Alex Bowman won the rain shortened Grant Park 165 street race to take his official spot in the Cup playoffs. Bowman broke an 80-race drought that included him sidelined for a spell and wondering when he would ever see Victory Lane again.
By clinching his place in the playoffs, he gave Hendrick a sweep of all four teams to enter the post season. Not to be outdone, Team Penske also has all of its drivers in the post season. Joe Gibbs racing currently has all of its drivers in the playoff picture but Martin Truex, Jr. and Ty Gibbs have yet to win a race so their post season is not guaranteed. The same goes for RFK with Brad Keselowski having a win and Chris Buescher, on the bubble, needing a win.
The end of the regular season is a mish mash of everything NASCAR has to offer. Chicago was the last road/street course in the regular season to be followed by Pocono, Indianapolis, Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and finally Darlington. You don’t want to be on the bubble needing a win at Daytona or Darlington.
Sitting on the right side of the playoff points along with Ty Gibbs are Ross Chastain and Chris Buesher, both of who are capable of a win but may need some points help from those on the wrong side.
On the wrong side of the playoff points and are the most threatening are Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch. These three need to show up with their A-Game the rest of the way or they will likely miss the playoffs. While that would be disappointing for Wallace and Briscoe, it would be potentially explosive for Kyle Busch and RCR. There has been enough speculation on what missing the playoffs might mean for Busch at RCR but there are still 10 races in the playoffs for Busch to get a win to get his team refocused and pointed in the right direction.
In my opinion, Kyle Busch’s playoff picture is potentially more impactful news than if Buescher or Chastain make it in.
In other notes, Xfinity driver Hailie Deegan was replaced in Chicago by Joey Logano. Deegan has struggled in her first year in Xfinity and one might say, AM Racing is not a top tier team but Logano got in and placed 8th while Deegan was mired in 28th place in the series. I am sure the team got some great feedback from Logano and only time will tell if the struggle was on Deegan or AM Racing. It was probably a combo of both. But if AM Racing puts other Xfinity level drivers in the seat for the rest of the season and they start running in the Top 10-15, well, that points a big finger at Deegan. You can’t put Cup champs in the car and say “see, it was her” – that’s just not fair.
And it seems pretty clear based on her statement and that of AM Racing that this was not a one race option. She is gone. Best of luck to her for the rest of the season and in 2025.
Keep the shiny side up folks!
(Photo by Jim Fluharty/HHP for Chevy Racing)
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