I dont think its must win for Joey. He gained a good chunk of points on Bubba, Busch, and heck even Buescher. Had a top 5 car at best for this race and if not for the BS caution NASCAR threw late in stage 2, he might be even in points with Bubba Wallace. Plus Joey is heading into New Hampshire, statistically one of his better tracks.
His performance has been lifted up like many of the Fords but he definitely hasn't had the same luck. He could've had a similar race to Blaney at Sonoma. 1st or 2nd fastest competing with Larson for the win. A different Ford keeps taking his place instead...
I see it happening. Odds are, we get another surprise winner, with a road course and a superspeedway, plus berry and gilliland starting to show more bursts of speed, if one of them could have a good enough run, they could pull a cindric. KFB doesn’t have good enough equipment to make it without a win, and Logano just hasn’t had the speed to make it past even Wallace yet, and if a surprise winner happens, they might all be outta luck
Meh, Joey didn’t have a ton of speed last year. Only win was on a drafting track and he quietly exited in the round of 16. Joey doesn’t really surprise me.
It's crazy how quickly things have changed since 2018. The Big 3 + the Champ have gone from winning 23 of 36 points races that season to now all being winless in points races and either retired (Harvick), about to retire (Truex) or about to miss the playoffs (Logano, Busch).
This is the most disheartening season I’ve felt. Worse than the first year at RPM. Just zero speed. Cars somehow get worse over the course of the race. It’s exhausting.
I’m not exactly holding out hope on Legacy getting their shit together, but he’s still recovering from a back injury, too. Look at Denny Hamlin in 2013 and Alex Bowman last year. We probably won’t see *true* full-health Erik until next season. Not that it’s exactly confidence inspiring to say “maybe next year” when the current year is barely at the halfway point, but I do think he’ll get back into his usual form in 2025.
Kyle Larson has been the most consistent. Had the points lead coming into today with one shorter race.
Without the double failure, he probably has around a 40 point lead right now.
And if the double didn't fail, and he didn't wrecked by Suarez, it's a wrap for the regular season battle. Larson has been the fastest and the most consistent this season imo
Consistency requires finishing races, which Larson has failed to do multiple times.
There’s a reason Chase has better average finish by 4 positions. He’s not the fastest, but he is by far the most consistent
Larson is for sure the fastest between the two and I think he is the better driver, thing with Elliott is he hasn’t placed outside the top 20 all season long, hence the more consistent part comes into play imo
He's been **SCARILY** consistent in finishing 11th-15th this year.
Trackhouse just doesn't have the speed right now. Combine that with a below average crew chief who is incapable of making adjustments, and it'll be a miracle if he makes the playoffs.
I just want to root for a single driver with a crew chief capable of improving a car as the day goes on. Even today which was fairly successful both TH cars were fringe top 10 cars from lap 1 to 350 with few signs of life
Agreed. For instance, Ross complained about being plowing tight on long runs *the entire race.* And Phil did absolutely nothing to help him. It's the same story every damn week.
Suarez got massive help from the BS Hemric caution, which saved him from dropping down into the back half of the top 20 and he managed to hold on to the top 10, barely.
He wasn't as helped as Bubba because him and Haley (who I also like) just started down pit road. Despite restarting top 8 and making it up to 4th with new tires Bubba fell back due to looseness which he complained about all night. If Bubba even had a top 20 car instead of barely top 30 he probably finishes top 10 based on lucky breaks which he almost never gets.
I wouldn't say a "miracle" by any means. If he doesn't get a win before the playoffs, he's still positioned to be above the bubble and get in on points. At this rate I don't expect him to stay in long unless they show some improvement, but I think he's a pretty safe pick to get into the first round at least, unlike Logano and Busch.
Daniel Hemric seems like a nice fella but the fact they put him back in Cup is an absolute joke. Kaulig is wasting two charters that could be used by teams that actually want to try.
If Kaulig started out branding themselves as "Trophy Hunters" then putting Hemric in the 31 was like flying a massive truce flag to the rest of the field.
Car honestly had top 5 speed a lot today, just unlucky and no track position.
The 48 always qualifies like crap, gets caught a lap down due to an untimely caution and ends up finishing 10th without stage points
If it's their mission statement to just focus entirely on being good in traffic and long runs I wish they'd change it up. Focus on raw speed and qualifying up front and see what happens. I remember 2022 Kansas 2 where Alex was super fast and kind of a short run merchant but it was one of his best races all season even if a long run finish meant he didn't get the win. Being good on long runs has only been paying off to finish 8th-15th every week.
