Ross Chastain has locked up his first win of the season while spoiling the fun for the playoff drivers.
The Trackhouse Racing driver is not eligible for the Cup Series championship after missing the playoffs, but he still had the goal of winning before the end of the season. He achieved this after holding off a hard-charging William Byron.
Byron crossed the finish line second. Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five. Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Zane Smith were all top 10.
MORE: Chastain wins, full results
The caution for Carson Hocevar spinning set up a 21-lap dash to the checkered flag. Truex was the control car, but he lost the lead to Chastain on the restart. Byron then moved into second place and began trying to erase the Trackhouse Racing driver's lead.
Byron closed the gap by running a slightly lower line on corner entrance, but he was never able to get to Chastain's bumper. He then ran out of time before the checkered flag waved. Byron still left Kansas with a 34-point cushion to the Round of 8 cutline.
This win was significant for Chastain considering that it was his first since the season finale at Phoenix last season.
"For us on this (No. 1) team, that's what Cup racing's all about," Chastain told NBC Sports after the race. "It's what Justin Marks bought into Trackhouse with Pitbull, bought into NASCAR with Trackhouse, to do stuff like this, to disrupt.
"And look, there's been times this year where we couldn't have disrupted the minnow pond outside of Darlington, let alone a Cup race."
Stage 1: Christopher Bell dominated the first stage of the race, but he tagged the outside wall with eight to go in the stage. This opened up the opportunity for William Byron, who took the lead and won the stage.
Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Bell, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, and Carson Hocevar were all in the top 10.
Tyler Reddick in 13th, Chase Elliott in 19th, Chase Briscoe in 25th, Daniel Suarez in 30th, and Kyle Larson in 35th were the drivers who missed out on stage points.
A flat tire sent Larson into the wall during the opening stage and kept him buried in the rear of the field for the rest of the race.
Stage 2: Bowman and Bell stayed out on the track after Cindric brought out the caution on Lap 158. Other leaders stopped on pit road for fresh tires.
Bowman won stage 2, his first stage win of 2024, while Bell fell to 16th after tagging the wall. Gibbs, Blaney, Byron, Brad Keselowski, Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Truex, Elliott, and Briscoe were all top 10.
Hamlin in 11th, Reddick in 13th, Bell in 16th, Suarez in 18th, Logano in 27th, Larson in 30th, and Cindric in 34th missed out on stage points.
Cautions: The race featured 10 cautions -- two for stage breaks -- that totaled 47 laps.
Next: The playoffs continue with the biggest wild card of them all. The Cup Series teams take on Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, Oct. 6.