Wild NASCAR Cup Race at Kansas Ends with Hamlin in Victory Lane

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KANSAS CITY, KS – RIS – The final laps of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race were rough, rowdy  and ended in fisticuffs.  Denny Hamlin passed Kyle Larson with a daring last lap pass which included contact all over the track. Larson took control of the 1.5-mile track, rambling down the straightaways at speeds exceeding 180 miles per hour, but Hamlin caught him by the final lap.  They touched, and Hamlin took the checkered flag.

Hamlin turned on the automotive afterburners on Lap 267. A few Larson wobbles gave him a shot. Larson was loose.  And in the end, it was Hamlin's aggression, coupled with some looseness from Larson, that carried the Joe Gibbs Racing star to the victory.

hysterics of the finale may have been exceeded by the post-race exchange between Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson. The pair traded fisticuffs.. Chastain put on his best Marvin Hagler impression, showcasing the art of the science after Gragson grabbed a fistful of his uniform. The rookie was peeved with Chastain's antics after the No. 1 "fenced" him in before sending him around earlier in Stage 3.

It was quite the day at Kansas Speedway. Can't imagine fans will be able to scrub this race from their memories any time soon. One way or another, this one will be in the record books, even if penalties are not coming from NASCAR.

The pass that won the race was classic.  Hamlin nudged Larson’s car in the left rear, pushing Larson into the outside wall. Larson regained control of his car, but Hamlin pushed past and won the race.

“I got position on him there, was trying to side-draft him but clipped his left rear,” Hamlin said. “Glad he was able to at least finish.”  Larson finished second and was followed by William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain.

The win was the 49th of Hamlin’s career and his first since last May at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Larson, who was the race’s top lap-leader with 85, led 46 consecutive laps leading to the finish before Hamlin passed him on the final circuit. Hamlin led 34 total.

Hamlin dominated and won the first stage.  Joey Logno won the second by staying on the trac and not pitting.

The Cup Series moves on to Darlington Raceway for a May 14 race at 3 p.m. ET

Unofficial Results: AdventHealth 400, May 7, 2023 - Kansas Speedway
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Stg1, Stg2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 8, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 267, 1, 10, 8, 34, 6, 51, Running
2) 2, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 267, 10, 9, 7, 85, , 38, Running
3) 1, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 267, , , 2, 10, , 34, Running
4) 17, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Dr Pepper Zero Sugar Toyota, 267, 7, , 4, 9, , 37, Running
5) 3, Ross Chastain, No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet, 267, 9, , 2, 3, , 34, Running
6) 6, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 267, , 1, 1, 8, 1, 41, Running
7) 21, Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet, 267, , , 1, 5, , 30, Running
8) 4, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Reser's Fine Foods Toyota, 267, 2, , 8, 79, , 38, Running
9) 5, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 McDonald's Toyota, 267, 4, , 1, 23, , 35, Running
10) 11, Austin Dillon, No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet, 267, , 7, , , , 31, Running
11) 13, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light #ForTheFarmers Ford, 267, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 33, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Dillons/Kraft Mac & Cheese Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 18, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 267, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 27, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 267, , 5, , , , 29, Running
15) 9, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 267, 5, , , , , 28, Running
16) 10, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Moen Ford, 267, 8, , , , , 24, Running
17) 14, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal/Body Guard Ford, 267, , 6, , , , 25, Running
18) 30, Justin Haley, No. 31 Celsius Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 King's Hawaiian GoTG Vol 3 Ford, 267, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 24, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 FOE Chevrolet, 267, , , 2, 7, , 17, Running
21) 19, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 267, , 4, , , , 23, Running
22) 26, Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet, 267, , 8, , , , 18, Running
23) 35, JJ Yeley(i), No. 51 Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford, 266, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 32, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford, 266, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 29, Josh Berry(i), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 0, Running
26) 23, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 266, , 2, 1, 1, , 20, Running
27) 28, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 266, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 34, Brennan Poole(i), No. 15 VDL Strong/go2mro.com/donate Ford, 264, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 22, Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, 262, , 3, , , , 16, Running
30) 25, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 261, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 15, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Freightliner Ford, 260, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 31, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, 260, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 36, Josh Bilicki, No. 78 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, 260, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 7, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 176, 3, , , , , 11, Accident
35) 16, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 12, Christopher Bell, No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota, 157, 6, , 1, 3, , 6, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles
Race Time: 3 Hrs, 24 Mins, 24 Secs.
Average Speed: 117.564 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.307 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 19, 54, 45, 99, 20, 23, 12, 1, 5
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 34, 42, 43, 16, 17, 3, 77, 5, 11

Comments: Denny Hamlin won the 4th running of the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, his 49th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: 7, 47, 78 (unapproved adjustments). 

Cautions: 11 for 57 laps;
Laps: 6-9 (No. 5, No. 45 Incident Frontstretch [None]);
82-88 (Stage 1 Conclusion [2]);
109-113 (No. 2 Spin [16]);
139-143 (No. 10 Spin Backstretch [None]);
149-153 (No. 43 Spin, No. 48, No. 54, No. 17, No. 43 Incident Off Turn 2  [24]);
159-162 (No. 20 Spin Backstretch [7]);
164-170 (No. 8 Spin Backstretch, Stage 2 Conclusion [31]);
178-183 (No. 54 Spin Backstretch [10]);
192-195 (No. 21 Spin Off Turn 2 [51]);
207-211 (No. 42 Spin Backstretch [None]);
216-220 (No. 43 Spin, No. 48 Spin Off Turns 3-4 [42]).

