KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Denny Hamlin was surrounded by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates at the front on the final restart, and that put Chase Elliott in the most difficult and precarious of situations.

Somehow, he figured, he needed to find a way to beat them all to advance in NASCAR’s playoffs.

Hamlin roared away with a push from behind from teammate Kyle Busch on the second shot at a green-white-checkered finish, and Elliott was unable to chase him down. Hamlin won the race. Elliott felt almost as if he did.