The Monster Energy Cup Series held its elimination race yesterday at Kansas Speedway. After a tame Talladega race from the week prior, yesterday’s race was an opportunity for a few drivers to race their way into the next round of the playoffs.

The Ford machines continued to be fast like last week as they were upfront for the majority of the day. Joey Logano started the race from the pole position. Logano led 100 laps out of the 267 total laps ran. Joey also won the first stage of the race with his efforts. His teammate Brad Keselowski led 26 laps today as well.

Stage two began and Kevin Harvick made an appearance into the lead. He led 76 laps today and also picked up the win in the second stage. However, the Ford performance faded as other drivers began picking up the pace.

Chase Elliott took the lead late in the race after green flag pit stops cycled through. At this point, his only worry was having Kyle Busch in his rear view mirror. Busch was gaining ground on Elliott as the laps were winding down. However, some lapped traffic impeded on Busch’s efforts to track down Elliott. Busch ran out of laps and Elliott ran away with the win.

This is Chase Elliott’s third win this season and his second win in the playoffs. It is now beginning to appear that Elliott could be a huge contender for the championship in Miami. He has had some real good runs as of late. His two wins in the playoffs plus solid finishes puts him in the fourth place spot in the playoff standings. He is heating up at the right time.

Some drivers were not so fortunate in Kansas. Kyle Larson had a solid run today. However, his third place finish was not good enough to allow him to advance into the next round. Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, and Brad Keselowski were also eliminated from the playoffs.

Looking forward into the Round of Eight, the four drivers that are below the cut line are Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and Clint Bowyer. It is still a tight race as Almirola is only twelve points below the cut line.

Next week’s race begins the Round of Eight in this year’s NASCAR playoffs. The race will be held next week Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. After Martinsville, the series will head down to Texas, and over to Arizona before racing for the championship in Miami. Time is winding down and the playoff field gets smaller yet. Next week’s short track race could mix up the playoff standings.