Ok, first off, let’s talk about how the NASCAR playoffs work.
Jimmie Johnson will still get to race these last ten races. His results just won’t matter for the standings or the championship. The results of 16 drivers will matter (narrowed to twelve after the third race, eight after the sixth, and four after the ninth). And William Byron and Matt DiBenedetto will be two of those 16.
Here’s how we got there:
Entering the Race
Johnson was sitting just outside of the playoff field going into last night. He’d missed a race due to a positive COVID-19 test earlier in the summer, and had a second-place finish wiped away when his car failed inspection, but he was still in striking distance of Byron and DiBenedetto:
DiBenedetto +5
Byron 0
Johnson -4
Things were tight.
Stage One
In addition to getting points based on where they finish the race, drivers get points for their finishes in each of the first two stages of the race. Specifically, they get points if they’re in the top ten. So when Johnson finished Stage One in fifth place, he got six points, and when Byron finished it in seventh, he got four points, and when DiBenedetto finished it outside the top ten, he got no points, making things look like this:
DiBenedetto +1
Byron 0
Johnson -2
Things were even tighter.
Stage Two
Similar to Stage One, Stage Two went off without any caution flags or other significant incidents. Clean racing. Some pit strategy, though: The Ford’s, including DiBenedetto, tried to stretch it on fuel mileage while the Chevrolet’s, including Johnson and Byron who are teammates (Byron’s in Jeff Gordon’s old 24 car), did not try to stretch it. This led to the Chevy’s closing a large gap over the closing laps of Stage Two and catching the Ford pack, with mixed results. Joey Logano, driving a Ford, held onto the lead. Johnson passed DiBenedetto to finish fifth, grabbing another six points to DiBenedetto’s four. Byron finished eleventh, getting no points.
DiBenedetto +1
Johnson 0
Byron -4
Very, very close.
Somewhere around 15 Laps to Go
James Davison got a flat tire. Caution flag came out for some debris.
At this point, Johnson’s handling was off, so he pitted under caution, yielding some track position to keep his car more driveable. Byron also pitted, opting for fresher tires, a somewhat surprising move giving he was sacrificing that track position.
Just under Ten Laps to Go
Tyler Reddick (who’s in the blue 8 car up front) tried to block Kyle Busch (in the green 18 car at the top of the track in the front). It didn’t work (best view of what Reddick did in the second clip):
Did our three make it through?
Somehow, yes (Byron’s in the 24, DiBenedetto’s in the 21, and Johnson’s in the 48, with all starting the clip near the right of the shot):
I do not know if William Byron got lucky here or did something impressive but my impression is it was both.
Still alive. All three still alive.
Three Laps to Go
On Lap 158 of what was supposed to be a 160-lap race, Denny Hamlin (in the 11) hooked Joey Logano (in the 22) just before this clip starts:
Logano, as you can see, slid up into a light blue and red 43 car which is Bubba Wallace, leading Byron to run into Wallace, jostling him further while also passing him on the inside, where it appears he ran into Logano himself, at which point Logano lost his rear right tire?
When Logano lost control, DiBenedetto ran into him (meanwhile, Wallace had saved himself). Logano pinballed around, ultimately hitting Matt Kenseth in the 42, who slid up the track into Johnson, causing quite a bit of damage that necessitated a visit from what I think was a chainsaw:
Red Flag
The race was red-flagged for track cleanup, but due to red flag rules, Johnson’s team was not allowed to work on making his car driveable, which would’ve been nice because if Johnson had managed to get back on the track, he could’ve conceivably finished ahead of Byron or DiBenedetto in the event of another wreck.
But alas, ‘twas not meant to be. Johnson’s day and playoff hopes were done…
Overtime
…and in overtime, his 22-year-old teammate got his first career victory:
***
Up next? The playoffs. More on these later this week, but the bottom line is that every three races, four drivers get cut from competition (they still get to race, but their results don’t matter) until only four remain for the season’s final race. It starts Sunday at Darlington, and the standings, with bonus points (earned by winning stages, winning races, some other things I don’t fully understand) lining up like so:
1. Kevin Harvick (57 points)
2. Denny Hamlin (47 points)
3. Brad Keselowski (29 points)
4. Joey Logano (22 points)
5. Chase Elliott (20 points)
6. Martin Truex, Jr (14 points)
7. Ryan Blaney (13 points)
8. Alex Bowman (9 points)
9. William Byron (7 points)
10. Austin Dillon (5 points)
11. Cole Custer (5 points)
12. Aric Almirola (5 points)
13. Clint Bowyer (4 points)
14. Kyle Busch (3 points)
15. Kurt Busch (1 point)
16. Matt DiBenedetto (0 points)
After the next three races, again, it gets cut to twelve, so as it stands, Bowyer is one point back of making the Round of 12, Kyle Busch is two points back, Kurt Busch is four points back, and DiBenedetto is five points back. Wins, as far as I know, still mean automatic advancement to the next round, with points carrying over. But as was said, more on that later this week.
Go NASCAR go.