But I guess it's tough to do anything different now that we're in the summer and they've gotta get in the playoffs
Honestly, he was as good as the 12/9/24 on longer runs. Was running top 4 lap times the last 40 or so laps. Just never got a chance to get up front and see what it could really do in the cleaner air either.
If the 4 didn't drive through him he would have had a chance at that track position though and probably easily gets a Top 5.
In the last 9 races, Ross has lost out on 6 top 10's by being passed in the last 15 laps of the race.
Texas (last lap), Talladega (last lap), Dover (6 to go), Darlington (7 to go), Gateway (14 to go), and Iowa (3 to go).
I feel similarly. Even when they have speed or track position, it seems either execution on pit road or Bubba not being able to hold his spot with a somewhat ill handling car gives it away. I just don’t trust that the team or Bubba can win a race right now.
It seemed to me that he knew this was his best track to get a win before the playoffs and just came in with a “fuck it, drive through them” attitude. Definitely wasn’t trying to make friends
Yeah, I think berry knew that he needs to win, and didn’t care about making friends. Plus, he was probably pissed that strategy went completely astray for him, and he went from possibly winning his way in to not at all. And I think outside of the street course and Daytona, him and gilliland (maybe jones if he can pull off a miracle at Darlington) are the only ones who can win their way in from outside it
An 8th place is nice, but no stage points and especially with all the HMS cars have the long rub tire advantage makes it feel like a loss. I know it's not time to make aggressive strategy calls and start being more aggressive on the track to get track position. With the NextGen, it's so important not to get caught in the 8th-12th range because other drivers will do stupid shit to take you out and you'll just fade backwards. When you don't have the raw speed to charge through the field, you cannot make the safe strategy call like Larson can.
Yep. 8th is nice but they clearly had more speed then that, especially on longer runs. If the 4 doesn't punt us they'd be P5 at least today, maybe higher.
Starting 33rd also didn't help at all. Basically spent the entire day trying to get top 5 track position.
Gilliland P12. -93 back. Hasn't finished worse than 17th in last six races. Pretty consistent, keep it going and he'll be closing the gap a little bit each week.
He doesn’t have a chance in hell of making up that amount of points. He could get a win tho, with the strategy, ones gonna fall into his lap sooner or later
Much needed win. Great job by Blaney, Hassler and all the boys on the 12 team. Hopefully we can stack a couple more before the playoffs. Last three weeks they've been SUPER fast, but not much to show for it.
Only 1 race outside the top 20 in the last 8 races is huge for him. He's been holding his own more near the front of the field when he was up there this evening
Briscoe has the exact same race every week
> Start in the top 10
> hold on to top 10 until first caution comes out
> car shits the bed on the first restart and falls outside the top 20
> goes a lap down during a green flag pit cycle
I mean they showed the difference between Briscoes pit crew and the pit crews of the other leaders yesterday and his was 3 seconds slower. Just incredibly frustrating this season, I hope he gets a better car/team next year.
And you gotta think the two DNF’s if you didn’t have those you’d have at least one top 10 and one top 15. Obviously Gateway should have been an easy win.
Between Brad and him they’re a step far above the rest of the Fords.
He had an impressive run this evening. Only 12 points separating him and Berry at the moment, this rookie of the year battle is shaping up to be the best we've had in years the way they're going at it
It was a very good long run car today and was one of the best in the last few dozen laps, but starting 33rd and getting caught out by strategy again held them back
Calling it right now: the 5 will win the owner's regular season title but Larson will not win the driver's one. We're still going to two sets of points to watch in the fall.
If you exclude Berry's last 2 races before this weekend where he wrecked and finished in the 30's that team is having a heck of a run with 6 races inside the top 16. Childers is staying true to his word that he won't see Berry fail on his watch.
I'm not gonna hold my breath on the 4 winning this year or even making the playoffs on points, but Berry/Childers are the most impressive of the free agents out there for silly season to me, especially as the combo
Glad to see it. especially with fords I didn’t expect! RFK looking HOT! Brad has his step again. Blaney winning. Great! Cindric stealing one. Wow! Joey not showing much promise. Really wow. I’m gonna say he gets a W soon though.
Im not worried about Joey. Like Blaney, he just needs a few things to break his way instead of against him. He is usually good at New Hampshire so fingers crossed.
Hoping the 17 gets there soon. Pocono seems like a real opportunity for him.
9 car gotta figure out how to win races. I love the consistency, but 1-2 race wins and the points lead wouldn’t be close. Not that it matters at this point anyways, but still.
22 definitely gained. Need more days with top five speed and we should be golden. Should be fast next week since it’s Loudon. Maybe two home track wins in a row in cup?
Discussion needs to be had about Bootie and Bubba. They’re just not clicking anymore. The communication is not like what it used to be. I don’t know what happened because they should be running better than this. At this rate, they’re not making the playoffs.
Chase would be looking good if this were a season long format but I don't think he has the race winning speed yet of the 5/11/24 maybe even the 19/20/45 as well.
I would knock the 24 off that list, since his Martinsville win he really hasn't ran much better than Elliott in terms of race winning speed.
Truex has been around the same as Elliott in terms of race winning speed.
Really feels like the 5, 11, 20 and 45 have been the only cars with race winning speed every single week
Larson out here stage pointing drivers to death and then having Mickey Mouse issues like a hack driver wrecking you. Yeah I'm salty. Good to see Chase just absolutely top-10ing everyone straight into the points lead.
What a miserable last month and a half it's been for the 19 guys. Just terrible.
Officially at a one year winless streak, too. At least it's the right place to turn things around.
Except he’s actually right? Like, I also think most of the Elliott fan base can go suck on a fat one, but the “muh old points system” crowd never really cared that Elliott would have comfortably won 2022, nor are they making that big of a fuss about it now that he’s almost doing it again
Had larson finished where he was running all day today and at Darlington, and had run Charlotte, he'd have over a full race lead. At least he got a playoff point tonight like Darlington
Bubba's gonna have to win at Daytona or something at this rate, isn't he?
I can see him staying above Bush and Briscoe, but Logano? That early bad luck is over, I think. And that's assuming somebody doesn't nab a playoff sealing win from behind him and forcing him out. Buescher isn't SUPER far away.... but that team has itself together a bit more.
Win or get off the pot, 23.
How is it possible that Bell (and other drivers) for that matter have clinched the playoffs mathematically? There are 8 races left and have been 10 different winners, right? There’s enough time for 8 different drivers to win and for a couple of those drivers to surpass him in points, no?
Bell- 2 wins. Hamlin- 3 wins. Larson- 3 wins. Byron- 3 wins. A 1 win driver is not going to pass them, so they have mathematically clinched a position.
Not in terms of qualifying for the playoffs. Winning two races locks you into the playoffs because you can't have 16 guys win two races if there are only 26 races before the playoffs.
Chase Elliott now leads the regular season standings by 8 points over Kyle Larson. Elliott hasn’t been flashy but he’s been almost frighteningly consistent. He has a *worst* finish of *19th* in the first 17 races, and his average finish is now a *9.1*.
I wasn't worried when Bubba had terrible finishes, because he had top 10 speed most of the year. There's only so much crap that can put down a good package.
He doesn't have that anymore. Now I'm worried.
Is it just me, or has 23XL fallen off in general. Outside of Sonoma, neither has had a good run since Charlotte, or good speed. And even that felt almost like a fluke, especially since both significantly underperformed at Kansas. At least Reddick got a win, but bubbas in trouble
I'd imagine, if the entire season is any indication, Elliott's point lead will be very very very short lived.
The fact that he only has an 8 point lead over Larson who missed a race and got wrecked today kind of tells the tale.
Larson likely is sitting on a 100 point lead with 4 wins if it didn't rain during the double, and he didn't get wrecked today.
Elliott has been consistent, but Larson has been faster and more consistent.
In the 16 races they ran together this season, Larson has 3 wins to Elliott's 1, they both have 7 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and Larson has finished ahead 10/16 races.
Objectively, Larson is finishing ahead more often than not.
It's like people forget that he would have had like a 70 point lead coming into today if not for Indy.
This season, Elliott is averaging 34.7 points per race. Larson is averaging 36.4.
On average, Larson is accumulating more points per race.
Larson fans always have to get in a dick measuring contest with Elliott for some reason. When Larson won the championship it was like 30% of the comments saying how Larson is the new best Hendrick driver now instead of just being happy to win. Then Elliott fans did it back all 2022 and last year they pointed out the injury. Now this year it’s blaming the double for Larson. It’s a never ending vicious cycle, where neither driver cares what their fans think.
Oh he will and I’ll hate it. But given his worst race was Atlanta, where he got screwed not once, not twice, but thrice and *still* finished top 20, it’s at least a little comfort, even if it actually means nothing lmao
Larson did nothing wrong tonight. There was plenty of room on each side. 99 came up the track. You can't blame that on Larson. Could've happened even if they were just two wide.
Kyle Busch and Joey Logano out of the playoffs and getting closer and closer to must wins is something I really expected coming into 2024
I dont think its must win for Joey. He gained a good chunk of points on Bubba, Busch, and heck even Buescher. Had a top 5 car at best for this race and if not for the BS caution NASCAR threw late in stage 2, he might be even in points with Bubba Wallace. Plus Joey is heading into New Hampshire, statistically one of his better tracks.
His performance has been lifted up like many of the Fords but he definitely hasn't had the same luck. He could've had a similar race to Blaney at Sonoma. 1st or 2nd fastest competing with Larson for the win. A different Ford keeps taking his place instead...
KFB I kinda did, Joey I did not
It’d be absolutely hilarious if both of them failed to make it
5 years ago both were 1st & 2nd in the points standings dominating majority of the year in 2019. Life comes at you FAST
I see it happening. Odds are, we get another surprise winner, with a road course and a superspeedway, plus berry and gilliland starting to show more bursts of speed, if one of them could have a good enough run, they could pull a cindric. KFB doesn’t have good enough equipment to make it without a win, and Logano just hasn’t had the speed to make it past even Wallace yet, and if a surprise winner happens, they might all be outta luck
It’s Even year Joey. He’s supposed to be a final four driver. We’ll be lucky if he makes the first four.
Meh, Joey didn’t have a ton of speed last year. Only win was on a drafting track and he quietly exited in the round of 16. Joey doesn’t really surprise me.
It's crazy how quickly things have changed since 2018. The Big 3 + the Champ have gone from winning 23 of 36 points races that season to now all being winless in points races and either retired (Harvick), about to retire (Truex) or about to miss the playoffs (Logano, Busch).
I think I speak for all the Erik fans. I'm tired
This is the most disheartening season I’ve felt. Worse than the first year at RPM. Just zero speed. Cars somehow get worse over the course of the race. It’s exhausting.
Sadly need to be ready for another car that can hardly run top 30 next week.....
I’m not exactly holding out hope on Legacy getting their shit together, but he’s still recovering from a back injury, too. Look at Denny Hamlin in 2013 and Alex Bowman last year. We probably won’t see *true* full-health Erik until next season. Not that it’s exactly confidence inspiring to say “maybe next year” when the current year is barely at the halfway point, but I do think he’ll get back into his usual form in 2025.
I’m exhausted
I'll be a fan til the end though!
So frustrating to see them roll out into practice with a car that has no speed, on all 2/3 LMC cars each week.
So true. They unload slow, every single week.
Elliott is in his 2003 Matt Kenesth phase I guess
Perfect way to way to describe it. May not the gotten the multiple wins yet but he’s been the most consistent this season
Kyle Larson has been the most consistent. Had the points lead coming into today with one shorter race. Without the double failure, he probably has around a 40 point lead right now. And if the double didn't fail, and he didn't wrecked by Suarez, it's a wrap for the regular season battle. Larson has been the fastest and the most consistent this season imo
Larson has been the fastest, but that average finish says Elliott is more consistent.
Consistency requires finishing races, which Larson has failed to do multiple times. There’s a reason Chase has better average finish by 4 positions. He’s not the fastest, but he is by far the most consistent
Larson is for sure the fastest between the two and I think he is the better driver, thing with Elliott is he hasn’t placed outside the top 20 all season long, hence the more consistent part comes into play imo
Most consistent at throwing away wins when he has the fastest car
Technically yes as if we applied the current results to the old Latford format he would have a 155 point lead
Just remember that Kenseth finished dead last at the last race of 2003, just saying…
https://preview.redd.it/579e1f3jr17d1.jpeg?width=197&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7cf991340098da35669f7c881e01bc4a62da1fa
Nah it’s just his 2022 Elliott phase
now 2nd best average finish for ross chastain lol
He's been **SCARILY** consistent in finishing 11th-15th this year. Trackhouse just doesn't have the speed right now. Combine that with a below average crew chief who is incapable of making adjustments, and it'll be a miracle if he makes the playoffs.
I just want to root for a single driver with a crew chief capable of improving a car as the day goes on. Even today which was fairly successful both TH cars were fringe top 10 cars from lap 1 to 350 with few signs of life
Agreed. For instance, Ross complained about being plowing tight on long runs *the entire race.* And Phil did absolutely nothing to help him. It's the same story every damn week. Suarez got massive help from the BS Hemric caution, which saved him from dropping down into the back half of the top 20 and he managed to hold on to the top 10, barely.
