Elliott restarted ninth with fresh tires and a windshelf filled with Toyota drivers: Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. On the final lap, Wallace faced a charge from his team owner in Hamlin. Meanwhile, Elliott was just along for the ride.

Seeking his 60th cup victory, Hamlin charged into the final turns and washed up into Wallace. Elliott hugged the inside line, slamming into Hamlin’s door as he passed by to claim the trophy.

“You live this stuff and you live these moments,” Elliott said. “I’m excited to go back and watch it, honestly.”

For Elliott, it’s his second trophy in 2025 and his first multi-win season since 2022. Elliott started the race fourth and finished inside the top five through both stages, leading 24 laps in total.

“I think that for us, I’ve been very transparent about the areas we need to be better in,” Elliott said. 

One struggle was qualifying, with Elliot holding a 22.6 average start in the last five races. 

“It’s all about buying yourself more time,” Elliott said of his championship odds. “If you’re not where you want to be, you’re just trying to buy yourself more time.

“Fortunately, we bought ourselves three more weeks, and we’ll fight like hell,” Elliot said.

Power steering failures ultimately hampered Hamlin’s shot to collect career win No. 60. The 44-year-old had the car to beat, sweeping the stages and posting the fastest lap of the race.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a car that good,” Hamlin said. “Just super disappointing.”

“I wanted it bad,” Hamlin said after leading a race-high 159 laps and surpassing 16,060 laps led in his Cup Series career. “Just wanted it a little too hard,” Hamlin said.

Wallace wound up in fifth place after the contact and will face Playoff elimination next weekend. It was especially sour for the 23XI driver after clawing his way back from early handling issues.

“Two years ago, I’d probably say something dumb,” Wallace said regarding Hamlin.

“I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there,” Wallace said.

Almost lost in the finish was Zane Smith’s Ford flipping violently on lap 268. John Hunter Nemechek drifted into Smith and the car up and onto the turn three barrier before barreling over. 

Smith walked away under his own power.

From the highs of New Hampshire, Team Penske found its fair share of lows in The Sunflower State. Issues on Saturday caused Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney to start outside the top-30.

Both battled back through the field and ran inside the top-10 before a flurry of cautions. Just as they climbed through the pack together, they would find themselves in the same wreck.

A restart stack-up between the leaders sent several cars spinning into the turn one wall. The Penske teammates were among those involved, Logano finishing 21st and Blaney in 24th.

Logano sits 13 points above the elimination line with Chastain as the next driver behind. Wallace is 26 behind with his teammate Reddick 29 below. Last on the grid is Austin Cindric at minus 48.

While Blaney and Elliott will advance to the Round of 8, Kyle Larson is the highest among those drivers not locked in. Larson, Hamlin, Bell and William Byron are 40 or more points above.

The Round of 12 ends Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. on the USA Network with 109 laps set as the scheduled distance.