Elliott stays focused on playoff push

Chase Elliott wasn’t around to see the fireworks at the end of last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington. Or, for that matter, the fire coming from Kevin Harvick’s car. Elliott’s playoff opener was over early after the regular-season champion lost control of his No. 9 Chevrolet and brushed the wall in Turns 1 and 2. Chase Briscoe, closing fast and with nowhere to go, collided with Elliott and caused too much damage for him to overcome. His crew from Hendrick Motorsports tried to repair the broken lower control arm and toe link but ran out of time. The result was a 36th place finish — dead last — and a big blow in the playoff race. Elliott dropped from the top seed to ninth heading into Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, the second of three stops before the field is whittled from 16 to 12. “It’s not to say that I don’t care,” Elliott said this week, “but I recognize when you have something happen, there’s nothing you can do after the fact.” Elliott’s been in the top five in five of his last starts at Kansas, and one of those other two he led 10 laps before a flat tire.