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“Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs.” Oh yes, Jim Mora, we are certainly talking about the playoffs, NASCAR style. Chicagoland Speedway kicked off the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs last weekend. With the first race in the books, it’s time to see who dropped the hammer and who needed to use those brake pedals.
On The Gas…
5) Landon Cassill – It’s easy to focus on the playoff guys, but there are still 24 other teams on track each week and many working on a limited budget. Cassill shows up with his Front Row Racing team and puts up solid finishes. Quietly showing off that he still belongs.
4) Kyle Larson – What seems as the only Chevrolet that has been able to keep up with the Toyota’s all season, Larson started off the Playoffs with a quiet and nothing spectacular type of day. The big problem for Larson is Michigan is not in the playoffs.
3) Denny Hamlin – He said it was a fourth place car, that’s where he finished. Maybe Hamlin should call his car a winning car and he’d battle Truex a little more. Well, it is a Toyota, wonder if Brad hates this one too?
2) Chase Elliott – The summer wasn’t pretty for Chase Elliott, or Hendrick Motorsports for that matter, but a 2nd place run in the playoff opener gave driver 24 solid hopes of moving on to round two or maybe even a trip to Victory Lane soon.
1) Martin Truex Jr. – You know you’re having a really good year when you have two races that you lose with a little controversy and people are asking, is this the end. Nothing wrong. The No. 78 was extremely fast again in route to a direct path to the slime and round two of the playoffs.
After round one, plenty of drivers were happy about their position in the points and playoffs heading to next week at the Magic Mile where one slip can change that opinion, but who is now ready to get on to the next round because like many Cubs teams, they fell flat and wanted to leave the windy city?
On The Brakes…
5) Kyle Busch – He was quick on twitter, and on the race track, problem was, he can’t pit the car too. Pit road issues hit a lot of teams, but how you respond is key in the Playoffs, and Kyle didn’t respond well.
4) Kasey Kahne – With a new crew chief on the horizon, Kahne may have wished they had that done before Chicagoland. The amount of speed that was in the No. 5 car may not have even got him in the top 15 in Saturdays Xfinity race.
3) Jamie McMurray – With his teammate making a challenge for a final four spot and a legitimate Championship contender, McMurray has dug himself a hole trying to keep up. After spinning early, the No. 1 car sits just 5 points above the cut off line.
2) Richard Childress Racing – You may have almost forgotten the RCR Chevy’s were even in the race if not for a speeding penalty by Austin Dillon. The No. 31 of Ryan Newman had comparable speed to Kahne, which isn’t saying much. Maybe a miracle will befall the RCR teams before Sunday…It could happen.
1) Kurt Busch – Tell me if this sounds familiar–speeding penalty. Yeah, it was a rough on pit road and Championship contenders can’t have that with hopes of moving forward. The worst part for Busch was it came after having to pit for a vibration late in the race. It was a “monster” colapse.
Maybe the penalties were just a lot of chase, oh wait, playoff jitters. See, it even hits the best of us. Plenty of drivers will be happy to get to Loudon for race number two, unless they’re following a Toyota of course. Maybe Keselowski can start another Twitter war and keep us entertained that way.