We’re a little behind on posts due to some site issues yesterday (apologies if you had trouble visiting the site), so this’ll be fairly quick:
Brad Keselowski picked up another win Sunday in New Hampshire as the NASCAR playoff race largely held steady. It wasn’t a meaningless result—it’ll put Keselowski closer to the lead in the playoffs themselves when they start—but it didn’t change the picture much, aside from running out the clock a bit on those on the bubble.
Who are those on the bubble?
Well, Jimmie Johnson’s the most notable, and things were rough for him early:
Meanwhile, Kyle Busch—who isn’t on the bubble, but also has yet to win, so isn’t technically safe—had some issues of his own, running over some debris and blowing a tire:
Aside from that and a rain delay, there wasn’t much too notable out of Loudon. Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney had a fun battle up front for much of the early part of the race, but Blaney fell off midway through, and Keselowski pulled away from Hamlin down the stretch.
Above a certain point (up in the Kyle Busch territory), the winless drivers are still safe, so the way it currently appears, there are six drivers battling for three spots, with the possibility always there that a driver outside this range (someone in, say, the Bubba Wallace territory) will win, drop themselves in the playoff field, and make that six drivers battling for two spots. Until that happens, though, here are the six and where they stand relative to William Byron in the standings, with Byron currently the last one in. Johnson recovered from the Bowyer incident to grab twelfth, but out of those closest to him in the field, he only beat Erik Jones.
Clint Bowyer (+28)
Matt DiBenedetto (+25)
William Byron (0)
Tyler Reddick (-15)
Jimmie Johnson (-25)
Erik Jones (-31)
Six regular season races remain. A victory’s still probably the best path for Johnson, or Jones, or Reddick, or even Byron. They’ve all got two chances next weekend at Michigan. Hold on tight.
