Kyle Larson may have celebrated on the frontstretch as he earned a ROVAL trophy and punched his ticket to the next round, but four drivers were more disappointed at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As an elimination race to set the field from the Round of 12 to the Round of 8, a few drivers had to see their postseason hopes evaporate.
When the checkered flag flew, it was Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, Trackhouse’s Daniel Suarez, and Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe who were on the chopping block.
But in a dramatic twist, Alex Bowman’s Chevrolet failed post race inspection and the No. 48 team was DQ’d for an underweight car. That eliminates Bowman from the Playoffs, and puts Logano back in. And Monday Hendrick said they will not appeal, so Logano will be in the Round of 8, not Bowman.
Joey Logano
When he crossed the line, Joey Logano was out of the Playoffs in the slimmest of margins, just four points, after doing just about all he could. It would have meant that, for the first time since joining Team Penske, Logano will not reach the Round of 4 in an even year (he did in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, picking up two championships in the process).
Logano entered the Charlotte ROVAL with points to make up after a difficult start to the Round of 12. He finished an underwhelming 14th at Kansas to open the round but looked to be turning his luck around by running at the front at Talladega. That all came to an end when he was caught in one of Talladega’s biggest-ever big ones and ended up 33rd and wrecked.
On any other day, an eight-place finish plus points for second in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2 would have been a good result, but it wasn’t enough. With no drivers ahead of him the points taken out of the race, Logano had to beat either Chase Elliott (who finished ahead of him) or Tyler Reddick by enough positions on the racetrack.
It all came down to keeping Reddick at bay, and midway through the race that seemed like a foregone conclusion. After winning Stage 1, Reddick was involved in an incident when the field bunched up behind Austin Dillon, stopped backwards on the racetrack in the middle of the treacherous Turn 7 hairpin. As Reddick tried to slow, he locked up his rear tires and slid into the side of owner Denny Hamlin. The contact was strong enough to lift Reddick up into the air.
His No. 45 headed down pit road to replace a toe link, and he returned to the racetrack in 37th. Reddick had to continue making repairs and adjustments throughout the race as he fought his way back through the field, but it was enough to end up eleventh by the end. Not enough for a second top-ten finish in the Playoffs, but enough to keep his championship hopes alive.
Logano, on the other hand, stayed out on older tires to preserve his track position and had to listen helplessly as his spotter described Reddick’s rise through the field while Logano himself battled with other drivers on fresher tires.
“You know you’ve got tires that were coming behind you and two of the best with AJ [Allmendinger] and Shane [van Gisbergen], and I was seeing that they were coming at me. You know, you’re just trying to maintain the best you can, and, honestly, you’re just praying for a caution because that’s the only thing that can stir it up,” he explained, offering his opinion just after the race prior to Bowman’s DQ becoming known.
“But congrats to them, they fought hard, changing toe links and all that,” Logano acknowledged of Reddick and his team. “It wasn’t meant to be. You can start looking back at different points of the season to gather four points pretty easily in one race in particular. But, you know, Talladega, we just didn’t do a good enough job of scoring stage points, that’s probably where a lot of it lies.”
As for that one race in particular?
“It’s hard not to think about Richmond a little bit now,” Logano admitted, referencing a race he nearly won – which would have given him the five Playoff-point bonus he would have needed – until he was hit by Austin Dillon in the final corner and sent spinning from the lead. Dillon lost Playoff eligibility but not the win as a result, and Logano ended up short.
But, of course, appeals aside, Logano actually did just enough.
Alex Bowman
With the DQ, Stage 2 winner at the ROVAL Alex Bowman is now out of the Playoffs, pending an appeal.
It’s especially disappointing for the No. 48 camp considering their strong performance in the postseason. After earning a spot based on his sole win at Chicago, Bowman impressed with strong runs at the front throughout the first two rounds of the Playoffs to pick up big numbers of stage points, including at the ROVAL with that stage win.
The results weren’t bad either, with three top-tens in the five Playoff races heading into Talladega, making his run at Charlotte apparently enough to advance. But a 38th-place DQ wasn’t enough, even with that, and Bowman, at least for now, will not make the Round of 8.
Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric came in needing a win at the ROVAL, and he said as much ahead of the race. He started the round with a 34th at Kansas, but Cindric had been leading at Talladega before getting wrecked and finishing 32nd.
