For much of the afternoon at Kansas Speedway, Toyota’s grip on the race appeared unshakable. Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin led the field with authority, with the latter leading 159 laps with the Xfinity fastest lap. But Chase Elliott hovered behind, fighting an uphill battle in a race where raw pace favored Toyota. Jeff Gordon, now Hendrick’s Vice Chairman, later admitted, “those Toyotas were better than us all day.” But a playoff berth was on the line, and team Hendrick knew they needed something unusual to break Toyota’s dominance.

Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, had seen this movie before. Late cautions often create split-second decisions that define legacies. The pit box knew Elliott would not pass the Toyotas on pace alone. Sitting in eighth with two laps to go, expectations were modest. But when the pit road shuffled the field, that’s when the team’s gamble turned the impossible into the improbable.

The gamble that shifted the race for Chase Elliott

When the caution flew, the team called Elliott down pit road for four fresh tires. It was a slower service, but it gave the No. 9 an edge that the Toyotas would lack. Gustafson explained, “The 11 was better than us all day. The 20 was better than us all day. We needed to have an advantage over them to beat them, right? So, we needed a lineup with some advantage.”

The advantage came when Hamlin’s pit crew faltered on a two-tire stop. This fortunate moment put Elliott alongside the No. 11 but with double the fresh rubber. It was a small opening, but enough to tilt momentum back towards team Hendrick.

Even then, nothing was guaranteed. Elliott faced multiple restarts in overtime, where track position often outweighs tire advantage. Gustafson admitted, “At that point, yes, I thought we should win this race. Then a couple restarts didn’t go our way. You get a little frustrated, obviously, and the percentage of winning decreases.”

Each green flag threatened to erase the benefit of the tire call. Even then, Elliott’s persistence kept him within striking distance. The drama heightened with each attempt, and Jeff Gordon mirrored Gustafson’s emotional swing, saying, “I feel the same as him.” That alignment was the reason why the closing laps became a focal point of that race.

The closing laps were a showcase of execution under pressure. Elliott sliced through traffic out of nowhere and capitalized on Toyota’s missteps. In fact, he edged Hamlin at the line by just 0.069 seconds, making it the second-closest margin in Kansas Speedway‘s history.

“Everything worked out perfect for me,” said Elliott, who tasted his long-awaited second of the year (and second on Kansas), silencing his critics. “Had a great push through (Turns) 1 and 2. That kind of all started with the 6 (Brad Keselowski). Big run off of 2. Seas kind of parted and just was able to keep my momentum up. That was really it.”

Gordon later reflected on the rollercoaster, noting how every lane choice and timing decision on the restarts magnified the tension. For Hendrick, it was not just a race win but a validation of calculated risk-taking in the heat of playoff pressure. Elliott’s victory secured his spot in the Round of 8 and delivered a much-needed jolt of confidence to the No. 9 team. The gamble, as risky as it was, had saved their day and possibly their season. Gordon recalled this moment fondly as he later spoke about his favorite part of the closing laps.

Jeff Gordon left in awe of crew chief after Kansas win

Jeff Gordon has lived through plenty of dramatic finishes, but watching Chase Elliott pull off his Kansas miracle left him almost as breathless as the fans in the stands. With the No. 9 storming from 10th to the front in overtime, Gordon admitted he could not help but get swept up in the chaos. “There was definitely a lot of emotion there in the last few restarts,” he said, describing how every call on the radio made the tension that much heavier.

What struck Gordon most was how it felt like he was back in the driver’s seat, even if only in spirit. Listening to Alan Gustafson and the engineers debate tires, lane choice, and restart strategy gave him a rush of deja vu. “From where I get to sit, I get to hear all the conversations … just trying to figure out how many tires to take, where to line up, all those things.” It was a reminder of the split-second decisions he used to make for himself. The best part is this time, he got to see them play out from the other side of the fence.

The moment that stuck with him wasn’t even the checkered flag. Gordon laughed as he recalled, “My favorite part was what Alan said to Chase on that last restart, something about the cut line … he said something else about like screw the cut line.” In a race loaded with pressure, that lighthearted jab showed Gordon the team wasn’t afraid to roll the dice.

By then, Gordon was shouting like a fan again. “I love the way it all turned out … That put a big smile on my face,” he admitted. He even called Gustafson “my boy A.G.,” a nod to the bond forged under fire. For Gordon, this win wasn’t just about advancing in the playoffs. It was about watching Hendrick’s crew loosen up, trust each other, and find a spark at the perfect time.