Ryan Blaney came into the Talladega race needing to win one of the next two races and he did just that. He did it by staying in the Top 10 most of the race, avoiding a couple of wrecks and battling Kevin Harvick right to the very end.
(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images/NASCAR Media)
Sadly, Harvick’s tight P2 finish was marred by being disqualified after post-race inspection due to loose bolts holding the windshield in place.
The race featured side by side racing nearly the entire race in two lines and sometimes a third row appeared making for a crazy look. While this package produces this style of racing, a lot of drivers complain because they just can’t pass very easily on superspeedways.
For me, I felt much of the race could be watched on fast forward. Sure, there was quite a bit of shuffling back and forth but the racing overall seemed a bit tame and the Big One really didn’t happen until the final few hundred feet of the race. It will be interesting to see what NASCAR does about this going forward. Giving drivers a bit more power to break out of the pack would be nice.
With just one more race to go in this round, four drivers find themselves in an almost must win situation. Tyler Reddick (P16) is just two points below the cut off and has just one Top 5 on the Charlotte Roval. But in order to gain ground, he is going to have to beat out Brad Keselowski (+2) or have another driver ahead of him get dumped early in the Roval race.
Bubba Wallace (P23) was unable to stay ahead of the pack and is now -9 in what in all prospects is a must win situation. With an average finish of 14th and only one Top 10, the Roval doesn’t appear to be in his favor.
Ross Chastain (P37) made a bold move to grab points in Stage 1 but mistimed his move and would up -10 below the cut off. The Roval has not been kind to him either, so this is a must win for him.
Lastly, Kyle Busch (P25) finds himself in unfamiliar territory although he has missed the playoffs before. At -102 this is most definitely must win territory at a race he finished P3 last year and has two Top 5 finishes in the last three races. But P 3 won’t get him anywhere this year.
Things of note: Iowa comes to Cup racing in 2024
The 7/8 mile track will be on the schedule with a triple header with the Xfinity and ARCA series in 2024. This has to be a proud moment for track co-founder and designer Rusty Wallace 17 years after it opened. So if Chicago, Kansas and St. Louis aren’t in your Midwest circle of tracks, you’ll have a new one to pick from.
Next up: The Charlotte Roval
The past few winners have been Christopher Bell (2022), Kyle Larson (2021), Chase Elliott (2020, 2019), and Ryan Blaney (2018).
Interestingly enough, the top 5 rated drivers are not winners at the track. Only three of the winners are even rated in the top 14.
We’ll see if the road course aces will prevail this week or will we find a driver safe in his quest win the race and send Kyle Busch home.
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