MADISON, Ill. — Here is a look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup playoff race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
WINNERS
Denny Hamlin — He wins to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. Hamlin scores his series-high fifth victory of the year. It is his fifth season with at least five victories and the first time he’s done it since 2020. Sunday’s win is the 59th of his career. He has finished second, second and first in the last three races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Afterward, he had this to say to the fans: “You can either get on the bandwagon or you can get run over by it.”
Hamlin: ‘Get on the bandwagon, or get run over’
Denny Hamlin dedicates his Enjoy Illinois 300 win to his father and is “so happy” to secure No. 59 in his Cup Series career that sends him into the Round of 12.
Toyota — Earned its 200th Cup win with Hamlin’s victory. Toyota went 1-2 with Hamlin winning and Chase Briscoe finishing second. Toyota took five of the top eight spots. That comes a week after Toyota took six of the top seven spots, including the top four at Darlington. More importantly, Toyota continued its dominance in the playoffs. Toyota has won both races (Briscoe at Darlington and Hamlin at Gateway). Also, a Toyota has won all four stages in the playoffs (Briscoe swept Darlington and won the first stage at Gateway and Bubba Wallace won the second stage at Gateway). Said Joey Logano of Toyota’s strength: “They’re ridiculously fast. They’ve got a lot of grip. They’ve got a lot of horsepower. They’ve got a lot. We’ve got a lot of work to do to catch up.”
Chase Elliott — His third-place finish was the best result for Hendrick Motorsports in four races at World Wide Technology Raceway. Elliott entered the event nine points above the cutline and exited 28 points above it, giving him more breathing room. Just as important is that he scored his first top-five finish in the last seven races. Said Elliott: “It was awesome to be up there in the mix. It’s been a minute since I feel like we’ve been on that type of offense on restarts. Just had the pace and the balance of the car doing what I needed it to do.”
Elliott showed ‘good offense’ at WWT Raceway
Chase Elliott was encouraged to be on offense at World Wide Technology Raceway after coming home third and apologizes to Josh Berry for contact early in the race.
Legacy Motor Club — John Hunter Nemechek’s sixth-place finish at WWT Raceway marks the third consecutive race the organization has had at least one car finish in the top six. Erik Jones was fifth at Daytona to end the regular season. Jones was third at Darlington and Nemechek was fourth in the playoff opener at Darlington. This is the second time this season Legacy MC has had a car finish in the top six three consecutive races.
LOSERS
Josh Berry — Got stuck in the middle three-wide and contact with Chase Elliott sent Berry into the wall and a 36th-place finish. Elliott apologized. Berry is so far back in the points that he is in a must-win situation this weekend at Bristol to advance to the second round of the Cup playoffs.
Kyle Larson — While he finished 12th and is all but assured of advancing to the next round, spinning Ryan Blaney may not serve him well the rest of the playoffs. Larson said he “messed up” and “misjudged it” in hitting Blaney in the left rear as they raced for fifth place at the end of the second stage. Blaney told USA Network’s broadcast: “That’s one I’ve got to remember.” Larson shouldn’t expect any favors from Blaney anytime soon. The question is did Larson hurt himself the rest of the playoffs with the move?
Larson: ‘I messed up’ spinning Blaney
Kyle Larson claims he misjudged his corner when he clipped Ryan Blaney in Stage 2 but he is happy with his day after his team brought a “phenomenal” car to World Wide Technology Raceway.
Christopher Bell — He finished seventh and expressed his frustration on the radio after the race. Bell has watched teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin win the first two races of the playoffs. While Bell goes into Bristol 32 points above the cutline — a seemingly safe spot — he was frustrated with what could have been in Sunday’s race and previous races. Crew chief Adam Stevens told Bell on the radio after the race: “That’s what we needed today. Take the pressure off next week. Good job guys.” Bell yelled on the radio in response: “We just (expletive) ran seventh with the best car on the track! Every (expletive) week it’s the same (expertise)! We’re the last car to pit road! I’m over it!”
