Watch: Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott fight for victory at the stage in Miami

If you want to know how much it means to win in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, one look at Sunday’s Straight Talk 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will tell you all you need to know.

Ryan Blaney initially led the race after a round of green flag pit stops early in the stage, but Chase Elliott was able to pass the defending champion and take the top spot.

Shortly after, Denny Hamlin, who pitted later than Blaney and Elliott and had fresher tires, passed Blaney for second, targeting the leader.

Neither driver had the most impressive results in the playoffs, and stage wins were hard to come by for either. Elliott’s only stage win of the season came at the season-opening Daytona 500, while Hamlin has not won a stage since the Brickyard 400 on July 21.

After catching Elliott, Hamlin engaged the 2020 champion in a lively game of cat-and-mouse as both drivers moved around the track in search of traction.

Hamlin was eventually able to get side-by-side with Elliott, and on lap 161, Hamlin completed the pass, taking the lead away from NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Hamlin won the stage and Elliott held off Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell for second. The stage win was Hamlin’s first in more than three months of competition and gives him 10 crucial points as he bids for a fifth career top-four finish.