Man. That was fun. And no cars flew up in the air or had their fuel tanks explode or otherwise made us afraid someone was going to die!
The Winner
Ryan Blaney got his second straight win, outlasting the field as the mad dash to the finish took out nearly everyone else.
The Race
It was a lovely little dance for the first two stages, with plenty of passing, a few close calls, and little contact. Down the stretch, though, with everyone in the field save Tyler Reddick incentivized to go for nothing but a win, there were a few big ones, including one through the final turns on the final lap.
Results
The top ten, plus playoff drivers and the bubble-misser (note: Chris Buescher was 2nd initially, but failed inspection—Buescher nearly won it, which would have been a heartbreaking way to miss the playoffs):
Bubba Wallace came in 2nd.
Ryan Newman was 3rd.
Ryan Preece was 4th.
Reddick, whose car was smoking up a storm after one of the incidents but someone got repaired enough to be driven to the finish, was 5th.
Justin Haley was 6th.
Alex Bowman came back from early contact to wind up 7th.
Chase Elliott was 8th.
B.J. McLeod was 9th.
Josh Bilicki was 10th.
Kurt Busch, who’s been confirmed to be headed to 23XI Racing for next year, came in 12th.
Denny Hamlin was 13th, failing to catch Kyle Larson in the regular season standings.
Aric Almirola was 14th.
Kevin Harvick was 15th.
Austin Dillon got caught up in the final mayhem, finishing 17th.
Larson was 20th.
Joey Logano was 23rd.
Martin Truex Jr. was 29th.
Christopher Bell was 32nd.
Brad Keselowski was 33rd.
Kyle Busch was 34th.
William Byron was 37th.
Michael McDowell blew up early and took 39th.
Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suárez, Matt DiBenedetto, Cole Custer, and many others were all factors late.
Standings
Larson ended up holding off Hamlin by 18 points, a pretty dramatic number. Reddick held off Dillon by 30.
The playoff standings, as they begin:
1. Larson: 2052
2. Truex: 2024
3. Blaney: 2024
4. Kyle Busch: 2022
5. Elliott: 2021
6. Bowman: 2015
7. Hamlin: 2015
8. Byron: 2014
9. Logano: 2013
10. Keselowski: 2008
11. Kurt Busch: 2008
12. McDowell: 2005
13. Bell: 2005
14. Almirola: 2005
15. Reddick: 2003
16. Harvick: 2002
Thoughts, Implications, Up Next
That was really fun.
The playoffs start next week at Darlington, with the first round consisting of Darlington, Richmond, and Bristol (the latter two are Saturday night races). Going off of the regular season standings, McDowell and Almirola, who finished 21st and 23rd, have done the least so far, with Bell and Kurt Busch (15th and 14th) next-closest. Not a lot of points separate everyone, though, accidents happen, and surprise winners are a thing (look at McDowell, look at Almirola). At this point, only Larson seems safely through to the second round, though more drivers than just the winner could join him in that likely-safe category next week, and I do not believe he can clinch next week without a victory.
Videos
Some of the early racing:
The first big crash (you see Reddick smoking at the end):
Austin Dillon avoids it:
Nearly another big one:
Some late-race racing:
The second big crash:
Again, Dillon avoids it:
The final big crash:
This time, Dillon does not avoid it:
Not the Reddick team’s first dance with the damaged vehicle clock at Daytona this year:
