Chase Briscoe rallied from an early rushing penalty and made the successful transfer round Bubba Wallace going into Flip 3 on the ultimate lap of additional time to win a thriller at Talladega and safe his first trip to the Championship 4 in Phoenix.
Listed here are three takeaways from the center race within the Spherical of 8 within the NASCAR Cup Sequence playoffs:
Chase Briscoe takes additional time thriller at Talladega to punch Championship 4 ticket
A rushing penalty getting into pit highway throughout green-flag stops on Lap 43 put Briscoe behind early on Sunday, however he was to not be denied with a formidable drive to victory in additional time for his second win of the playoffs (Darlington).
As Kyle Larson ran out of gasoline taking place the backstretch on the ultimate lap, Briscoe took benefit of an enormous push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs to surge previous Wallace in Flip 3 and maintain off a hard-charging Todd Gilliland by 0.145 seconds to choose up his fifth profession win and his first on a drafting-style observe.
Briscoe led 16 laps on the day and joins JGR teammate Denny Hamlin within the Championship 4. In contrast to Hamlin and the six remaining title-eligible drivers, Briscoe was the one one coming into the Spherical of 8 with no title race look. That’s not the case after an exhilarating additional time victory on the excessive banks of Talladega.
Chase Elliott dealing with must-win scenario at Martinsville after early crash
Simply 52 laps into Sunday’s occasion on the 2.66-mile observe, Elliott’s title hopes took a massive hit when he was collected in a multi-car wreck late in Stage 1 and completed final within the 40-car area.
Elliott was the one playoff driver concerned within the crash and didn’t have a shot at scoring stage factors with the incident going down earlier than the conclusion of the opening stage.
Now confronted with a 62-point deficit to the cutline, Elliott’s goal is obvious heading to Martinsville. As a previous winner within the cutoff race on the half-mile observe (2020), he has delivered with playoff elimination on the road earlier than, proving he has what it takes to take action once more if the chance presents itself.
Hendrick Motorsports, Crew Penske let one slip away
It began with Elliott’s early exit in Stage 1 and completed on a good bitter observe for HMS. William Byron and Larson had been quiet for many of the race, however shared the entrance row for the additional time restart. Whereas each had a superb shot on the win, Larson completed twenty sixth after operating out of gasoline and Byron was just one spot higher in twenty fifth after getting spun by Carson Hocevar getting into the tri-oval on the ultimate lap.
It was an analogous story for Crew Penske. Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney entered Talladega on the backside of the playoff standings, however led a mixed 38 laps and ran close to the entrance for many of the day. After the race’s ultimate warning for Chris Buescher, the 2 got here down pit highway to prime off for gasoline and had been unable to recuperate with Logano in sixteenth and Blaney in twenty third.
Though Larson (+36) solely trails Christopher Bell (+37) above the cutline, Byron (-36), Logano (-38) and Blaney (-47) have their backs towards the wall going to Martinsville. The Virginia brief observe has produced a number of walk-off moments earlier than, although, which is precisely what every driver under the cutline will most certainly must make the championship race.
