After Tyler Reddick took the lead from Chase Elliott he not only grabbed his first ever Cup win but he shook up the playoff picture in a big way.
Starting 4th on the grid, Reddick stayed in the hunt all race long and played their strategy perfectly. Pit with Chase Elliott and keep the position over Stage points. A win was far more important than grabbing a few points at this point in the season. It is possible that a driver that has a win may not make the playoffs this year. Now that Reddick has a win, he can go out and get all the Stage points he can.
Chase Elliott may not have had the car where he wanted it from a comfort position but he was by far the fastest car on the track for most of the race. Elliott and team chose track position over Stage points each segment but on lap 44, he barely beat Reddick off pit road. Reddick pushed Elliott for the first time all day, waiting for Elliott to make a mistake. Four laps later he got that chance, got around Elliott and started to pull away. A couple of time Elliott got close but was never able to force Reddick into a mistake.
For Kevin Harvick, who managed to finish 10th, the day was not a good one. He is now one position out of the playoffs and remains winless. There are several races to go before the playoffs begin but Harvick hasn’t had the fastest car all season which is showing in his numbers: 4 Top Fives, 10 Top Tens, 3 DNFs and only 13 laps led. He has been tenacious enough to be in 11th place right now but that won’t get you into the playoffs in 2022.
Harvick is going to be battling the likes of Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola and Erik Jones for the last playoff position. In addition to that, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex, Jr. are also winless and will be racing Harvick for any win. And both of those drivers have shown far more speed and led far more laps than Harvick this year.
You can’t count Harvick out right now but it isn’t looking good at this moment. And Harvick has a knack for proving his doubters wrong.
I am in awe of this season so far because no driver has more than two wins to his name at this point. We have 13 winners and 5 first time winners. WOW. Let that soak in for a moment folks. It isn’t inconceivable that we could have 15 or 16 winners by the end of the final Daytona race.
Good on ya, mate
- Tyler Reddick (P1) for his first Cup win. Look out folks.
- Chase Elliott (P2) remains a serious threat on every road course.
- Kyle Larson (P3) keeps hanging in there is eager for win number two.
- Ross Chastain (P4) is proving he is here to contend with.
- Daniel Suarez (P5) is finally hitting his stride.
- Chris Buescher (P6) took advantage of a race he should have done well in.
- Austin Cindric (P7) needs to stay in the Top 10 to prove he can move on in the playoffs.
- Michael McDowell (P8) had a great race and with two more road courses, he may have a banner year.
- AJ Allmendinger (P9) fought back after pit road issues.
- Kevin Harvick (P10) squeaked in another Top 10 but needs to find a way to win.
So you had a bad day
- Bubba Wallace (P35) has had nothing but bad luck lately.
- Brad Keselowski (P33) is not having a good year.
- Kyle Busch (P29) was not having fun on Sunday.
- Joey Logano (P27) got a few stage points but that is it.
- Denny Hamlin (P17) has two penalties for the same thing and has 26 penalties for the year. That’s how you get bounced from the playoffs early.
- Chase Briscoe (P14) started outside pole but faded off.
- Martin Truex, Jr. (P13) was a huge disappointment considering his road racing ability.
- Ryan Blaney (P11) was another disappointing finish.
Next up: Atlanta
William Byron led 111 laps on his way to victory in the spring. Other recent winners are Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, and yes, Kevin Harvick. Could this be the race for Harvick to finally get the “win” monkey off his back? He led only 11 laps in the spring and finished 21st. He’ll need to far better than that to stay in the hunt.
Chevrolet took 7 of the top 11 spots in the spring. Kurt Busch was the top running Toyota and Chris Buescher the top Ford. Ford and Toyota will need their A-game to beat Chevrolet this weekend.
British Grand Prix Recap
And in case you missed it, like I did with the Indy race, the British Grand Prix was the best F1 race of the year. But it started out with a terrifying wreck on the first lap into the first corner where everyone goes all out in an F1 race in case you haven’t noticed. Zhou Guanyu got spun and flipped upside down as he skidded across the track into the gravel, into the tire barrier before coming to rest against the safety fence. The race was red flagged as they got to his car and worked to extricate him. The protective cockpit halo F1 instigated a few years ago more than likely saved his life. Once the race got underway, the final 10 laps were thrilling as the Top 5 were withing car lengths of each other as they battled for the win. Carlos Sainz, Jr. took the win for Ferrari followed by Sergio Perez with Red Bull Racing and the last podium position was Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes.
Hope you had a safe 4th. And always keep the shiny side up, my friends.
(Featured Photo by Harold Hinson/HHP for Chevy Racing)
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below! And you can read more of my columns by clicking here.
Custom Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars For Sale - The Coldnose Garage on Etsy
