'Stage Points Are a Big Deal' on Sunday at Dega

Depending on where one’s loyalties lie, for better or worse, the NASCAR Cup Series playoff scenario largely stayed the same from start to finish on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Of course, there were two clear exceptions in terms of race winning and proceeding to the Round of 8 – Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. Unfortunately, due to symptoms similar to a concussion, Alex Bowman couldn’t start the race. Meanwhile, everyone else basically maintained the position they had when they arrived.

Due to the lack of a Big One and a low level of attrition, there simply wasn’t a lot of room for movement up and down the playoff grid, but there were certainly missed opportunities for those needing to make something happen.

Christopher Bell began the race 25 points under the cutline and secured an ideal position to gain valuable stage points by earning the pole on Saturday. However, he didn’t score any points and even spun out on the pit road. He finished the race in the 17th position, only managing to earn 20 points.

“The finish was incredibly disappointing,” admitted Bell. “We needed to rack up a significant number of points but fell short today. Now, we must move on to the Roval and give it our all. I’m moderately confident about our odds there. I believe we will be competitive. The goal is to try to secure a win.”

The spin occurred amidst green flag pit stops in the middle of Stage 2. This could have been the decisive factor in earning a few points, as well as securing a better track position for the final stage.

“The moment I reached the brakes, the rear ones jammed,” said Bell. “I didn’t stand a chance and I was essentially on a ride at that point.”

Bell didn’t voice any of his frustrations over his team radio, but he was far from calm.

“Bell stated, “Calm isn’t the appropriate term. I simply refrained from pressing the button. It was just a disappointing day.”

William Byron, another driver eligible for the championship, also failed to score any playoff points on Sunday, joining Bell. Byron’s situation is complex as he started the race eight points below the cutoff, just five days after NASCAR penalized him 25 points for causing an incident under caution with Denny Hamlin at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend.

The appeal for the penalty is still ongoing, with no surety of a reduction. Byron, who was required to score over 25 points on Sunday, is still short of the cutline. He is presently trailing by 11 points, while awaiting the verdict of this week’s appeal.

In the first stage, Byron was in second place, behind Denny Hamlin, with 12 laps to go. However, he was shuffled out of the pack and ended up finishing the stage in 11th place.

He scored no points, and he also failed to score any in the second segment.

“Hamlin and I were cooperating well,” Byron stated. “I attempted to navigate towards the bottom while he remained at the top. It seemed that the top had more momentum.”

“I simply made an incorrect decision that led me into a worse situation. Even though I was still leading in the inside lane, it wouldn’t move forward. That was odd. It encapsulates the theme of our day — the inability to progress.”

Austin Cindric recovered from an early race, minimal contact incident to finish fourth in that first stage and ninth overall with 35 total points. They weren’t able to score any in the second round, but 35 points was kind of the overall median target for everyone today.

He earned seven points more than Chase Briscoe, and they are now on equal footing for the last provisional transfer position as they enter the ROVAL.

“Stage points matter a lot,” stated Cindric. “Clearly, assisting the 12 car to secure a stage victory was significant. Additionally, recovering from the accident, managing the damage, and pushing back up through the ranks was crucial. When everyone disperses to do what’s best for them, making decisive moves becomes very important. I managed to make some effective maneuvers and found myself in moving lanes.”

Cindric also acknowledges that he had a bit of luck when he reached the first green-and-checkered flag.

“He added, ‘It’s definitely a combination of 50 percent decisiveness and 50 percent luck that puts us in a strong position to compete for a spot in the Round of 8 at the Roval. So, we’re going to give it our best shot and enjoy ourselves next week.'”

Joey Logano, who was leading the standings, came into this race with a significant advantage of 37 points. Even though he was part of an early crash, he managed to earn five points by the end of the first stage. This was crucial as he didn’t gain any points in the second stage and ended up finishing in 27th place.

The overall score is a disappointing 16 points, making the 2018 champion only 18 points ahead of the cutline. This puts them at risk of being knocked out if they perform poorly in next weekend’s race at the Roval.

Looking back, if things don’t go well next Sunday, it might be his own doing.

“Given that we typically wreck all the time, we reasoned that since we have a significant points lead, the most sensible thing to do would be to avoid crashing. We also assumed that we could secure a top 10 position given that the others always wreck,” said Logano.

Except they didn’t.

“Today was the only instance when I stayed at the back and surprisingly, no wreck took place,” said Logano. “We did lose a significant portion of our points lead. However, we’re still ahead by 18, which is a fairly comfortable position. Our strategy was to race for stage points, retreat to the back, and anticipate a crash.”

“I dislike that style of racing. I’ve often lost to people who use that method, and when I attempted it, it wasn’t successful.”

Denny Hamlin appeared quite satisfied to secure a top-five position on the final restart, particularly after gaining eight stage points in the initial stage and increasing his point lead to +15 entering the race. His lead is now +28 ahead of the Charlotte Roval.

In my view, we are in a three-race season and we’re competing for points.

In other words, Hamlin had no intention of moving off the bottom or positioning himself where he could be crashed from the outside, especially considering his car’s poor performance in three-wide racing at Talladega.

“Being caught between two different paths, I opted for the bottom lane and stuck to it,” stated Hamlin. “Although I contemplated following Chase (Elliott) to the top lane, it would have positioned me in the middle with the 43 (Erik Jones). I decided the potential risk of falling back to 15th or 20th place was too great. So, I remained in the lower lane, saw it through to the end, and managed to secure a top-five finish.”

Honestly, we accomplished what we set out to do that day. Our goal was to score 30 points and we successfully achieved it.

Moving onto the Roval and the second elimination race of the playoffs.

1. Chase Elliott Advanced
2. Ryan Blaney +32
3. Ross Chastain +28
4. Denny Hamlin +21
5. Joey Logano +18
6. Kyle Larson +18
7. Daniel Suarez +12
8. Chase Briscoe +0
—
9. Austin Cindric -0
10. William Byron -11
11. Christopher Bell -33
12. Alex Bowman -54