By David Morgan, Associate Editor
TALLADEGA, Ala. – The Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is coming down to the wire after a chaotic day Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Only a few of the 12 drivers still in the championship chase left the 2.66-mile superspeedway unscathed, and a half-dozen of them now head to the elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend either needing to protect a slim advantage in the points or climbing out of a hole.
Here’s how the Playoff bubble currently stacks up:
Tyler Reddick – No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota (+14 over the cut-off line)
The regular season champion came into Sunday needing to make up some ground in the points standings, sitting four points back, and while it wasn’t a repeat of his win here in the spring, Reddick made the most of the day, avoided the carnage the best he could and finish the race in 20th place.
Not great, but considering how the majority of the other Playoff contenders fared, not too bad either. With his 18-point swing on the day, he’ll head to Charlotte with a bit of a buffer as he looks to keep charging on in the postseason.
“Yeah, you know, it was a really solid points day, considering all of the carnage,” said Reddick.
“To gain points on the cut (line), considering the damage and the 20th-place finish, I’ll take that every single time. It was a hard race, I thought we had a lot of potential for points. Things just didn’t work out on the final lap, a few times.”
Chase Elliott – No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (+13)
Sunday’s race was shaping up to be a good day for the two-time Talladega winner…until it wasn’t.
Running in the top-five with only a handful of laps to go, Elliott would get swept up in a multi-car crash on Lap 185 when Austin Cindric was spun off the bumper of Brad Keselowski, collecting among Elliott, a total of 24 cars, turning the Talladega backstretch into a junkyard.
Elliott would get a push back to pit road and was able to limp around for the remainder of the race, but still finished the day in 29th place. As a result, he now holds the final transfer spot into the next round with a 13-point gap over those currently on the outside looking in.
“I thought Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) and I had a really good system going there. I was really pleased with my spot,” Elliott said.
“I thought I had a lot of what was going to transpire, was in my hands, which is what I want at the end of these things. Unfortunately, what was in my hands ended up biting us. I don’t really know what you do about that. We were in a good position. The No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevy team executed a good second-half of the race. We were right there when it counted.
“I’m not sure how I got clipped. I thought I had it missed. Somebody just barely clipped me and it sent me spinning.”
Joey Logano – No. 22 Team Penske Ford (-13)
Logano likewise was the victim of the Lap 185 crash, which took him from contending for the win in the top-10 to a dismal 33rd place result.
As such, he falls from the positive side of the cut-off line, where he started the day a +4 to now having some ground to make up at Charlotte as the first driver on the outside looking in. His 13-point deficit is manageable though, especially at a track where he has only finished outside the top-10 once in his career.
“I didn’t even have fun today. You can’t even do anything here,” said Logano.
“You just get stuck. You’re running four-wide and it looks cool, but you’re running half-throttle and then when you want to go and it’s time to go, everyone is just stuck two-wide, so there’s just not many moves you can make.
“You just keep trying to re-learn how to run on these superspeedways as it evolves, but the car’s got so much drag on it that you can’t make moves and make runs happen and cross people up. You’re committed to where you are in that line.”
Daniel Suarez – No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (-20)
Suarez entered the day at Talladega 14 points below the cut-off line, but on Sunday, things went from bad to worse once the green flag dropped.
After unapproved adjustments to the roof of his car pre-race, Suarez was forced to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 1, putting him way behind the eight-ball from the get go. Suarez would be lapped once and had just been lapped a second time when trouble struck.
Fading back through the pack in a hurry, Suarez made a late move to try and jump in front of B.J. McLeod’s Chevrolet in Turn 3 on Lap 11, but wasn’t clear, sending him spinning back across the track into the infield grass.
He would limp his car back to pit road shortly thereafter, but his day was all but done and he would struggle to make it back on the lead lap for the remainder of the afternoon. Suarez would escape the late race carnage to cross the line in 26th place and minimize the damage the hit to his place in the standings.
Nonetheless, he’ll have work to do to next weekend to keep his run in the postseason alive.
“It was a very difficult day for the No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevy team,” said Suarez.
“We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole with the pass-through penalty. We had a plan and I was expecting everyone to be saving fuel, and I was going to be able to block the lanes and stay in the pack. I just made a mistake. I tried to block when they were coming, but they were just coming too fast.
“That was on me. We put ourselves in a hole, and unfortunately we weren’t able to recover. And then in the last wreck, obviously that finished killing our chances.”
Austin Cindric – No. 2 Team Penske Ford (-29)
Cindric was undoubtedly the driver most affected by the Lap 185 crash as he came into Sunday already at the bottom of the Playoff standings, the same 29-points back that he already is.
The youngest member of the Team Penske trio had positioned himself as a threat to win at Talladega, leading 10 times for a total of 29 laps and was primed to make a run at the victory and flip the script in the closing laps.
However, when the bump draft gone wrong from Keselowski sent him spinning into the oncoming field of cars, that all went up in smoke and he would be scored way back in 32nd place when all was said and done.
Now, he’ll have to put some of his road course expertise to use in Charlotte to keep his Playoff hopes alive.
“I just got turned at the front of the field. Unfortunately, that’s how Daytona ended for us and I think what that says is we’ve got really fast race cars and great execution,” said Cindric.
“As the leader, I was trying to be as predictable as possible as far as taking pushes and it’s just a real shame. I don’t really feel like doing a whole lot of complaining about what happened or whose fault it is, it doesn’t really matter.
“It puts us in a must-win situation for the Charlotte Road Course. We’ve brought some exceptionally fast race cars every single race of the playoffs and I cannot understate how proud I am of my race team and we’ll have to bring another one next week.”
Chase Briscoe – No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (-32)
Briscoe was another unwitting victim of the Lap 185 crash, when his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was waded up in the crash.
Once his car came to rest, it appeared to still be drivable, aside from a number of flat tires. The same flat tire rule that has bit others in previous races almost bit Briscoe as safety officials were trying to persuade him to get out of his car so they could tow it back to the garage.
If he had done so, his day would have been done, but he and his team were able to plead their case to NASCAR and his car was towed to pit road instead so the crew could change his tires and get him back out.
Though he finished six laps down to the leaders, they stood on principle and now head to Charlotte in a must win to keep their Cinderella run going. Briscoe won in a walk-off once in the regular season finale at Darlington, now he’ll have to do it again in Charlotte.
“It’s not the day we wanted, just with the way everything went. I don’t know what the points are, but I’m sure it’s not good,” Briscoe said.
“This is one of those races where if you didn’t run top five or whatever, you’re probably gonna be in a must-win either way, so that probably makes it a little more clear now and puts it where it’s not on that bubble of, ‘well, should we go for points or should we just try to win the race.’ At least now I feel it’s pretty obvious, so a frustrating day.
“It felt like there at the end we were in position and then I don’t know what happened. We had all the Fords in line and thought we were gonna be really good and then the wreck happened.”
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