How several drivers are already in trouble after Cup playoff opener at Darlington
Sunday's NASCAR Cup playoff-opening race at Darlington provided many ups and downs for the 16 drivers who still have a chance at the championship.
Over half of the playoff drivers found themselves with some sort of issue or incident. Exiting this race, some drivers who came into the race feeling comfortable, thinking they'd easily make the Round of 12, left the track under the cutline, suddenly finding themselves in a potential elimination zone.
Kyle Larson grabbed his 2nd win of the year and finally broke his curse at Darlington. The race was dominated by just a few select drivers, namely Denny Hamlin, Larson, and Tyler Reddick.
Although Hamlin ultimately finished 25th after a "loose wheel" which may not have been the real cause. Luckily for the Virginia native, winning both stages netted him an extra 20 points, so Hamlin still sits way above that cutline.
Let's take a look at the new Round of 12 cutline as it stands right now after Darlington heading into Kansas:
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16th. Michael McDowell (-19)
Overall, McDowell ran a solid race but exited with minimal points. In the first stage McDowell was running near the stage points positions around 10th. He was always in a battle somewhere between 10th and 15th. Speed wasn't the issue for the Arizona resident.
The big issue for McDowell came in the final stage. On lap 331, McDowell slammed into the back of Hamlin while trying to avoid a wreck. That ended the day for the 34 team.
So, the bad news for McDowell is despite running a decent race with enough speed for a potential top 15, McDowell leaves with just 5 points on the board. There's a lot of work to be done in the next two weeks if je amd Front Row Motorsports want to escape the bottom of the barrel.
15th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (-4)
Oh boy, where do we start with Stenhouse?
At the end of the day, the expectations were pretty low for the JTG driver heading into the playoffs, but maybe they shouldn't have been. Many people overlooked Stenhouse because he won the opening race in Daytona and hasn't looked the same since then.
The goal for Ricky in this race was to maximize his points. While that may sound obvious, but in Stenhouse's case, he can take advantage of stage points and stay out of trouble to make his way through.
For Stenhouse, he only achieved one of those. At the end of stage 2, Stenhouse Jr. stayed out while many others hit the pits and managed to grab an extra stage point by finishing 10th in that stage. The issue for Stenhouse? Penalties! Stenhouse Jr. was the first playoff driver to make his own mistake with a speeding in the pitlane violation.
Stenhouse battled all night and finished a respectable 16th!
The big thing for Ricky is that he gained some momentum and finds himself only four points off the elimination line. I imagine the Stenhouse camp is feeling much better about their chances now -- provided he doesn't keep making mistakes.
14th. Kevin Harvick (-2)
Speaking of bad luck, look no further than Kevin Harvick! The 4 car had race-winning speed all night and looked like the fastest car in the final stage. So how did Harvick finish 19th? Well, it was due to a penalty that many fans likely have never seen in their time of watching NASCAR.
Harvick and Tyler Reddick were battling for the lead late in the race and Kevin dove down to the pitlane to undercut Reddick. Then, Reddick saw Harvick dip down in his mirror and Reddick attempted to slow down and dive into the pitlane himself. This did not work out...
Reddick ended up causing a wreck with Ryan Newman slamming into the back of him and spinning out, thus bringing out the yellow flag. The issue for Harvick? Pitlane closed and Kevin still had his car serviced.
Ergo bad news for Harvick, as he now is below the cutline when he more than likely would have been a solid 20 points above the line if that move hadn't happened. For Kevin's sake, while this is a setback, he should have enough speed in the next two races to get out of the elimination zone. But of course, just two years ago Harvick failed to advance after Bristol. Could the same thing happen again?
13th. Bubba Wallace (-1)
Bubba was another one of those playoff drivers that had an issue, although his was the most minor. Battling with Joey Logano at the end of stage one, Bubba found himself spinning out. Fortunately for him and 23XI Racing, there was no damage incurred in the incident.
Throughout the rest of the race, Wallace kept gaining positions left and right. It looked like he was going to come home somewhere between 10th and 15th, but Wallace had such great late-race speed that he actually managed to finish in 7th place. That speed really came out of nowhere for Wallace. He didn't have that speed in qualifying and he didn't have that speed in the first half of the race.
So a P7 is good for Wallace and his team and caps off a great weekend for 23xi. He didn't get any stage points but grabbed 30 points from this race and set himself up well for Kansas despite being under the cutline.
Drivers who are currently safe
· Christopher Bell leaves just one point above the cutline ahead of Wallace. Bell started from the pole position and had speed in the first stage, but an early pit issue sent him to the back. Later on, Bell was involved in that Hamlin/McDowell accident. He finished 23rd and only took home 17 points. Not good for the JGR driver.
· Logano also leaves just 3 points above the cut line. This race was plagued by a possible toe link issue that caused Joey to pit more than he would have liked to. He should be safe but any cushion he had is now gone after finishing 12th.
· Martin Truex Jr. lost his huge points gap but is still 25 points ahead of Bell. Truex will still be in a great spot but of course a bad weekend next week could wipe that out. Truex finished 18th after fighting his car all night.
· Denny Hamlin could have won this race but after pitting from a loose wheel, he would be a lap down the rest of the race. Hamlin took 32 points and sits way above the cutline (+27)
· Ross Chastain recovered very well after being a lap down at the midpoint of the race. Chastain turned a lap down into a 5th place position and gives himself a bit more of a cushion now after Race 1. People aren't talking about this enough. Chastain is +13 to the line.
· Tyler Reddick often finds himself eliminated in the first round but maybe not this year. After a very solid 2nd place finish, stage points, and the cushion he already had, Reddick now sits 30 above the cutline and should be a lock into the Round of 12 unless he has a severe issue these next two races.
· Finally, Larson advances to the Round of 12 with a win!
Check back in with us after Kansas to see which drivers are under that cutline heading into Bristol, the final race of the opening round.