NASCAR OEM's Performance Report: Toyota dominance crumbles, Ford falters, and Chevrolet steadies the playoff field at Kansas

Chase Elliott's second win of the NASCAR Cup season in a dramatic double-overtime finish at Kansas Speedway has steadied the playoff field for Chevrolet.

After Toyota won the first three playoff races, Ryan Blaney gave Ford its first win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and locked himself in the Round of 8. Now, Elliott's victory has also pushed him into the next round as Toyota dominance crumbles. The Hendrick Motorsports driver beat Denny Hamlin by 0.069 seconds and gave the OEM a major momentum boost.

Toyota cars led key portions of the race but failed to finish first. Denny Hamlin alone led a race-high 159 laps, which also marked his most laps led at a 1.5-mile track in a single race.

Five Toyotas entered the final overtime laps with a shot at victory and none crossed the line first. The brand's strong regular-season form did not translate to a Kansas win on Sunday. Tyler Reddick, the 23XI Racing No. 54 Toyota driver said ahead of the race (via Speedway Media):

"We had a stretch here where it was a 23XI Toyota or a Toyota car in general, we had a pretty good record here to be able to win races. I look at the last two or three times we've been here we've been missing a little bit of something."

Ford teams endured a rough day. Team Penske drivers logged crashes and poor starting positions. Austin Cindric hit the wall in practice, started the race from the back of the field with Joey Logano. The two ultimately finished in 30th and 21st place, respectively. The setbacks cost track position and late-race leverage for Ford entries.

Toyota faces two eliminations heading to NASCAR Cup playoff race at Charlotte Roval

Out of the four remaining Chevys in the playoffs, Ross Chastain's No. 1 team is just below the cutline with 13 points above defending NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell and HMS William Byron are all clear with at least 40 points ahead of the cutline. Meanwhile, two Toyota drivers are in a must win situation heading into the Round of 12 elimination race at Charlotte Roval.

Bubba Wallace is 26 points below the cutline with teammate Tyler Reddick, who is 29 points down.

"It was a tough day. I think our Toyota was fast but we struggled on pit road. It’s part of racing. There's only one thing we can do at Charlotte, win," Tyler Reddick said after Kansas race.

The No. 19 Toyota driver, Chase Briscoe, is also just 21 points ahead in seventh place. He will also need a strong result next week.