2020 Hollywood Casino 400

The 2020 Hollywood Casino 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on October 18, 2020 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mi intermediate speedway, it was be the 33rd race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the seventh race of the Playoffs, and first race of the Round of 8.

Background
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5 mi tri-oval race track in Kansas City, Kansas. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The Verizon IndyCar Series also raced at here until 2011. The speedway is owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying
Chase Elliott was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Stage 1
Chase Elliott(9) jumped to the lead immediately as drivers spread out 2,3, and 4 wide at the start in an effort to gain track position. Elliott held the top spot until NASCAR waved the yellow flag for a competition caution after 25 laps were in the books.

William Byron(24) exited the pits in the lead. Playoff contender Kurt Busch(1) was caught speeding on pit road and will have to make his way forward from the rear of the field when the race restarts.

More spread out side-by-side racing as the green flag dropped and the lead shuffled hands. With 25 laps to go in the Stage, Kevin Harvick(4) was out front, Elliott ran 2nd, Brad Keselowski(2) 3rd, with Ryan Blaney(12) and Denny Hamlin(11) sitting 4th and 5th. The battle for Stage points began to heat up.

Elliott took over the top spot with 16 laps to go. With eight to go, Keselowski got beside Harvick and passed for 2nd two laps later. Blaney, Hamlin, and Erik Jones(20) passed Harvick as well picking every point they could. Keselowski closed to Elliott’s bumper, but Chase held him off to take the Stage win.

Stage 2
Hamlin, first off pit road, took the lead after racing side-by-side with Elliott for the 1st lap on the restart. Blaney was the only car that could run with Hamlin and the two separated themselves slightly from the rest of the pack early in Stage 2. Elliott, Keselowski, and Harvick rounded out the top 5.



Green flag pit stops began just after halfway in the 80 lap Stage. Most of the field had pitted when Matt Kenseth got together with Erik Jones and hit the wall with 17 laps to go in the Stage. The untimely caution caught several cars a lap down. Including Chris Buescher(17), Ty Dillon(13), and Jones.

Restarting with 11 laps to go, it was Hamlin back to the lead with Blaney still in 2nd. Alex Bowman was running in third. Harvick was the one really hunting Stage points as he passed Bowman and Blaney to move into 2nd, with 5 laps to go Harvick was on the bumper of Hamlin.

Catching the car in front of you is one thing, passing is another. Hamlin held off every move by Harvick and took the Stage 2 win.

The Final Stage
Kyle Busch stayed on the track and inherited the lead. Two tire stops for Logano and Aric Almirola(10) brought them to the front of the field in 2nd and 3rd, with Hamlin in 4th and Bowman completing the Top 5.

On the restart, Logano jumped ahead of Kyle Busch as the pack raced 3 & 4 wide behind them. Harvick decided to go for the lead early as he drove past everyone and into the 1st position. Keselowski, also with the right setup, cruised up to join the fight for 2nd with his teammate Logano.

Battling for 5th with Kyle Busch, Hamlin got into the wall and flattened a right rear tire. He was forced to the pits for a tire change. He returned to the track in 29th place, a lap down to the field.

With 80 laps to go, Kurt Busch began to lose pace. As the crew was trying to communicate with him to diagnose the problem, the engine let go and he retired to the garage. Starting last in this round, Busch will now have to win to advance as moving forward on points alone is no longer a realistic option.

The caution came out as Busch’s engine blew, amping up the drama. Teams pitted with 66 laps to go, right on the edge of their pit window. It’s possible the finish will come down to who can conserve the most fuel between now and when the checkered flag flies. Denny Hamlin stayed on the track when everyone pitted taking the wave around to get back on the lead lap.

Harvick and Kyle Busch led the field back to green. Harvick surged, Busch faded, and Logano moved up to lead the draft behind Harvick who quickly put time between himself and the pack.

As Harvick continued to build his lead the Team Penske drivers of Logano, Keselowski, and Blaney separated themselves slightly from their perusers, making it an all Ford Top 4.

With 47 laps to go, Tyler Reddick(8) hit the wall in Turn 3 and brought out the caution again. This will give teams the opportunity to gas up and get new tires for the sprint to the finish. It was a huge break for Hamlin who can now avoid pitting under green and repair the minor damage to his right rear caused by the earlier brush with the wall.

The lead changed hands in the pits as Logano came out in front of Harvick for the top spot heading to the restart with 42 laps to go. Blaney pushed Logano to the lead, but Harvick was able to get in between the teammates to take 2nd place.

Jimmie Johnson(48) and Ryan Preece(37) both scrapped the wall down the front stretch, the damage was minimal and the race stayed green. As Logano fought to keep Harvick behind him, Keselowski closed up to join the battle.

The Finish
With 20 laps to go, Harvick was back to Logano’s bumper and they were having to weave through lapped traffic. The Top 5 were all playoff cars. Logano, Harvick, Bowman, Keselowski, and Elliott. At 10 to go, Logano had stretched the lead to a half-second.

Bowman joined the chase with 3 laps to go, but Logano held strong blocking Harvick from getting the big run. With the win, Logano clinches a spot in the final 4 at Phoenix. Harvick’s second-place finish moves him close to clinching on points. Good news for Ford Performance as the Blue Oval will have at least two Mustangs running for the championship.

Playoff Standings
Denny Hamlin’s 15th place finish cost him some valuable points. He is 20 points to the good over the cut line, but can’t afford another slip at Texas. Elliott trailed Keselowski by 9 coming into Kansas, he picked up 1 but Logano’s win dropped Elliott below the cut line. Alex Bowman was 17 points down when they unloaded, he gained 12 Stage points, finished 3rd, and left the speedway 27 points below Keselowski. That shows how difficult it is to pick up points in Playoff racing.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 80

Stage Two Laps: 80

Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 107

The closing laps were met with disdain from some in the journalism and fan ranks, who suggested that the NA18D aerodynamics package used for the race prevented the best driver from winning the race.

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 17 among 11 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 6 for 31
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 53 minutes and 43 seconds
 * Average speed: 138.329 mph

Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the action from the booth, the first time since the March Phoenix round that commentators have been on site other than Charlotte. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties, Rutledge Wood and Super Bowl XLVII champion Bernard Pollard handled the features from their homes during the race.

Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle called the race for MRN when the field raced thru the front straightaway. Dave Moody called the race for MRN from Turns 1 & 2, and Mike Bagley called the race for MRN from turns 3 & 4. Winston Kelley and Steve Post covered the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.