Lead Changes: 37 among 12 drivers;
W. Byron 1-2;
R. Chastain 3-4;
T. Reddick 5-27;
M. Truex Jr. 28-39;
C. Bell 40-42;
M. McDowell 43;
C. LaJoie 44-46;
D. Hamlin 47-48;
M. Truex Jr. 49-71;
D. Hamlin 72-83;
M. Truex Jr. 84;
D. Hamlin 85-88;
M. Truex Jr. 89-93;
D. Hamlin 94;
M. Truex Jr. 95-97;
D. Hamlin 98-109;
M. Truex Jr. 110;
B. Wallace 111-112;
R. Chastain 113;
B. Wallace 114-117;
M. Truex Jr. 118-140;
K. Larson 141-154;
B. Wallace 155;
K. Larson 156;
B. Wallace 157-158;
J. Logano 159-166;
K. Larson 167-169;
D. Hamlin 170;
K. Larson 171-182;
D. Hamlin 183;
K. Larson 184-186;
C. Elliott 187-191;
M. Truex Jr. 192-202;
K. Larson 203-208;
C. LaJoie 209-212;
W. Byron 213-220;
K. Larson 221-266;
D. Hamlin 267.

Unofficial Points: AdventHealth 400, Kansas Speedway
Rank) Driver     Car  Starts     GL   Points     Ldr  Nxt  Race Wins  Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Ross Chastain 1    12   0    404  0    0    0    4    4
2) Christopher Bell   20   12   0    373  -31  31   1    0    5
3) Martin Truex Jr    19   12   1    368  -36  5    1    0    5
4) Denny Hamlin  11   12   3    368  -36  0    1    2    7
5) Kevin Harvick 4    12   -2   358  -46  10   0    1    1
6) Tyler Reddick 45   12   0    354  -50  4    1    2    7
7) Ryan Blaney   12   12   -2   350  -54  4    0    0    0
8) Kyle Larson   5    12   2    338  -66  12   2    2    12
9) William Byron 24   12   2    331  -73  7    2    6    11
10) Brad Keselowski   6    12   -1   321  -83  10   0    1    1
11) Joey Logano  22   12   2    315  -89  6    1    2    7
12) Kyle Busch   8    12   -4   308  -96  7    2    0    10
13) Chris Buescher    17   12   -1   302  -102  6    0    0    0
14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr 47   12   0    295  -109  7    1    0    5
15) Alex Bowman       10   0    270  -134  25   0    0    -5
16) Daniel Suarez 99   12   1    259  -145  11   0    0    0
17) Chase Briscoe 14   12   -1   255  -149  4    0    0    0
18) Bubba Wallace 23   12   3    253  -151  2    0    0    0
19) Ty Gibbs #   54   12   -1   239  -165  14   0    0    0
20) Michael McDowell   34   12   0    237  -167  2    0    0    0
21) Austin Cindric    2    12   -2   230  -174  7    0    1    1
22) Corey LaJoie 7    12   0    225  -179  5    0    0    0
23) Todd Gilliland    38   12   0    214  -190  11   0    0    0
24) Erik Jones   43   12   0    209  -195  5    0    0    0
25) Aric Almirola 10   12   0    205  -199  4    0    1    1
26) AJ Allmendinger   16   12   1    200  -204  5    0    0    0
27) Justin Haley 31   12   -1   196  -208  4    0    0    0
28) Ryan Preece  41   12   0    179  -225  17   0    1    1
29) Chase Elliott 9    6    0    178  -226  1    0    1    1
30) Austin Dillon 3    12   1    164  -240  14   0    0    -5
31) Harrison Burton   21   12   -1   145  -259  19   0    0    0
32) Noah Gragson #    42   12   0    127  -277  18   0    0    0
33) Ty Dillon    77   12   0    100  -304  27   0    0    0
34) Cody Ware         7    0    65   -339  35   0    0    0
35) Bj Mcleod         8    0    65   -339  0    0    0    0
36) Travis Pastrana         1    0    26   -378  39   0    0    0
37) Jenson Button     1    0    19   -385  7    0    0    0
38) Jordan Taylor     1    0    16   -388  3    0    0    0
39) Jimmie Johnson          2    0    11   -393  5    0    0    0
40) Conor Daly        2    0    9    -395  2    0    0    0
41) Kimi Raikkonen          1    0    8    -396  1    0    0    0
42) Josh Bilicki(i)   78   2    7    4    -400  4    0    0    0
43) Jonathan Davenport      1    -1   1    -403  3    0    0    0
44) Josh Berry(i) 48   7    -1   0    -404  1    0    0    0
45) Riley Herbst      2    -1   0    -404  0    0    0    0
46) JJ Yeley(i)  51   9    -1   0    -404  0    0    0    0
47) Zane Smith        4    -1   0    -404  0    0    0    0
48) Chandler Smith          1    -1   0    -404  0    0    0    0
49) Austin Hill       1    -1   0    -404  0    0    0    0
50) Brennan Poole(i)   15   2    1    0    -404  0    0    0    0
51) Anthony Alfredo         2    -1   0    -404  0    0    0    0
52) Matt Crafton      1    0    0    -404  0    0    0    0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points