On the 17th anniversary of the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that killed ten, the Number 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet got yet another win:
The Race
It was Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and William Byron for much of the day, with a late pit foible pulling Byron back while Larson held onto the lead. Beyond that, mostly just issues with cars hitting the wall. Lot of cars hitting the wall. Bang. Bang. Bang. (That’s the sound of cars hitting the wall.) Even Larson did it! (I think.)
Results
Top ten, other playoff drivers:
Elliott finished second.
Kevin Harvick was third.
Kurt Busch was fourth.
Denny Hamlin was fifth.
Byron finished sixth.
Martin Truex Jr. bounced back from early issues to wind up seventh.
Christopher Bell was eighth.
Joey Logano made a big pit strategy gamble early, and while it didn’t work out, he still finished ninth.
Austin Dillon was tenth.
Brad Keselowski had some early issues, hit the wall, then got hit with the caution-while-pitting off a Ryan Newman spin. 17th.
Kyle Busch spent a lot of time with the wall. 28th.
Ryan Blaney had to make an extra stop early, got himself back into a competitive spot, then got turned when Austin Dillon lost control and ended up in the wall. 37th, suddenly in a lot of peril for making the championship after entering the race in a good spot.
Standings
With one race remaining in the Round of 8, here’s where we’re at:
1. Larson (qualified for Championship 4 by winning)
2. Elliott (34 points ahead of first driver out)
3. Hamlin (32 points ahead of first driver out)
4. Kyle Busch (last driver in; 1 point ahead of first driver out)
5. Blaney (first driver out; 1 point behind last driver in)
6. Truex (3 points behind last driver in)
7. Keselowski (6 points behind last driver in)
8. Logano (26 points behind last driver in)
Thoughts, Implications, Up Next
Busch and Blaney struggling changes things. Had even one of them not struggled, next week’s script would have been: If Larson or a non-playoff driver wins, Elliott/Hamlin/Busch/Blaney race for three spots. If a playoff driver wins, they race for two spots. Instead, it’s: If Larson/Elliott/Hamlin or a non-playoff driver wins, Busch and Blaney and Truex and Keselowski are probably racing for one spot. If a playoff driver wins and it isn’t Larson/Elliott/Hamlin, it’s probably those three and the winner.
Logano does possibly have a chance. Elliott and Hamlin are nearly locked in, just needing to both avoid disaster (without stage points and in the worst-case scenario everywhere else—which I think is Blaney winning both stages and the race—Elliott needs to finish 15th and Hamlin needs to finish 12th). And, since I neglected to mention this, Martinsville’s up next.
Videos
Pretty good work by Eric Stonestreet:
Tyler Reddick is fun:
Byron would’ve been a big factor had he advanced past the Roval:
The Dillon/Blaney wreck:
Elliott/Harvick, Round…4? (No incident you’re not missing anything)
