Kevin Harvick outruns Carl Edwards to win Hollywood Casino 400

Kevin Harvick took advantage of Carl Edwards dueling with a teammate to lead the final 30 laps and win the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Harvick clinches a spot in the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup with the win.

The No. 4 was followed by Edwards, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch.

Harvick, who led 74 laps, has won the second race in both rounds of the Chase so far. He won at New Hampshire in the first round.

“These races are hard to win and these guys are so good at the details,” Harvick told NBC Sports. “You put their backs against the wall and they get better.”

Harvick first took the lead on Lap 126 from Matt Kenseth, who led 116 laps before the halfway point before fading to finish ninth. Harvick then led 43 laps. In the middle of the race, a slow pit stop sent Harvick deep into the top 10, but Harvick returned to the point on the final restart. Edwards got into a tense battle with Busch, allowing Harvick to jump out to a 2.5-second lead.

Since the elimination format of the Chase debuted in 2014, Harvick has never been eliminated from a round.

“It’s hard to keep yourself motivated and perform at a high level, so to be able to come out and do it for three years says a lot about the character of this team and the things that they do,” Harvick said. “I’ve done a poor job (on restarts) the first half of the year. We struggled with some ratios and timing. We came up with some good ratios and things that really fit what we are doing.”

Harvick’s fourth win of the year gives him 35 Sprint Cup victories.

MORE: Race results

MORE: Point standings

HOW KEVIN HARVICK WON: Harvick overtook Carl Edwards on the final restart with 30 to go and led the rest of the way unchallenged.

WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Carl Edwards led 61 laps and earned his first top five since Kentucky in July … Joey Logano finished third a week after placing 36th at Charlotte … Jimmie Johnson followed up his Charlotte win with a fourth-place finish … Alex Bowman bounced back from early contact with Jamie McMurray and an unscheduled pit stop to finish seventh for his career-best finish and his second top 10 … A.J. Allmendinger finished eighth for his sixth top 10 of the season and his first since Bristol in August …Kasey Kahne‘s 10th-place finish gives him six top 10s in the last seven races.

WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Aric Almirola andDavid Ragan caused a caution on Lap 37 when they got together. Almirola finished 40th, Ragan in 36th … Jamie McMurray hit the wall on Lap 44 after making contact with Alex Bowman. McMurray finished 37th … Kyle Larson hit the outside wall on Lap 177 to bring out the caution. Larson finished 30th … Brad Keselowski was turned by Denny Hamlinas they exited Turn 4 on Lap 190. Keselowski went sliding through the frontstretch grass, receiving significant damage. Keselowski finished 38th, earning his first DNF since the 2015 Daytona 500 … Denny Hamlin finished 15th after having to pit three times under one caution for splitter damage and being called for three pit road penalties late.

Notable: The last four Kansas races have been won by a different driver … Chevrolet has won 11 of the 22 Sprint Cup races held at Kansas.

Quote of the Day: “With this format I had a big points gap coming in. With this format it is probably the smart thing to do but I don’t want to race like that. I want to race my guts out and go for wins. I don’t want to points race. I don’t care what the damn format is, I am going to give it my best.” – Brad Keselowski after finishing 38th

NEXT: Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Sprint Cup Chase Bubble outlook entering the Southern 500

Thanks to Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson the next two weeks will be a lot more interesting.

With Larson’s win at Michigan and Buescher’s upset in the fog-shortened race at Pocono last month, there are only three spots left to be filled on the grid for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

At the most, two spots could potentially be filled by first-time winners in the Southern 500 or next week at Richmond.

Then comes the wrench named Buescher.

The rookie driver is only on the grid because he’s narrowly in the top 30 in points. Buescher is ahead of David Ragan by just seven points, down from 13 entering Michigan.

If the Front Row Motorsports driver falters further in the next two races, he could allow for at least four more drivers to point their way into the Chase.

Here’s a look at how the Chase bubble looks with and without Buescher in the top 30 in points.

While Buescher has said Darlington is his favorite track on the NASCAR circuit, he has not made a start there in the Sprint Cup Series. But in four starts there in the Xfinity Series, Buescher has one top five (2015).

The Southern 500 airs Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on NBC.

Chase Grid: Kenseth qualifies, Elliott earns big gain after Dover

With his win at Dover International Speedway, Matt Kenseth became the first driver to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the last five races.

There have now been seven different winners through the first 12 races of the Sprint Cup season. With Denny Hamlin‘s poor performance since winning the Daytona 500, Kenseth was able to move up eight spots on the latest Chase grid to sixth, ahead of Hamlin.

Chase Elliott, who finished third Sunday for a career-best result, moved up three spots on the grid to ninth. The only driver ahead of him on the gird who hasn’t won a race is Kurt Busch. Busch is the only driver with 10 finishes in the top 10 through 12 races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon had the biggest drops, each falling three spots to 13th and 12th, respectively.

The first four drivers out of the 16 spots that will qualify for the Chase are AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.