MOTORSPORTS MONDAY - 'The Biggest One', Stenhouse, Jr. Overlooked, DVP Scrutiny
PLAYOFF LAYOFFS
There have been five races in this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and championship drivers have only won twice. Joey Logano and Kyle Larson are the pair of Playoff pilots to win at Atlanta and Bristol respectively. Chris Buescher (Watkins Glen), Ross Chastain (Kansas) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Talladega) have been the disrupters.
Stenhouse also became the 18th different Cup winner in 2024, just one short of the record set two years ago, a mark that certainly seems attainable with five races left on the schedule.
The unpredictable nature of the opening quintet of races has amplified just how open this year’s title race appears to be. Short of Larson’s dominating Bristol performance where he led 462 of 500 laps, the opening five races have not seen any Playoff drivers grab the reigns and take control of the title chase.
By virtue of his Talladega third place finish, William Byron has moved on to the next round through the point system. Should any of the remaining eleven drivers win Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval, they would join Byron moving on.
But the cut-off to stay inside the first eight in the Playoff standing will generate the spotlight this weekend with Joey Logano (-13), Daniel Suarez (-19), Austin Cindric (-29) and Chase Briscoe (-32) all looking to find a way to make up ground or be eliminated for the championship after the checkered flag flies Sunday.
NO RESPECT
The idea talent and skill are non necessities at superspeedways is flat wrong. There is an art to using the draft and maneuvering around a pack for 500 miles. It’s why Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch – all multiple race winners at Talladega, Daytona and now Atlanta – were at the front of the pack.
But overlooked from that group of superspeedway talented drivers is Stenhouse Jr., who proved again Sunday he is more than worthy of inclusion. Stenhouse Jr. has four career Cup Series wins, two of them coming at Talladega and another in the 2023 Daytona 500. The way crew chief Mike Kelley sees it, that’s not a coincidence.
“He just has a knack for these speedways and I’ve seen it when we worked together in the Xfinity Series and certainly here on the Cup side with this race team,” Kelley said.
“The trust level is through the roof, and when we get to do something like this today, I couldn’t be happier. I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else. I will end my career with Ricky if it’s next year or two years after that. This will be it for me.”
SEASON OF PHOTO FINISHES
It says something about this season that the photo finish Sunday between Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Brad Keselowski wasn't even the closest of the season. The 0.006-second margin of victory was actually the third closest on the list.
In fact, three of the eight closest points-paying finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history have all come this season.
Three of the eight closest points-paying finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history have occurred in '24:
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) October 6, 2024
2024 Kansas: 0.001
2003 Darlington: 0.002
2011 Talladega: 0.002
2024 Atlanta: 0.003
1993 Talladega: 0.005
2007 Daytona: 0.005
2001 Atlanta: 0.006
2024 Talladega: 0.006#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/3jGz40yZLY
At Atlanta, Daniel Suarez edged Ryan Blaney out at the start-finish line to win by 0.003 seconds for the second closest finish of the season, while the closest of the season (and in NASCAR Cup Series history) was at Kansas when Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by a mere 0.001 seconds.
DVP SCRUTINY
The 27-car wreck Sunday at Talladega was the biggest accident in the long history of “The Big One” at the Alabama track. While every driver was safe after the melee, NASCAR’s record of following policies and procedures is far from it after a series of questionable calls.
A week ago at Kansas, Josh Berry was towed back to the garage and deemed out of the race after spinning and seemingly just experiencing four flat tires. NASCAR officials explained it was their estimation the damage was more than that and the call to bring the No. 4 car behind the wall rather than to pit road for possible repairs was made.
Sunday at Talladega, the cars of Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe were taken to pit road from the multi-car accident on the backstretch and teams were allowed to make repairs to continue in the race. However others were left behind and considered afoul of the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP), subsequently eliminated from competition.
Needless to say, the orchestration left many confused and angry.
“It’s kind of comical,” said Joey Logano about officials trying to determine who could be assisted, whether the in car lift systems could be employed and which cars were able to get a tow.
“I get out of the car and see just a bunch of cars after a red flag, we’ve been sitting there 10 minutes, everyone is hoping they can roll a little bit. It’s just goofy.”
It’s imperative NASCAR gets its arms around the policy, which was certainly stretch to its most extreme with the biggest accident in Talladega history. But especially with the championship on the line, establishing a clear cut protocol about who is and isn’t eligible to continue racing after an accident needs to happen immediately.
“We’ve got to get that cleaned up as a sport, right, because there are teams, and I need to be careful how I say this,” Mike Kelley said. “There are teams with a lot on the line that are sitting out there just waiting on wreckers to get to them.”
SHORT TRACK ROUND-UP
Ty Majeski didn’t have the best day in Friday’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Talladega finishing outside the top-10. But the Seymour, Wisconsin native had a great day Sunday when he won the ASA Midwest Tour Oktoberfest 200 at Lacrosse Fairgrounds Speedway. The Super Late Model ace won the prestigious event for the fourth time. It was his fifth series win in eight starts this season.
Marcel Gravel won the 62nd running of the Vermont Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Speedbowl. Gravel bested a field of 50 American Canadian Tour (ACT) cars that were on hand for the event and was the best finishing driver across the three 50-lap segments that comprise the event.
Dawson Sutton used a classes bump and run move on Hunter Wright to win Saturday night’s Pro Late Model feature at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Sutton, who will move to the Truck Series full-time for Rackley War Racing next season, scored his fourth Nashville win of
Pete Pistone is a veteran motorsports and general sports reporter/journalist with nearly 30 years experience. During his career he has worked for media outlets such as WGN Radio, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicagoland Television (CLTV), CBS Sports, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Pistone has been with SiriusXM since 2008 and co-hosts “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) with Mike Bagley, which airs Monday through Friday at 7 am ET. He is also the host of “Fantasy Racing Preview,” a weekend show focusing on NASCAR gambling and fantasy racing, which is part of the channel’s NASCAR Cup Series pre-race programming. Additionally, Pistone is a member of the SiriusXM College Sports team as an on-air personality and contributor on Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372). He is one of the hosts of “Big Ten Today” and can also be heard on “Big Ten Whip Around,” a weekly hour-long program spotlighting a variety of sports around the conference. Pistone is also the host of several specials as well as providing a range of digital content for both the NASCAR and Big Ten channels. A Chicago native, Pistone resides in the northern suburbs of the city with his wife and daughter.