chastain said. “We didn’t go, nobody slowed down except us, today we were the fastest car.”

Byron settled for second and leads the standings in NASCAR’s “Round of 12” with races remaining at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Road. He was one of the few drivers in the championship who did not have a problem in the event.

Takeaways at Kansas where two drivers retired last week in championship contention finished third (Martin Truex Jr.) and fifth (Ty Gibbs) while playoff driver Ryan Blaney was fourth.

Kyle Busch Was Abused

Busch appeared to be on pace for a 50-race winless streak as he pulled away from Chastain but got loose while trying to squeeze between Chase Briscoe and the wall while trying to put Briscoe on the lap.

Other drivers may have given Busch more room – he seemed to have a very tight passing lane.

“I wasn’t going to just give it to him – we’re still running on the front foot,” Briscoe said. “I felt like we gave him a few inches of car width. These cars are very sensitive.

“When you get off the right of someone else, you get loose and it looks like that’s what happened. He pushed me to squeeze me when I couldn’t get up. [in front of him]. And as soon as he got there, … he nursed him.”

Busch knew it would be tougher than Briscoe. He said that in previous years, drivers might be a little more forgiving.

“I tried to force my hand … to get outside of him, and when I got there, for whatever reason, it just blew out the wrong place and I went out,” Busch said.

Briscoe is still in the playoffs, a spot he earned when he and Busch had a clean sweep in the regular season finale earlier this month in Darlington where Briscoe won the automatic playoff game. Should that have resulted in Briscoe giving Busch more room?

“It doesn’t matter what I expect,” Busch said. “I don’t think anyone is giving anything to anyone anymore. It’s just take, take, take.”

Denny Hamlin Woes of the Pit

Hamlin had two slow pit stops – and had to pit twice for a loose tire – from which he had to fight his way through the second half of the race.

So finishing eighth was not a good result for Hamlin, who called it a “bad day.”

“We should have won the race,” said Hamlin. “We had a very fast car but every time we got to the top-three, the caution came out and we restarted 15-20.

“You can’t show how fast your car is when you’re at the back of the pack. … Eventually you run out of control and someone else wins.”

Hamlin is 11 points ahead of the current playoff finish.

“I’m not in it mentally, I can tell you that,” Hamlin said. “There are a lot of wires in the crossbars and loose bolts right now. But what can you do? I’ll do my best to drive the car.”

Playoff Driver Difficulty

Several playoff drivers have struggled at Kansas.

Kyle Larson suffered an early puncture and drove his damaged car to a 26th place finish. Austin Cindric spun midway through the race and finished 34th.

“I thought we would be fine [after the repairs]but I didn’t have the speed,” said Larson. “Overall, I’m proud of our effort. We found everything fixed. … I didn’t have the speed, so the restart was very difficult for me.”

But there were others who struggled and still had good days. Chase Elliott blew an engine in practice, so he started from the back and finished ninth. Christopher Bell scraped the wall twice and finished seventh. And Ryan Blaney had to ride under green with a loose tire, but Busch’s crash brought out a caution that allowed him to ride under caution instead of green at his last gas stop, finishing fourth.

Elliott said having a pit stall where he often had to drive around to get in (and often out) was difficult – those who fit in well get priority for pit stalls and often have open spaces on the way in or out and/or. they are caught by a driver who will be running very fast to get into their hole.

“Our car was strong enough, but we were fighting uphill all day,” Elliott said. “With a bad gap, it just kills you…. Those are the little things that just destroy you when you have a bad Saturday.”

Bell had started on the pole for the third consecutive Kansas race but is still looking for his first win at the track.

“Obviously I wish I had a few corners back because there were a few where I made mistakes and left a lot of track,” Bell said. “To come back and finish seventh after going back to back is great but it’s definitely leaving what could have been.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He spent decades covering motorsports, including more than 30 Daytona 500s, working for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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