Race 14 - Kansas

Race 14 - Kansas

Pole Winner: #22 Joey Logano

Race Winner: #9 Chase Elliott

Majority Pick: #10 and #78

CLICK HERE FOR STANDINGS

Pool Standings: 

1. G Money -123
2. asleep at the wheel -151
3. Last Lappers - 155
4. Go 21 - 161
5. Bigwood - 164

Next Race: Martinsville on Sunday October 28th!

Race 13 - Talladega

Race 13 - Talladega

Pole Winner: #41 Kurt Busch

Race Winner: #10 Aric Almirola

Majority Pick: #3, 88

CLICK HERE FOR STANDINGS

Pool Standings: 

1. G Money -113
2. asleep at the wheel -150
2. Last Lappers - 150
4. Go 21 - 151
5. Bigwood - 159

I didn't get to see a lot of the race, but from what I did see and read; it was typical Talladega baby! The SHR guys were all set for a 1-2-3-4 finish until Bowman lost control at the end of the race, bringing out the caution and sending it to overtime.

The yellow put Harvick and fellow playoff drivers Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney in dire straits with respect to fuel, and all three came to pit road to gas up before the final restart in overtime on Lap 192. Busch held the lead until his car sputtered in Turn 4 on the final lap — after a multicar wreck in Turn 1 damaged the cars of playoff drivers Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr.

Almirola surged into the lead and took the checkered flag, leading his only lap of the afternoon.

With the runner-up finish, Bowyer climbed from outside the Round of 8 cutline to sixth in the playoff standings, 21 points to the good.

The guys head to Kansas this week. With only two races to go before the next cutoff, I'm sure things will heat up.

Next Race: Kansas on Sunday October 21th!

Race 12 - Dover

Race 12 - Dover

Pole Winner: #18 Kyle Busch

Race Winner: #9 Chase Elliott

Majority Pick: #48 Jimmie Johnson

CLICK HERE FOR STANDINGS

Pool Standings: 

1. G Money -96
2. asleep at the wheel -117
3. Bigwood - 126
4. Last Lappers - 129
5. Intimidator - 130

What looked like a Stewart-Haas Racing victory parade for much of Sunday afternoon ended in a wild overtime scramble, with Chase Elliott taking the checkered flag at the monster mile.

On considerably older tires, Elliott pulled ahead and cleared runner-up Denny Hamlin through Turns 1 and 2 after a restart on Lap 403 finished .265 seconds ahead of Hamlin.

With the victory — his second of the season and the second of his career — Elliott punched his ticket into the Round of 8 in the playoffs.

The move that won the race was the decision to keep Elliott on the track with tires that were more than 50 laps old, when most of the other lead-lap cars opted to pit on Lap 393 after Clint Bowyer slammed into the Turn 4 wall one lap earlier.

Elliott led the field to a restart on Lap 397, but on the backstretch during that circuit, Aric Almirola nicked the outside wall and started a chain-reaction collision that also damaged the cars of fellow playoff drivers Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney.
NASCAR red-flagged the race, and Elliott outran Hamlin in an overtime that extended the event four laps beyond its scheduled distance. The only laps Elliott led were the last 11.

Kevin Harvick, on the other hand, was out front for 286 of the 404 laps and was the clear class of the field. Harvick swept the first two stagesand appeared headed for another perfect afternoon, but he had to return to pit road under green for an extra tire change after a flying lug nut knocked the valve stem off Harvick’s left rear tire.

Harvick regained the lap he lost under a debris caution called on Lap 339, but he couldn’t work his way back to the front before the race ended.

Next Race: Talladega on Sunday October 14th!

Race 11 - Charlotte

Race 11 - Charlotte

Pole Winner: #41 Kurt Busch

Race Winner: #12 Ryan Blaney

Majority Pick: #48, 22

CLICK HERE FOR STANDINGS

Pool Standings: 

1. G Money -81
2. asleep at the wheel- 106
3. Harry Hogge - 107 
4. Bigwood - 116
5. Last Lappers - 117

In a race that was as wild as advertised in the closing laps, Ryan Blaney sped past crashing Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. in the final corner to win Sunday’s inaugural Roval.

Johnson was pressuring Truex on the final lap and got to the inside of Truex off the banking of Turn 15 coming into the front stretch chicane. Johnson spun and collected Truex as he slid across the asphalt between Turns 16 and 17, knocking Truex toward the outside wall in the tri-oval. Blaney drove between the two wrecked cars and crossed the finish line .792 seconds ahead of runner-up Jamie McMurray.

Because he had blown the chicane, Johnson stopped on the frontstretch as mandated by NASCAR before continuing across the finish line. He finished eighth and ended the event tied for 11th in the playoff standings with Aric Almirola and Kyle Larson, who completed the final lap in a car that had been all but destroyed in a Turn 1 wreck after a restart on Lap 104 of 109.

The Roval didn't disappoint. It was a wild race. I guess we'll see these boys settle down this week for Dover.

Next Race: Dover on Sunday October 7th!