NASCAR at Kansas playoff race updates: Joey Logano wins, advances

NASCAR’s Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs is today at Kansas Speedway. The Hollywood Casino 400 is on NBC.

The race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval will be 400 miles (267 laps) with stages breaks on laps 80, 160 and 267. Click here for a live NASCAR leaderboard.

A victory at Kansas could give the race-winning team an advantage in the Championship 4 event by providing more time to prepare for the finale.

Follow along here for lap-by-lap updates for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Refresh this page for the latest updates and follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

Joey Logano wins at Kansas, locks into NASCAR final 4

Joey Logano takes the checkered flag in The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, the first race of NASCAR’s playoff Round of 8. With the win, Logano advances to the Championship 4. The Round of 8 races continue Oct 25 (Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway) and Nov. 1 (Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway).

NASCAR Kansas final results

Next races: NASCAR 2020 playoff schedule

Round of 8

▪ 3:30 pm Sunday, Oct 25: Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

▪ 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 1: Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Championship 4

▪ 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 8: NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway

5:35 p.m. Lap 252: Logano, Harvick up front

It’s Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick in front with 15 to go.

5:20 p.m. Lap 223: Joey Logano leads; caution out

Caution out after Tyler Reddick rubs along the Turn 4 wall. After pit road and a restart, it’s Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney with 42 to go at Kansas.

4:56 p.m. Lap 198: Caution out, Kurt Busch done

After quickly dropping through the field, Kurt Busch reports that his engine has “detonated” and his day is done. The playoff driver, -21 points before the race, is now essentially in a must-win situation in the next two races to advance to the Championship 4. Erik Jones gets the free pass and Hamlin takes the wavearound to get back on the lead lap. “Usually there’s no warning. Wow,” Busch told NBC. “I haven’t seen an engine problem in years. No fault of anybody. ... We were right in the mix.”

What channel is today’s NASCAR race on?

Looking to tune in? The Hollywood Casino 400 is on NBC.

4:48, Lap 182: Hamlin makes unplanned stop

Hamlin tags the wall rounding Turn 4 and has right front damage. He has to make an unexpected pit stop at the track where he’s won the last two races. He quickly drops to the bottom half (28th) and goes a lap down. His crew chief Chris Gabehart tells Hamlin he’s still “faster than the leaders.”

NASCAR FINAL 8

4:42 p.m., Lap 170: Harvick to the lead

Kyle Busch stays out during the stage break to inherit the lead for the restart. Logano and Almirola also start up front by only taking two tires. A few laps into the final stage, Harvick takes P1 from Logano and leads the race, followed by Keselowski, Blaney and Kyle Busch in front of the pack.

4:30 p.m., Lap 160: Hamlin holds off Harvick for Stage 2 win

Denny Hamlin wins his 10th stage of the season and takes four new tires after the break. He reports to his team that he needs to be “tighter on entry” and “a little freer on the bottom two.” Harvick drove into second place in the final six laps of the stage once the race returned to green and closed the stage there for points. Blaney, Bowman, Elliott, Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Bowyer finish the stage in the top-10 for points.

4:13 p.m., Lap 144: Caution for Matt Kenseth

The first yellow flag for incident comes out following contact between Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones. Kenseth hadn’t quite cleared Jones as he drove the high line and takes damage on both the left and right side, while Jones has damage to his nose. DiBenedetto, McDowell, Newman and LaJoie catch a break as the last group to pit before the caution comes out.

Elliott is still struggling with his radio and takes two tires despite his team telling him not to. NASCAR’s official rule states that, “During Competition, in-vehicle radio communication capability is required between the driver, crew chief, and spotter of the same vehicle number.” The sanctioning body has not intervened at this point.

4:05 p.m., Lap 126: Green flag pit stops

Leaders Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott pit under green following the first stops by Jones, Harvick, Bowman, Almirola, Logano, Byron, A. Dillon and Kyle Busch, who pitted a couple laps earlier and started that round of pit stops. Elliott reports he can’t hear “s***” on his radio and he’ll need his team to flag him for the next pit stop.

3:58 p.m., Lap 110: Lapped cars blocking leaders

The order has settled into Hamlin, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski and Harvick. Lapped cars continue to slow leaders, including Blaney, who loses time chasing Hamlin as he gets caught behind Yeley rouding a turn. Truex Jr. also complains about traffic. Harvick, who briefly was up to third, dropped back to fifth place, saying that he has “no rear grip.”

“That’s the problem,” Harvick tells his team. “Now my front is a little too tight and I have no rear grip.”

3:47 p.m., Lap 91: Hamlin leading, Kurt Busch flying

Hamlin is the first driver off pit road and jumps out to an early lead to open the second stage. Blaney restarts third after Elliott in second, and Blaney takes second after the race goes green. Kurt Busch, who finished the. last stage out of the top-10 and drove back from a speeding penalty incredibly zooms to fourth place. Keselowski is also racing in the top-five.