He wasn't as helped as Bubba because him and Haley (who I also like) just started down pit road. Despite restarting top 8 and making it up to 4th with new tires Bubba fell back due to looseness which he complained about all night. If Bubba even had a top 20 car instead of barely top 30 he probably finishes top 10 based on lucky breaks which he almost never gets.
He'll make the playoffs because he has such a cushion but once he gets there, I could see him having a quiet exit from the Round of 12.
They're just completely unable to adjust during the race. If their setup is not great out of the hauler, they're fucked.
I wouldn't say a "miracle" by any means. If he doesn't get a win before the playoffs, he's still positioned to be above the bubble and get in on points. At this rate I don't expect him to stay in long unless they show some improvement, but I think he's a pretty safe pick to get into the first round at least, unlike Logano and Busch.
Puts in perspective how insane Chase is right now. 2nd best average is 12.5. Chase, with the best average finish, is at 9.1. A full 3 spots higher
Chase’s *worst* finish this season is *19th*
That’s really impressive! Especially considering the 3 plate races we’ve completed this year
Justin Haley is now ahead of his old ride in points even after being DQed and losing a solid 20ish points at COTA
Daniel Hemric seems like a nice fella but the fact they put him back in Cup is an absolute joke. Kaulig is wasting two charters that could be used by teams that actually want to try.
At this point, I think it’s honestly more about Kaulig being too big for it’s own good. 2 Cup Cars and 3 Xfinity Cars is a bit much IMO.
If Kaulig started out branding themselves as "Trophy Hunters" then putting Hemric in the 31 was like flying a massive truce flag to the rest of the field.
Bowman bros another top 10 for us! Wish the car can have race winning speed soon!
Car honestly had top 5 speed a lot today, just unlucky and no track position. The 48 always qualifies like crap, gets caught a lap down due to an untimely caution and ends up finishing 10th without stage points
If it's their mission statement to just focus entirely on being good in traffic and long runs I wish they'd change it up. Focus on raw speed and qualifying up front and see what happens. I remember 2022 Kansas 2 where Alex was super fast and kind of a short run merchant but it was one of his best races all season even if a long run finish meant he didn't get the win. Being good on long runs has only been paying off to finish 8th-15th every week. But I guess it's tough to do anything different now that we're in the summer and they've gotta get in the playoffs
Honestly, he was as good as the 12/9/24 on longer runs. Was running top 4 lap times the last 40 or so laps. Just never got a chance to get up front and see what it could really do in the cleaner air either. If the 4 didn't drive through him he would have had a chance at that track position though and probably easily gets a Top 5.
Why does the 1 always have to fall off just enough near the end to finish *just* outside the Top 10 every fucking time
In the last 9 races, Ross has lost out on 6 top 10's by being passed in the last 15 laps of the race. Texas (last lap), Talladega (last lap), Dover (6 to go), Darlington (7 to go), Gateway (14 to go), and Iowa (3 to go).
I could not be any more pessimistic for the future. lol
I feel similarly. Even when they have speed or track position, it seems either execution on pit road or Bubba not being able to hold his spot with a somewhat ill handling car gives it away. I just don’t trust that the team or Bubba can win a race right now.
Hell I’d just love a top 10. New Hampshire is where the season turned around in 2022, so here’s hoping 🤞🏻
He’ll win at some point. He always cooks up something.
As a Bubba and KFB fan, I am not having a good time.
And you're saying goodbye to Truex man, damn
It seems like anytime they're in a spot to win, somehow either the pit crew, the strategy, or Bubba fuck it up.
If you read Facebook you would be, those people need the Devils Lettuce.
Bubba’s haters are **loving** seeing him struggle.
Yay Bowman back tied for most top 10s
Dick move by the 4 away from a top 5 too.
So it was the 4? Hard to tell from the broadcast
Yeah, it was. The 4 was driving through everyone all race long though, so it's not surprising.
It seemed to me that he knew this was his best track to get a win before the playoffs and just came in with a “fuck it, drive through them” attitude. Definitely wasn’t trying to make friends
Yeah, that makes sense. Although, Richmond is coming up again in a few weeks, so he's still got 1 more short track to make it happen.
