In a race that featured a strange brew of divergent strategies, pole winner Denny Hamlin claimed his series-best fifth victory of the season and advanced to the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Here is a look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup playoff race at World Wide Technology Raceway. Denny Hamlin — He wins to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

Race 2 of the postseason is this Sunday just outside St. Louis. Our experts make predictions for the race and the playoff picture.