Cars in field: 36
Pole: Martin Truex Jr. (19)
Outside Pole: Chase Elliott (9)
Stages: 130-130-240
Weather: Sunny, 64°F, Feels like (sun) 69°, Wind ENE 5 mph, Wind Gusts 7 mph
Chase Elliott (9) wins stage one.
Caution on lap 144 of 250 for a spin by Daniel Suarez (99).
Restarting on lap 151 of 500 with William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24), Chase Elliott (9), Chase Briscoe (14), Ryan Blaney (12), Ryan Preece (41), Kyle Larson (5) up front.
Caution on lap 157 of 500 for a spin by Harrison Burton (21).
Restarting on lap 164 of 500 with WilliB (24) and Chase Elliott (9) on the front row.
Caution on lap 183 of 500 for a spin by Martin ‘MTJ’ Truex Jr (19).
Ryan Blaney (12) stays on track during the pit sequence along with ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11), Brad ‘It’ Keselowski (6), Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20), Austin Dillon (3), Noah Gragson (10), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47), Harrison Burton (21), Erik Jones (43), Justin Haley (7), Daniel Hemric (31) who stayed out up front.
Restarting on lap 191 of 500 with Ryan Blaney (12), ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11), Brad ‘It’ Keselowski (6), Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20), Austin Dillon (3), Noah Gragson (10), Ricky ‘Wrecky Spinhouse’ Stenhouse Jr. (47), Harrison Burton (21), Erik ‘EJ/DaBrat’ Jones (43), Justin Haley (7) up front.
Caution on lap 194 of 500 for a spin by Daniel Hemric (31) with help from Carson Hocevar (77). Hemric collected Todd Gilliland (38).
Restarting on lap 202 of 500 with Ryan Blaney (12), Brad Keselowski (6), Denny Hamlin (11), Austin Dillon (3), Christopher Bell (20), Noah Gragson (10) up front.
On lap 227 of 500 MRN says Chase Elliott (9) has led 94 laps so far. He is working his way toward the front from 21st position on the restart due to a lengthy pit stop.
Brad ‘It’ Keselowski (6) wins stage two.
Restarting on lap of 500. will lead the field to the green flag.
Brad ‘It’ Keslowski (6), Kyle Larson (5), William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24), ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11), Alex Bowman (48), Ryan Blaney (12), Austin Dillon (3), Ryan Preece (41), Joey Logano (22), and Chase Elliot (9) win the race off pit road.
MRN reports Blaney clipped the tire carrier of Carson Hocevar (77) on his way out of his pit stall causing him to lose a couple of spots.
Restarting on lap 270 of 500. ‘It’ (6) gets the early lead.
On lap 301 of 500 MRN reports Chase Elliott (9) gets into the back of Chris Buescher (17) sending Buescher down pit road. Chase Elliott (9) is battling Chase Briscoe (14) for ninth position. They came upon the lapped car of Chris Buescher in the middle of the track. Chase tried to go below Buescher, who moved down at the same time, causing Elliott to get into Buescher’s rear-end. NBC was showing a driver’s feet and some helmeted driver’s dim interior while the incident between Elliott and Buescher was occurring. They managed to show a replay of it.
Chase Elliott (9) pits under green on lap 351 of 500. MRN reports Chase Elliott told crew-chief Alan Gustafson that the handle has gone away on the car.
‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) pits under green on lap 371 of 500.
Green flag stops continue on lap 373 of 500.
Caution on lap 397 of 500 for a spin by Carson Hocevar (77).
Some pit, some stay out.
WilliB (24), Kyle Larson (5) stay out.
Restarting on lap 405 of 500 with William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24), Kyle Larson (5) up front followed by Ryan Preece (41), Austin Cindric (2), Brad ‘It’ Keselowski (6), ‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11), Chase Elliott (9), Ryan Blaney (12), Austin Dillon (3), Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (8).
Caution is out immediately after the green flag for Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (8) losing a right front tire on the restart. The tire is rolling down the track.
Restarting on lap 413 of 500. Larson gets the early lead.
Tyler ‘TyRed’ Reddick (45) pulls the car behind the wall on lap 465 of 500 with smoke filling the cabin due to a brake rotor fire. Reddick radioed in that he had no brakes, then bypassed his pit stall and drove to the garage and quickly got out of the car.
Ryan Blaney (12) in third has caught Chase Elliot (9) in second who is 0.3 seconds behind leader Kyle Larson (5) on lap 474 of 500.
Elliott takes the lead from Larson on lap 476 of 500.
Blaney gets along side Elliott on lap 485 of 500 and passes him on lap 486 of 500.
White flag.
Ryan Blaney (12) wins.
Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20) put the car on the wall using Chastain’s move – the “Hail Melon” – that was outlawed a couple years ago and passed Bubba Wallace (23) for position which puts him in a tie with William Byron (24) to get in the final four.
CBell said he got into the marbles after passing Bubba. He said he did not intend to put it against the wall.
MRN says there was a lot of Chevrolet blocking for William Byron coming to the checkered flag which NASCAR is also reviewing along with Bell on the wall. Austin Dillon (3) and Ross Chastain (1) were driving around behind WilliB for eight laps or so. I was complaining that neither Chastain nor Dillon appeared to make an attempt to pass Byron for those laps.
NASCAR rules against Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20) safety violation and that puts William Byron (24) into the final four.
Eliminated from the Play-offs
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- Chase Elliott (9)
- Kyle Larson (5)
- Denny Hamlin (11)
- Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell (20)
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Playoffs Final Four
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- Ryan Blaney (12)
- Joey Logano (22)
- Tyler ‘TyRed’ Reddick (45)
- William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24)
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I am extremely disappointed by NASCAR’s call. I saw what clearly appeared to be blocking by the Chevrolets. I continually asked out loud why neither Chastain, nor Dillon would make a move to pass Byron. They both seemed capable. The video of Bell passing Bubba matched what he said happened. For me there were two possible valid outcomes, either NASCAR allows CBell in based on his account that he got loose and accidentally got into the wall then attempted to finish the race as quickly as possible in that position, or disqualify both of them and put the next person in. Due to William Byron getting slotted into the final four in spite of rather obvious manipulation of the finish he could not be considered a legitimate champion should he win the race.
The last 25 laps of the race were the only laps really worth watching. Compared to the horrid Truck series race the Cup race was okay. The finish was a bit anti-climactic with Ryan Blaney finishing 2.593 seconds ahead of Chase Elliott. I expected hard racing all the way to the finish line in this cut-off race, but it was over more than ten laps before the white flag flew. I hoped NASCAR would make the right call on the finishes by William Byron and Christopher Bell. They did not. They should have either disqualified both of them, or accepted the video evidence that matched Christopher Bell’s story that he got loose and drifted up to the wall. The situation was not the same as Ross Chastain. Bell did not ride the wall to pass cars. He had already passed Wallace before getting into the wall. I am very disappointed with the decision. I am not looking forward to the Cup Championship Race. NASCAR’s decision has left a bad taste in my mouth for the Cup finale.
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