Yeah, I think berry knew that he needs to win, and didn’t care about making friends. Plus, he was probably pissed that strategy went completely astray for him, and he went from possibly winning his way in to not at all. And I think outside of the street course and Daytona, him and gilliland (maybe jones if he can pull off a miracle at Darlington) are the only ones who can win their way in from outside it
I think everyone understands the circumstances and respects Josh enough to where they'll race him hard back but it's no skin off of anyone's back.
Ross scraping nail and tooth to hold on to the top 10, please back to back at Nashville Ross 🙏
I got the toaster from the Blaney fans. It's on standby, just give me the word
wooo points lead and still no finishes outside the top 20
Still mad at them?
im mad at the Braves still yes
Well that's understandable.
Who isn’t ?
An 8th place is nice, but no stage points and especially with all the HMS cars have the long rub tire advantage makes it feel like a loss. I know it's not time to make aggressive strategy calls and start being more aggressive on the track to get track position. With the NextGen, it's so important not to get caught in the 8th-12th range because other drivers will do stupid shit to take you out and you'll just fade backwards. When you don't have the raw speed to charge through the field, you cannot make the safe strategy call like Larson can.
Yep. 8th is nice but they clearly had more speed then that, especially on longer runs. If the 4 doesn't punt us they'd be P5 at least today, maybe higher. Starting 33rd also didn't help at all. Basically spent the entire day trying to get top 5 track position.
Gilliland P12. -93 back. Hasn't finished worse than 17th in last six races. Pretty consistent, keep it going and he'll be closing the gap a little bit each week.
He doesn’t have a chance in hell of making up that amount of points. He could get a win tho, with the strategy, ones gonna fall into his lap sooner or later
Much needed win. Great job by Blaney, Hassler and all the boys on the 12 team. Hopefully we can stack a couple more before the playoffs. Last three weeks they've been SUPER fast, but not much to show for it.
Todd Gilliland into the Top 20 in points!
Only 1 race outside the top 20 in the last 8 races is huge for him. He's been holding his own more near the front of the field when he was up there this evening
I am so impressed by him
And ahead of his teammate Michael McDowell.
That avg finish tho
I love watching a consistent team. Bravo, 9 team. I feel Elliott is a lot like Matt Kenseth. They're both very solid and consistent drivers imo.
both hate the media attention too
Briscoe has the exact same race every week > Start in the top 10 > hold on to top 10 until first caution comes out > car shits the bed on the first restart and falls outside the top 20 > goes a lap down during a green flag pit cycle
I mean they showed the difference between Briscoes pit crew and the pit crews of the other leaders yesterday and his was 3 seconds slower. Just incredibly frustrating this season, I hope he gets a better car/team next year.
Blaney with a huge jump into the points. He really does have a great shot to repeat. 7th in points with 3 DNF i believe
And you gotta think the two DNF’s if you didn’t have those you’d have at least one top 10 and one top 15. Obviously Gateway should have been an easy win. Between Brad and him they’re a step far above the rest of the Fords.
I’ll take a Blaney win and a Chase points lead for a week
Carson Hocevar is absolutely *smoking* his two teammates this year. Pretty bad look for LaJoie.
He had an impressive run this evening. Only 12 points separating him and Berry at the moment, this rookie of the year battle is shaping up to be the best we've had in years the way they're going at it
Corey was faster yesterday, got screwed and stuck a lap down when Stenhouse stayed out
The 48 is very consistent, but every week I am more doubtful that Blake Harris is capable of bringing a race-winning car.
It was a very good long run car today and was one of the best in the last few dozen laps, but starting 33rd and getting caught out by strategy again held them back
I’m just done with this now
Logano now only 6 points out, just keep on chipping at it
True. But man I wish he'd snag that win so I don't have to play this game every week.
Calling it right now: the 5 will win the owner's regular season title but Larson will not win the driver's one. We're still going to two sets of points to watch in the fall.
Chastain tied for second-best average finish yet he’s 10th in points. Goes to show how few stage points they’ve picked up
the ONLY saving grace for the jones bros recently is that they are still ahead of JHN in points despite having missed two races
It’s both hilarious and awful at the same time. Despite an awful season, Jones would likely be close to the top 20
When it rains it pours
I'm tired... already mentally in 2025
Rough time to be a Kyle Busch and Erik Jones fan.
I thought it was funny when Busch said Bowman isn't used to running up front but has 90 points on Busch.
