Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott took full advantage of the drama between 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin on the final lap of Sunday afternoon's NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Kansas Speedway to score his second win of the 2025 season and punch his ticket to the round of 8.
Elliott shot to the top of the playoff picture following his win, joining Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, who won the opening race of the round of 12 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, even though it's actually Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson who leads the point standings.
With Elliott currently having more points (fifth place) than Blaney (sixth), he is technically classified as the current leader of the playoff picture since they are the only two drivers locked into the next round.
But regardless of what happens in the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval this weekend, Elliott will not open up the round of 8 on top of the playoff picture.
Chase Elliott will drop before the round of 8
Elliott has 18 playoff points this season, having added five with his Kansas victory. That's only good for a sixth place tie among the 12 remaining championship contenders, and even if he sweeps the stages and wins at the Charlotte Roval, 25 points would still only be good for sixth.
Of course, not everyone ahead of him is guaranteed to advance. Hamlin leads the way with 36 playoff points, while Larson is tied with teammate William Byron with 32. But Blaney has already punched his ticket, and he is up to 33 playoff points following his race win (and stage win) at New Hampshire.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell is also ahead of Elliott with 28, while teammate Chase Briscoe is currently level with Elliott at 18.
So when the 4,000-point reset takes place ahead of the round of 8, there is no way for Elliott to remain where he is atop the playoff picture.
In all likelihood, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet will enter the round of 8 not only not at the top of the playoff picture but below the Championship 4 cut line, even if he's sitting at 4,025 points, and that largely comes down to the fact that he only scored six playoff points (one race win, one stage win) before the 26-race regular season ended.
The Bank of America Roval 400 is set to be shown live on USA Network from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 5. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the round of 12 finale!