The Contender Round of the NASCAR Race for the Chase continued on Sunday at the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Joey Logano had already secured the first spot in the Eliminator Round with a win at Charlotte last week, and the other 11 drivers had a chance to earn their spot with a win here this week.
Matt Kenseth came into the race in 12th place after hitting the wall last week and needed the win more than anybody. He led 153 of the 269 laps and was leading with five laps remaining. That’s when Logano got into the back of him and sent him spinning. Logano maintained that he was being blocked and was just racing hard.
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Kenseth had a different view.
“He decided to just take us out,” Kenseth said. “Anybody can see what happened. He knows what happened. Everybody that was watching knows what happened. … He just plain wrecked me. He cries on his radio a lot about blocking or moving around.
“But, man, if you are leading the race you can pick whatever lane you want. It’s not like he was alongside of me. To wreck somebody for being in a line that you want to be in seems to be kind of risky and not very smart.”
On to the Eliminator Round
Joey Logano remains as the only driver with an automatic spot in the Eliminator Round, as he had the 22 car in the top spot in both races in this round.
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Leaders of the Contender Round
Denny Hamlin and teh 11 car finished second in Kansas and moved up to second in the standings.
Kurt Busch and the 41 car had a sixth place finish that bumped him up to third in the standings, five points behind Hamlin.
Carl Edwards pushed his 19 car to an eighth place finish that moved him up to fourth in the standings, six points behind Hamlin.
On the Bubble
Kevin Harvick slipped in the standings as the 4 car finished in 16th on Sunday, moving him down to fifth in the standings, 11 points behind Hamlin.
Jeff Gordon and the 24 car had a 10th place finish and moved up a spot to sixth in the standings, 11 points behind Hamlin.
Brad Keselowski used his ninth place finish to move the 2 car up to seventh in the standings, 11 points behind Hamlin.
Martin Truex Jr. and the 78 car had a tumble in the standings after a 15th place finish, falling to the eighth and final spot, 12 points behind Hamlin.
Outside Looking In
Kyle Busch and the 18 car finished fifth on Sunday, moving him one spot up to ninth in the standings and closing the gap to just six points behind the eighth spot.
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Ryan Newman finished 11th at Kansas in the 31 car, dropping him to 10th in the standings, eight points behind the eighth spot.
In Trouble
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a wheel go loose and had to pit during a green flag, which caused him to finish 21st in the 88 car. He is still 11th in the standings, but he is now 31 points behind the eighth spot and needs a win in order to move on.
Matt Kenseth has had a rough round, wrecking the 20 in both races. He needs a win to move on, as he is in 12th place, 35 points out of eighth. He has led 225 laps over the last two races, so he is not out of it yet.
What’s Next?
The Contender Round finishes up at the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25 at 2:30 pm. The top eight after this race move on to the Eliminator Round.