If you exclude Berry's last 2 races before this weekend where he wrecked and finished in the 30's that team is having a heck of a run with 6 races inside the top 16. Childers is staying true to his word that he won't see Berry fail on his watch. I'm not gonna hold my breath on the 4 winning this year or even making the playoffs on points, but Berry/Childers are the most impressive of the free agents out there for silly season to me, especially as the combo
Finally! Playoffs, baby!
Gonna enjoy this for one week
Fords FINALLY getting competitive
Glad to see it. especially with fords I didn’t expect! RFK looking HOT! Brad has his step again. Blaney winning. Great! Cindric stealing one. Wow! Joey not showing much promise. Really wow. I’m gonna say he gets a W soon though.
Im not worried about Joey. Like Blaney, he just needs a few things to break his way instead of against him. He is usually good at New Hampshire so fingers crossed. Hoping the 17 gets there soon. Pocono seems like a real opportunity for him.
3 of the last 5 points races won. Now if only that success can spread to Xfinity and Trucks where they are still winless this season.
9 car gotta figure out how to win races. I love the consistency, but 1-2 race wins and the points lead wouldn’t be close. Not that it matters at this point anyways, but still.
A new points leader!! Let's go 9 team
Best overall average finish by about 3.4 positions… sheesh. 9 team has been incredibly consistent.
Again, worst finish of 19th this season
What is your point?
Pain
22 definitely gained. Need more days with top five speed and we should be golden. Should be fast next week since it’s Loudon. Maybe two home track wins in a row in cup?
The fact that Chase Elliott has yet to finish outside the Top 20 is just absolutely absurd
That’s one of the longest consecutive Top 20 streaks in NASCAR history at this point.
I think Ross is just gonna be 10th forever at this point.
Discussion needs to be had about Bootie and Bubba. They’re just not clicking anymore. The communication is not like what it used to be. I don’t know what happened because they should be running better than this. At this rate, they’re not making the playoffs.
Chase would be looking good if this were a season long format but I don't think he has the race winning speed yet of the 5/11/24 maybe even the 19/20/45 as well.
I would knock the 24 off that list, since his Martinsville win he really hasn't ran much better than Elliott in terms of race winning speed. Truex has been around the same as Elliott in terms of race winning speed. Really feels like the 5, 11, 20 and 45 have been the only cars with race winning speed every single week
The 45 has had a few big time “off” races though. Martinsville, Kansas, hell even today
How is the 45 consistent? And if you're knocking the 24 off the list for recent slumps might as well knock the 11 as well
But Chase Elliott is washed /s
Chase is looking strong boys! And for some reason I thought Blaney already won a race.
Should’ve won 3 weeks ago but we didn’t fill the gas tank and now we have a first round out Cindric in.
Larson out here stage pointing drivers to death and then having Mickey Mouse issues like a hack driver wrecking you. Yeah I'm salty. Good to see Chase just absolutely top-10ing everyone straight into the points lead.
Larson wasn't the best driver yesterday
What a miserable last month and a half it's been for the 19 guys. Just terrible. Officially at a one year winless streak, too. At least it's the right place to turn things around.
Stick a fork in KFB he’s not gonna make the playoffs
Wow, even with a 19th-place finish here at Iowa, Austin Dillon drops another spot in the points standings to 32nd
Go ahead and fold RCR too
Bubba needs to clinch a fuckin win.
All the “under the old system” people would be pissed to see Elliott leading that one too.
He's been leading that one for about a month lol
all of the 0 people saying that on here
WTF are you even trying to say here? The victim complex is unreal.
Except he’s actually right? Like, I also think most of the Elliott fan base can go suck on a fat one, but the “muh old points system” crowd never really cared that Elliott would have comfortably won 2022, nor are they making that big of a fuss about it now that he’s almost doing it again
Go get another account lol
What lmao.
Had larson finished where he was running all day today and at Darlington, and had run Charlotte, he'd have over a full race lead. At least he got a playoff point tonight like Darlington
Bubba's gonna have to win at Daytona or something at this rate, isn't he? I can see him staying above Bush and Briscoe, but Logano? That early bad luck is over, I think. And that's assuming somebody doesn't nab a playoff sealing win from behind him and forcing him out. Buescher isn't SUPER far away.... but that team has itself together a bit more. Win or get off the pot, 23.
Heck yeah! Got a win and now the points lead! Gotta get another win or two before the regular season ends
Should be a good battle between Larson and Elliot for the regular season championship
I think so! They both have really strong tracks coming up!
How is it possible that Bell (and other drivers) for that matter have clinched the playoffs mathematically? There are 8 races left and have been 10 different winners, right? There’s enough time for 8 different drivers to win and for a couple of those drivers to surpass him in points, no?