“We kind of have to go in here with the mindset of winning the race, which simplifies things in a lot of ways,” Cindric said ahead of the ROVAL. “It certainly simplifies strategy thoughts and thoughts in preparation for the race. It’s not the situation you want to be in, but it’s something we’re certainly prepared to go after and fight for.”
And fight he did. Cindric picked up points for finishing tenth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2, then took the same gamble as teammate Joey Logano by staying out on old tires to preserve track position and managed to hold on for a fourth-place finish.
Unfortunately, Cindric was right – he did need a win, or at least something even more than that good result to go his way.
“A better performance and finishes at Talladega and Kansas,” Cindric said, asked about what more he needed. “We had the speed and that is the encouraging thing and the exciting thing but today we needed it all.
“We had a great car. We had a great finish. My guys called a great strategy and we got points in both Stages, all the things that are hard to do in a Cup race, but we did those things and were capable of doing those things in the two prior races. That is what this format is. It is difficult. I think for us, having a better regular season, having a bit better of a buffer would definitely help.
“I am proud of everyone. I feel like we are getting into a rhythm here. I am proud of the team and looking forward to trying to spoil some races and support our teammates the rest of the way,” Cindric concluded.
Daniel Suarez
Daniel Suarez came in on the back foot after an early spin at Talladga but fought hard until he could fight no more. He entered the ROVAL with a 22-point disadvantage to the cutline but battled with the contenders up front.
He was in a tight battle with fellow Playoff drivers Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, but was pushed out of the way in the Turn 7 chicane. As he tried to gather his car up to give chase, he got caught in a battle with Bubba Wallace and entered the backstretch chicane two-wide. In that narrow set of corners, Suarez was pushed wide, hitting the turtle curbs on the inside of the chicane and launching into the air.
Suarez came to a complete stop to make sure he was good with NASCAR and would not be penalized for cutting the corner. Unfortunately, his car was not good as a result. Suarez complained of brake issues for the remainder of the race, with his team informing him that there was no way to fix the brakes without coming to the garage.
Ultimately, the No. 99 team slipped down to 31st, a disappointing and helpless way to end the race and the Playoff opportunity for 2024.
Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe never really got the chance to fight. He suffered a right-rear tire failure on lap 36 of 109, forcing him to come down pit road. Fortunately, the tire carcass held on until Briscoe was just exiting the final banked turn of the oval, and he was able to head right to pit road after that.
However, that little luck did not hold, and he was forced out the race in Stage 2 with a separate steering issue, officially retiring from the race on lap 41. That put an end to his dark horse Playoff run after his huge and emotional victory in the last-chance race at Darlington that guaranteed him the postseason berth.
“It is tough to have all the momentum that we had and to have it come to an end like it did is unfortunate,” Briscoe said. “I wish we could have kept going for it. I am sure all the guys that get eliminated wish they could keep going for it, right?
“We knew, I think as a team even, going into it that if we could get through this round we could get to the final four but we weren’t able to get through this round. It is unfortunate. We still have a lot to race for. We can still go win four more races and that is what we will try to do. It is four really good tracks for us so I feel really good about it. I wish we were racing for a championship still.”
The race was all the more emotional for Briscoe for two reasons. Firstly, it was the last chance for his Stewart-Haas Racing team to pick up a championship before closing after the season. Briscoe had always wanted to drive for his childhood hero Tony Stewart and to race in his famous No. 14, and this ended his chance to earn Stewart a championship in his equipment.
“It stings. Not even really for myself, just all the employees at Stewart-Haas,” Briscoe said. “They were all kind of living through the 14 car, and the environment we have had these last few weeks has been really exciting to be a part of. I hate that it is coming to an end.
“I know what that means for Stewart-Haas not to be racing for a championship anymore. That was keeping a lot of people, honestly, in the building. Hopefully, the repercussions aren’t too bad, but we have four races left, and we are going to give it everything we’ve got.”
But more importantly, it was “one of those weeks” as he went from celebrating the birth of his twins to worrying about his wife as she received additional medical care in the hospital for complications from the birth.
“Yeah, it has definitely been a tough week with the highest of highs but then everything that Marissa was going through and the playoffs too. The racing is one thing but I am more worried about my family at the end of the day and making sure Marissa is okay,” Briscoe explained.
“I would have loved to keep racing for a championship. It is unfortunate that the way the week ended, but life could be a lot worse. I have three healthy kids at home and a wife that is hopefully getting healthy and I get to drive racecars for a living so at the end of the day you can’t be upset just because you don’t have a chance to race for a championship. I still have an incredible life and I am certainly blessed.”
