The four NASCAR Cup drivers who will compete for a championship trophy were determined Sunday at Martinsville in a race won by non-playoff driver Alex Bowman.
Defending champion Chase Elliott dominated the first two stages, winning both, to secure his place in the season finale on points by the end of Stage 2. With Kyle Larson already locked in, that meant two spots remained as Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske playoff drivers vied for the openings, racing around the previously eliminated Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
Gibbs cars driven by Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. eventually surged to the front in the final stage, but late chaos ensued as Truex went into the wall and Hamlin was spun from the lead by Bowman. Hamlin had strong words about Bowman after the race. He halted the winner’s burnout to a round of boos from the fans in attendance at the Southern Virginia short track.
“He’s just a hack. He’s an absolute hack,” Hamlin said on NBC.
Bowman said that he “just got loose and spun” Hamlin when asked about the contact.
“I got in too deep, knocked him out of the way and literally let him have the lead back,” Bowman said. “For anybody that wants to think I was trying to crash him, obviously wasn’t the case considering I literally gave up the lead at Martinsville to give it back to him.”
“He’s been on the other side of that,” Bowman continued. “He’s crashed guys here for wins. I hate doing it. Obviously I don’t want to crash somebody. I just got in, got underneath him, spun him out.”
Here are the drivers advancing to the Championship 4:
1. Kyle Larson
Advanced to the Championship 4 race prior to Sunday with a win at Texas. He also won last weekend’s race at Kansas and started on the pole at Martinsville. Larson led early laps, exchanging the lead with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. He had two speeding penalties on pit road that set him back in the running, one in the second stage and one in the final stage. Larson finished 14th and attributed the speeding penalties to being too aggressive and having more confidence being locked into the final race.
“Just mistakes on my part,” Larson said.
2. Chase Elliott
Won the first two stages at Martinsville to point his way into the final before the end of the race. Elliott led his career-high number of laps at a single track, leading 289 of 501 laps. He finished 16th after he was hit and spun up the track by Brad Keselowski, who said that the spin was unintentional after the race. Elliott seemed to put the incident behind him.
“I was racing him hard on the outside. I wasn’t super surprised that he made a mistake,” Elliott said. “As hard as he hit me, I knew he didn’t just clean me out on purpose. I figured he wheel-hopped.”
Elliott also said that “bad choices” on his part on adjustments put the team in that situation to begin with and that he felt like he was racing defensively to lead to the eventual spin.
3. Denny Hamlin
Started the race dropping to the rear for multiple inspection failures. An early pit road speeding penalty kept him in the back of the running, but he recovered to running in the top five by the final stage in a “Hendrick sandwich,” as Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart said before a late restart. Hamlin took the lead for the first time with 111 laps to go, and raced around Truex in the final stage, but he was spun from the lead by Alex Bowman in the final 10 laps of the race. Hamlin was not pleased with Bowman, calling him a “hack” on NBC after the race and driving his car up to Bowman’s mid-burnout to halt his celebration. Hamlin also took a shot at Chase Elliott fans during post-race media availability, saying that, “It’s just Chase Elliott fans, man. They don’t think straightly,” when asked about why he received so many boos. He said that the boos don’t bother him and that he expects more at Phoenix.
4. Martin Truex Jr.
Narrowly secured the final spot in the finale after he went into the wall late in the race. Truex made gains on stage points after sitting three points below the cutoff prior to Sunday’s race and was the favorite to win at one of his best racetracks. He moved into the top-two with around 100 laps remaining and was a threat in the final 100 laps. But late contact with the outside wall forced Truex one point below the cutline along with Keselowski as Kyle Busch drove ahead of them aiming to race for the final spot. Truex finished fourth, securing the final spot for Phoenix.
Drivers eliminated after the Round of 8:
5. Kyle Busch
Was one point above the cutline prior to Sunday’s race and had a shot in the final stage after Truex went into the wall. But as the race went into overtime, Busch sat minus-one point for the restart seeking a win. He called his car balance “absolutely terrible” running in 10th in the final 90 laps. He finihsed three points short of advancing despite the second place finish.
“We had a Hail Mary opportunity there at the end,” Busch said. “Just didn’t materialize. All in all, just proud of the effort for sure. We slung everything and anything at this thing today. Couldn’t really make it come alive.”
Busch also wasn’t happy with Keselowski after the race. Busch said that Keselowski “drilled my a** coming out of (Turn) 4 for no reason” in a video by NBC.
“I mean, where was he going? What was he gonna do? Spin me out? He was trying to do a Harvick is what he was trying to do. For what? For second place?” Busch said. His post race comments also included the use of the r-word, a derogatory term for individuals with an intellectual disability.
“It’s frickin’ r-word, man. So stupid.” Busch said.
A NASCAR spokesperson said Sunday night that the comments were being reviewed and NASCAR would potentially have something to announce Monday regarding a fine and/or mandated sensitivity training. Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan was required to complete sensitivity training for using the r-word during in iRacing session last winner.
Keselowski was asked about Busch’s comments and said that he doesn’t sweat that.
“I used to get mad when people said mean things about me and respond out of anger. Now I just feel bad for them. For their family’s sake, I have no desire to go any deeper than that,” Keselowski posted on Twitter.
6. Brad Keselowski
Needed a win to advance by the final stage of the race and drag raced with Busch through flag, but came up short with a third place finish. Keselowski appeared to have little patience with Elliott earlier racing for the third place position. Keselowski spun Elliott aiming to earn a place in the championship, which he also narrowly missed after the late drama, but Keselowski said post-race that he got loose to get into Elliott to send him spinning.
“All in all, proud of our team,” Keselowski said post-race. “Proud of the efforts that everyone put in. Disappointed for Team Penske to not get through to the final round. We gave it our best. Feel bad for Chase that he got caught up there. At least he’s still good for next week. Frustrating day.”
No Penske drivers will advance to the Championship 4.
7. Joey Logano
Was the lowest running playoff driver before the race at minus-26 points. Logano needed a big performance, but the necessary speed wasn’t there on Sunday. His No. 22 Ford team attempted to play strategy and stay out on older tires early in the final stage, but he fell multiple spots by the next caution. He finished 10th.
“After the restarts, we just didn’t go fast enough on restarts,” Logano said. “If I took the top, I’d get freight-trained. At the bottom I wasn’t fast enough on the exit. They kept getting out in front of me. That was a struggle. That’s all there is to it.”
8. Ryan Blaney
Had his best shot yet in his career to advance to the championship, sitting just one point below the cutline at a track where he’s typically been a lap-leader, but Blaney struggled with his car balance and suffered from damage early in the race. Blaney finished 11th and seemed unable to ever crack the top of the running order after the early struggles.
Final results
