Going into NASCAR elimination race at Bristol, Joe Gibbs Racing alive and well
For months now, all the talk has been about Hendrick Motorsports and Kyle Larson.
Well, the playoffs are here, and and the boys over at Joe Gibbs Racing have found something.
Uh-oh!
"Well, it's go-time now," said Denny Hamlin, who finished second to teammate Martin Truex Jr. Saturday at Richmond.
"Ultimately, it's the time where you've got to bring your best. All JGR teams had fast cars and it was a great day for our team.”
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Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell pace Richmond
Ya think?
Truex won, Hamlin finished second and Christopher Bell finished third to give JGR a 1-2-3 finish. Kyle Busch probably should've won, too, but finished ninth after speeding on pit road during a Stage 3 stop.
Truex, Busch and Hamlin combined to lead 316 of the 400 laps at Richmond, where Joe Gibbs Racing has now won at 17 times — easily the most of any team in the garage.
"Getting to go to Bristol without any worries next week is always fun," Truex said.
Kyle Busch on playoff bubble at Bristol
Um, yes. That will be fun, Martin!
But not for everyone.
Despite a good night, Busch sits just eight points above the playoff cut line. Brother Kurt is on that very line, tied with Alex Bowman for the 12th and final spot, while guys like William Byron and Tyler Reddick sit on the outside looking in with Bristol looming.
Defending champion Chase Elliott had a good night at Richmond that could've been better (we'll get to that in a minute) and sits 19 points to the good, while Brad Keselowski (+13) and Aric Almirola (+3) are certainly feeling a little queasy right now.
Chase Elliott makes costly mistake
Back to Clyde, who, somewhat surprisingly, had a race-winning car at Richmond.
After leading 58 laps, however, Elliott made another mistake on pit road — the second week in a row the No. 9 team has had pit problems, by the way.
Pitting from second, Elliott thought he slid through his box and threw his Chevy into reverse. Problem was, he wasn't over the line, and the jack was actually already up on the right side.
Elliott put it in reverse, the jack was crushed, and the time of the stop was doubled. Clyde rallied to finish fourth and should be fine at Bristol (right?), but mistakes like that won't fly in the next round.
"I’m not sure if we would have had anything for them, but I sure would have liked to have found out," said Elliott, who could only watch from a distance as the JGR guys drove away.
Who advances in NASCAR playoffs?
All right, let's go to the Coliseum.
The second Bristol race of the year, historically reserved for an August date, will serve as the elimination race for the opening round of the playoffs.
What could go wrong?
Michael McDowell is the only playoff driver that needs a win, so, assuming that doesn't happen, he's out. That leaves Byron (-18) and Reddick (-5) below the cut line when the green flag waves, with Bowman and Kurt Busch tied for the final spot.
Now, I know what your gut is telling you: Byron should be the favorite here.
But, um, Reddick is pretty good at this place, including a fourth-place finish in this race last season. Billy the Kid, on the other hand, has one top-10 in six career Cup races at Bristol, and has finished 19th or worse in four of the past five races dating back to Indy last month.
I'm just sayin'.