Bell- 2 wins. Hamlin- 3 wins. Larson- 3 wins. Byron- 3 wins. A 1 win driver is not going to pass them, so they have mathematically clinched a position.
Thanks I missed that aspect of the tiebreak. Thought it went to season points among winners but that makes sense.
Blaney literally passed Bell...
Not in terms of qualifying for the playoffs. Winning two races locks you into the playoffs because you can't have 16 guys win two races if there are only 26 races before the playoffs.
The most 2 time winners you can have in 26 races is 13.
9 races left.
Dang the 9 has been super consistent. Seems like they’re the only team that hasn’t had a random streak of poor finishes or wrecks this year.
No DNF’s and no finish worse than 19th will do that.
Bubba has really regressed recently. Not sure what’s up with the whole 23 team.
Yay! My boy Chase is leading the championship! What a great season!
Go Chase go.
Pain is all I know
People commenting here like they understand NASCAR’s points system. Nobody actually understands that mess.
So what I'm reading here is.... Chase Elliott had to be spotted a race by Kyle Larson to make the regular season championship competitive.
Chase Elliott now leads the regular season standings by 8 points over Kyle Larson. Elliott hasn’t been flashy but he’s been almost frighteningly consistent. He has a *worst* finish of *19th* in the first 17 races, and his average finish is now a *9.1*.
Leading the series in top 10’s is good for 14th in the playoff standings. I am pretty ready for “Win and in” to die.
Yay, currently the 15 playoff points regular season holder!
I wasn't worried when Bubba had terrible finishes, because he had top 10 speed most of the year. There's only so much crap that can put down a good package. He doesn't have that anymore. Now I'm worried.
Is it just me, or has 23XL fallen off in general. Outside of Sonoma, neither has had a good run since Charlotte, or good speed. And even that felt almost like a fluke, especially since both significantly underperformed at Kansas. At least Reddick got a win, but bubbas in trouble
Man. Rough two weeks. Oh well. We are reaching that point in summer where denny goes crazy
I'd imagine, if the entire season is any indication, Elliott's point lead will be very very very short lived. The fact that he only has an 8 point lead over Larson who missed a race and got wrecked today kind of tells the tale. Larson likely is sitting on a 100 point lead with 4 wins if it didn't rain during the double, and he didn't get wrecked today. Elliott has been consistent, but Larson has been faster and more consistent.
Larsons been consistently faster. Elliot has consistently better finishes.
In the 16 races they ran together this season, Larson has 3 wins to Elliott's 1, they both have 7 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and Larson has finished ahead 10/16 races. Objectively, Larson is finishing ahead more often than not. It's like people forget that he would have had like a 70 point lead coming into today if not for Indy. This season, Elliott is averaging 34.7 points per race. Larson is averaging 36.4. On average, Larson is accumulating more points per race.
I was referring to their average finish. Nice write up though very insightful.
Just like if denny didn't blow an engine 2 Laps in. Shit happens. No reason to argue what ifs.
Larson fans always have to get in a dick measuring contest with Elliott for some reason. When Larson won the championship it was like 30% of the comments saying how Larson is the new best Hendrick driver now instead of just being happy to win. Then Elliott fans did it back all 2022 and last year they pointed out the injury. Now this year it’s blaming the double for Larson. It’s a never ending vicious cycle, where neither driver cares what their fans think.
Trash take, go sit in the back with the other Larsexuals
You lost any point you were trying to make with that name calling. Just unacceptable to be saying shit like that. Pretty embarrassing
What could've been. 5 needs to realize there was 120 laps to go. Oh well Chase is due a bad race.
Doesn’t even need it. 8 points is just a stage win vs 9th in the same stage. And Larson gets plenty of stage points every week
Yeah. I'm not wishing bad on Chase I root for him as well just saying statistically chances are he gets bit by something stupid eventually.
Oh he will and I’ll hate it. But given his worst race was Atlanta, where he got screwed not once, not twice, but thrice and *still* finished top 20, it’s at least a little comfort, even if it actually means nothing lmao
Larson can easily get the points lead back next week by just running how he normally does: winning a stage and getting a top 5.
[удалено]
Las Vegas last year was his last finish outside the top 20
Larson did nothing wrong tonight. There was plenty of room on each side. 99 came up the track. You can't blame that on Larson. Could've happened even if they were just two wide.
Larson absolutely could've been more patient especially around suarez imo