Bubba, Buescher and Kyle Busch just miss playoffs- Michael Jordan talks to the press. Reddick wins regular season CUP title
By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
The final race of the NASCAR regular season had a Labor Day surprise that no one saw coming and it happened early. Martin Truex Jr. was ninth in Cup points but when he got loose and took out Ryan Blaney and destroyed both machines, Truex put the blame squarely on himself. What happened to take you out of the race? “Clearly me. Yeah, it was all my fault, all my doing. I got a run on the 24 (William Byron) and went to the inside and thought everything was going fine and the car just took off and I ran into him. Obviously, that was on me. I hate it for my guys, Bass Pro Shops, Toyota, everybody. We had a phenomenal race car, and I know this is like the longest race of the year – just a dumb mistake on my part.“
Checkered Flags
Chase Briscoe ran near the front of the Darlington pack but as much as he ran second, he only led the race one time for one lap. Briscoe really needs a Darlington win as he is 18th in points. His 2024 season has seen him earn six top ten finishes in 26 races with only two being in the top five. Briscoe’s epic slingshot move around Larson with 26 laps to go on the restart following the Carson Hocevar crash. Briscoe shot out of a cannon on the final start of the race and Kyle Busch, needing a win himself to make the playoffs, went around Christopher Bell and Larson. Briscoe brushed the wall at least twice but held off the #8 for the victory. Briscoe is in the playoffs. KYLE BUSCH WAS CHASING YOU DOWN. WAS THAT THE HARDEST YOU’VE DRIVEN IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE? “Yeah. I was sideways. Countersteering. I felt like I was in a sprint car. Yeah, this night just literally went perfect. The pit crew did an incredible job and I was crying after the checkered because I just won the Southern 500. This is a crown jewel and what makes this race so special is all you race fans. Every time we come here it’s sold out.”
Josh Berry crash with 25 laps to go
Berry attempted to go between Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin with 25 to go wrecking several machines including playoff contender Bubba Wallace, Gibbs and others. The 23XI Co-Owner NBA GOAT Michael Jordan was noticeably bummed. Briscoe pounces.
Contender
Denny Hamlin races very well at Darlington. How well? He has finished every race he has started at the track dating nearly 40 races since 2005. Hamlin has won four times in 2024 and three were points races but he has slid to 8th over the last few months. He led all three stages at the Labor Day race
Larson is dominant but finishes fourth
The driver of the number five is the best racer in NASCAR today. Kyle Larson is certainly the most versatile whether it be World of Outlaw racing, driving an Indy Car or getting behind anything that finishes with a checkered flag. Larson is second in points this season (he raced the Indy 500) and then the Charlotte race was rained out on his flight to the same day race. At Darlington, he won both stages and led five different times for 168 laps through stages one and two. For the race, the #5 led the race eight times for 263 of 367 laps. On the season entering Darlington, he has won four times this season with nine top five finishes and another three in the top ten. Saying that, Chase Briscoe beats Larson by one point for the regular season title.
Byron showed up
William Byron has been an enigma this season. Winning the 2024 Daytona 500 and two more races by the spring race at Martinsville, Byron has slid down the standings despite winning three times this season. Byron, for his slow slide, is still putting up major production with eight top fives including the three wins and 13 finishes overall in the top 10 (50%). Byron showed up at Darlington leading 1 time for two laps and spent most of the night in the top five until getting caught up in the Gilliland wreck.
Sweating it out for the playoffs
Truex Jr. talked about his wreck earlier in this column. He was emotional and said he did not know if he would stick around. “Yeah, I don’t know. I honestly have no idea. This is miserable. I just hate it for my team and Bass Pro Shops and Toyota – everybody that works so hard on our car on the 19 team. I feel terrible for them – they deserve better. It’s just a mistake.” Truex Jr. is in the playoffs.
The last playoff spots
The last couple of years have seen a lot of growth from Ty Gibbs. He occasionally said stupid things at media pressers I was at but at age 21, could you or I have handled being interviewed on a big stage? Gibbs has seven top five finishes this season and more often than not, runs toward the front of the pack before falling back and Kyle Petty and Jeff Burton have both said on NBC that his time is coming. Gibbs finished 15th in points. He is in.
Most of the drivers on the cut line including Chris Buescher were both above and below the cutline for the playoffs. Buescher was hit by Todd Gilliland with 46 laps to go and it scuffed the #17 but other than making his razor thin margin even tighter to make the playoffs with Bubba Wallace just below him. Coming down the stretch, Buescher’s side by side racing with Tyler Reddick was not fruitful as the #17 could not pick up a valuable point and disappeared altogether with the Briscoe win . Buescher comes up short as does Bubba Wallace who picked up damage on the Gilliland wreck and watched Briscoe end the dreams of these two drivers.
2024 NASCAR Playoff Field
— Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
— Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
— Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
— Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
— Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
— Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
— Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
— Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
— Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
— Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
— Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
— William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
— Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
— Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
— Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
— Daniel Suárez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net