Denny Hamlin goes from the pole to victory lane after winning at Gateway on Sunday in the Enjoy Illinois 300.

After his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe, locked himself into the round of 12 with a win at Darlington, Hamlin follows up by winning Coach Gibbs his 200th Cup Series trophy.

Playoff bubble drivers remain vulnerable as we head into the final race of the first round. But first, we have to break down the action from Gateway.

RECAP

Kyle Larson took the lead from Hamlin at the beginning of the race, but the season of misery continued for Kyle Busch as he spun out on lap 27, bringing out the first of ten total cautions on the day.

Two playoff drivers had early troubles as Tyler Reddick pits in a Toyota teammate’s pit box to fix a loose lug nut, ultimately serving a penalty and losing a lap.

On lap 36, Josh Berry wrecks in stage one for the second week in a row, putting him in a must-win situation next week at Bristol.

Chase Briscoe picked up right where he left off last weekend by winning stage 1 and claiming more playoff points.

However, this would not be the last time Briscoe made the main stage on TV. He collided with Daniel Suarez on lap 61, ending the 99 team’s day.

After Austin Dillon wrecks his brother, Ty, we would see more green flag laps until Kyle Larson gets deep into turn four and spins out Ryan Blaney for the fifth position.

After the one lap shootout to the end of stage 2, Bubba Wallace picked up some extra playoff points on top of his already big points day.

In stage 3, more playoff trouble for Shane Van Gisbergen as he spins in turns three and four.

On lap 208, Ty Dillon experiences a brake issue, bringing out the caution.

This would ultimately set up the final restart of the race, where Denny Hamlin would drive away and keep it clean until the checkered flag, punching his ticket into the round of 12 for the 7th consecutive year.

Chase Briscoe remains hot as he comes home P2.

Chase Elliott has a solid day finishing third.

Team Penske rounds out the top five with Ryan Blaney finishing 4th and Joey Logano finishing 5th.

FLAGS OF THE WEEK

My green flag of the week is Joe Gibbs Racing. They have it figured out right now and are firing on all cylinders. Back-to-back wins and no sign of slowing down as they are the only team with drivers locked into the next round. There is still a lot of work to do before they can think about a championship, but these teams have been hot all summer and are only heating up as the playoffs commence.

The yellow flag of the week belongs to Kyle Larson. After making an unnecessary mistake and spinning out Ryan Blaney, Larson adds another race to his winless streak. Larson still has not won since May, and in my predictions article, I didn’t have Larson making the championship round. Some might call me crazy, but I would watch out if I was a fan of the No. 5 team.

My red flag of the week goes to Josh Berry. After wrecking himself on lap 1 at Darlington, and wrecking out of the race in stage 1 a week later, Berry and the No. 21 squad find themselves in a must-win situation heading to Bristol. I’m not saying it’s impossible for Berry to win, but the odds are stacked against him, and it’s a low possibility that we see the Wood Brothers driver in the next round.

THE NEXT RACE

The NASCAR Cup Series round of 16 elimination race takes place at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 13th at 7:30PM EST on USA network.

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