3:40 p.m., Lap 80: Elliott wins Stage 1 at Kansas

Elliott made an outside pass of Harvick to re-take the lead in the final 15 laps of the stage. Harvick then dropped back before the close, getting passed by Keselowski, Hamlin, Blaney, Jones and Bowman in the top-seven (Harvick in seventh). Truex, Logano and Kyle Busch also get points in the top-10. Elliott was having radio communication issues and his team believed it to be a problem with his earplugs, and coordinated a hand-off on pit road for a new pair. After the pit stop, Elliott resumes clearer communication with his team.

3:23 p.m., Lap 57: Penske passes

The Team Penske cars of Blaney, Keselowski and Logano running in fourth, fifth and sixth, but Blaney earlier gets by Hamlin to take third place while Bowman gets around Logano for sixth. A few laps later, the order is still Harvick, Elliot, Keselowski, Blaney, Hamlin, Jones, Truex and Logano (dropping).

3:12 p.m., Lap 32: Harvick takes the lead

Byron puts up an early block of Logano, who drives low off the restart in attempt to get by him as Elliott gets past his Hendrick teammate. Harvick then passes Elliott for first place and the field settles into Harvick, Elliott, Hamlin, Logano, Blaney as Byron (who took two tires) drops back out of the top-10 quickly. Kurt Busch has raced back into the top-25.

3:05 p.m., Lap 25: Chase Elliott leads early laps

Chase Elliott stays in first until the competition caution. He is followed by Harvick, Hamlin, Logano, Blaney, Ku. Busch, Keselowski, Bowman, Reddick, Byron, Jones, Truex Jr. Truex Jr. has moved up 25 spots since starting the race in last place. Elliott leads the field to pit road, where Byron takes two tires to emerge first off pit road. Ku. Busch gets a speeding penalty on pit road, then comes back down pit road for his crew to check a loose lug nut on his right rear tire. The race returns to green on Lap 30.

2:55 p.m., Lap 10: Green flag, early fight for second

Chase Elliott, starting on the pole, stays out front for the opening laps. Joey Logano takes the outside lane as the field goes three-wide for the first laps, but Kurt Busch challenges him for second place, then Kevin Harvick passes both drivers for second place as Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney run up into the top-five.

2:36 p.m.: Pre-race ceremonies, engines fired

Pre-race ceremonies are underway from Kansas Speedway, where drivers have pulled out their winter coats. The invocation is delivered live, and U.S. army specialist Reanna Lloyd performs the national anthem before a four-jet flyover zooms over the track and limited fans cheer from the stands. Fort Leavenworth’s Lt. Gen. James Rainey gives the command to start engines. Clint Bowyer takes the top spot for pace laps in honor of the Emporia, Kansas-native driver before what will likely be his final race at his hometown track.

2:05 p.m.: What TV channel is the NASCAR race on today?

The Hollywood Casino 400 begins at 2:30 p.m. EST on NBC. The green flag is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. and the race typically lasts three hours. Stages end on laps 80, 160 and 267 and there will be a competition caution on lap 25.

1:35 p.m.: Cold in Kansas

Martin Truex Jr. noted the cooler weather at the Kansas City-based speedway. The temperature near the track is 43 degrees, according to AccuWeather.com, and is expected to reach a high of 47 degrees. The cars should be more comfortable to drive in, though, according to Truex, who said that the cold temperature would also make the track “really fast.”

“Generally, it makes it a little bit harder to pass when it’s cool because the bottom is going to be more dominant, I would say,” Truex Jr. said. “Everybody is going to handle pretty good. No one is going to be really bad, like when it’s hot out, slippery.”

The No. 19 driver added that the track today will be a “challenge for sure.”

“But hopefully the tires will wear enough that we can get the track widen out and move around a bit,” Truex Jr. said.

1:30 p.m.: Truex to the back of the pack

Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 car failed pre-race technical inspection multiple times and his car will start at the rear for today’s race. Truex was previously slated to start fifth and is one of the playoff drivers on the points bubble (-10) in sixth place. He last finished third at Kansas in July, and has dropped to the back for three races this season.

“We will deal with it,” Truex said Sunday. “This place, fortunately, there are a lot of lanes that you can run, really the whole racetrack works. You just have to go where they are not and pick them off one-by-one.”

In addition to Truex Jr, No. 53 driver James Davison also failed inspection multiple times and will drop to the rear at the start. Chase Elliott is starting on the pole with Joey Logano in the front row.

NASCAR PLAYOFF RACE AT KANSAS STARTING LINEUP

*Playoff driver