By Roy J. Akers –www.skyviewsports.net
Las Vegas, NV-
All three manufacturers have drivers with legitimate chances to win at LVMS and even though JGR Racing sweeps the top three spots, and Hendrick Motorsports the next three spots, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano of Ford could very well take home the checkered flag. But before it is all over, will it be Joey Logano stealing a victory, Kyle Larson dominating or Denny Hamlin winning his 60th?
Now it’s time to drop the green flag.
Catch up on High Banked Fury- The Podcast <<< w/ Jeff Gluck of the Athletic
Stage One How they Finished
Chase Briscoe rockets around Denny Hamlin on the opening lap and leads the first 27 laps of the race before pitting. William Byron goes around Hamlin to take over second. As drivers begin green flag pit stops, Byron, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson are 1-2-3. Cycling through pit stops, there are four leaders with 20 to go in Stage 1. (S1). With ten laps to go in the Stage, Byron leads Reddick by 3.001 seconds with Larson a distant 5.5+ seconds behind. Blaney goes into the wall on lap 72 and does damage to the #12. He is done for the day. All lead lap cars head to pit road. William Byron gains an advantage by getting off pit road first, followed by Kyle Larson in second and Chase Briscoe in third position. The only caution of the Stage lasts for several laps, and Byron wins the two-lap shootout to take S1. Key moment: Blaney’s crash leaves him fighting for the Round of Four.
Stage Two Top eight S2
Briscoe makes immediate contact with Byron and the 24 makes a miraculous recovery to save his machine. Larson takes advantage and takes the lead. Briscoe and Byron are 2-3. The field is largely running single file. Lap 97 of 267. Kyle Larson leads at the one-third mark with William Byron running second, just 0.408 seconds behind. Chase Briscoe holds third position, 0.979 seconds off the lead. The race has seen seven lead changes among six different drivers under green flag conditions, with two cautions accounting for 10 laps.
Kyle Larson pits with 46 laps to go in the stage on lap 125 but the drama goes to Chase Elliott who lost an uncontrolled tire and they have to serve a stop-and-go penalty and goes a lap down. Bubba Wallace cycles to the race lead on lap 125 as the leaders take tires and Sunoco fuel. Wallace pits on lap 125. Wallace commits a speeding penalty. Larson cycles back to the lead by -0.138 in front of Reddick. Byron-Hamlin- Briscoe run 3-4-5. Logano is the top Ford driver running 9th. By Lap 146, Kyle Larson has been able to extend his lead in traffic, now up by 1.103 seconds over Tyler Reddick.
A battle between Elliott and Todd Gilliland is occuring just behind Larson as the 9 is trying to get the free pass before the end of the Stage to unlap him himself after the pit road mishap. Larson goes to the lead and controls the rest of the Stage and cruises to a S2 win and ten points. There has only been one caution for cause in the race (for the Blaney) blown tire that destroyed his #12.
Final Stage
Larson is immediately challenged by Hamlin but pulls ahead but the field is in his mirror with the drivers 2-5 less than a second behind. Larson has led 100-193 laps with 74 to go. The race has featured nine different leaders with 12 lead changes and three cautions for 16 laps. William Byron runs second, just 0.148 seconds behind Larson, with Tyler Reddick in third. Five of the top seven drivers represent Toyota. Larson pits with 52 laps to go and most of the leaders follow him. Byron cycles to the lead with the #5 right behind him. Larson goes around Byron with 35 to go and quickly goes up by .038. Byron goes around on lap 235 and goes around in Turn 4 with John Hunter Nemechek and Ty DIllon both involved. Byron is destroyed. Debris is everywhere. The sun may have been a factor.
After the field pits during the caution and only a few teams taking tires, Briscoe and Logan lead the field to green. Not for long. An accident in turn one quickly brings a caution. The caution flag is out with just 18 laps remaining at the track. Chase Briscoe leads in the No. 19 Toyota after starting from the second position. Joey Logano runs second in his No. 22 Ford, with Alex Bowman third in the No. 48 Chevrolet. The long caution is benefitting Briscoe and Logano who took two tires. Eleven cars were involved in this accident. Briscoe and Logano take the green flag with 14 to go and the field goes four wide up front. Larson goesaround Logano with Briscoe in his sights. Hamlin is fourth and moving. Briscoe, Larson, and Hamlin. pull away with Hamlin dualing with the 5. Briscoe picking up track position with Hamlin and Larson challenging. Now Hamlin and Reddick are side by side with four to go and Hamlin is pulling away. Hamlin will not be denied his 60th Cup win.
The Checkered Flag << Final Running Order
Denny, what was the best part of this win? “Absolutely all of it. I don’t know if I could have scripted it better. I don’t know, like a win at Talladega for 60 would still be awesome, but not like this. Not in the fashion I had to do it in the last 10 laps. This race, I talked about it before the weekend started, just how important this race was, right? I thought this was the most important. All of it. My friends all weekend, We’re getting 60 this weekend. Yeah, I mean, I guess we could. I don’t know. All of it. Just putting all the factors, I can’t imagine there’s a win bigger for me than this one. With the family, with the significance of it, now being back on top for most wins in the season, punching the ticket to the 4, all of it. The fashion in which the last 10 laps played out.”
They Said It…
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Mustang Dark Horse – DID YOU HAVE ANY WARNING THE TIRE WAS GOING DOWN? “No, I didn’t have any thoughts that it was gonna blow. As soon as I lifted into three it blew out.” YOU’VE BOUNCED BACK BEFORE AND MADE IT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4 AFTER HAVING A CRASH IN THIS ROUND. CAN YOU DO IT AGAIN? “I hope so. It’s unfortunate we’ve got to be in these spots, but we’ve got to bounce back.” WHAT DID YOU FEEL BEFORE THE TIRE WENT? “Nothing. It blew as I lifted into three.” GIVEN YOUR PERFORMANCE AT TALLADEGA AND MARTINSVILLE IN THE PAST ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC? “You’ve got to be optimistic. I’m not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning I’ll be optimistic to go to the next race. We’ve had good success at the next two events, so hopefully we can come and bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves in today.” IS THIS NOW MUST-WIN TERRITORY? “Yeah. No doubt.” IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANY STEERING. “It destroyed the right-front, the right-rear. It destroyed everything.”
Factoid that may interest only me
William Byron, who won this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship, has finished in the top 10 in just two of the six playoff races. Gluck then pointed out that Byron “has led zero laps in the playoffs so far.” – Stat from the Athletic- What happened? Byron leads 55 laps Sunday.
Fantasy Picks
The leam looks strong as only the leading qualifier Denny Hamlin was left on the bench as he has only one race left this season and we will use him at Martinsville. The race qualifiers 2-5 were prepicked before Saturday and Joey Logan, who qualified ninth.
Best Pick – Chase Briscoe earned a race high 55 points for my team. His pick was a little risky. Larson was basically a sure thing.
Worst Pick- William Byron crashed out of the race late in S3. It appears that Ty Dillon did not signal or his spotter did not communicate with Byron’s spotter and the message got relayed.
Tale of the Tape
What’s Next?
