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Take 5: Playoff outlooks change dramatically at Dover
By Pat DeCola | Published: October 7, 2019 6
Tyler Strong | NASCAR Digital Media
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Jeff Zelevansky | Getty Images
The Round of 12 historically has been looked at as perhaps the biggest wild-card round of the NASCAR Playoffs with Talladega Superspeedway hanging over every driver's head. The shake-ups came perhaps a week early, however, with Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway throwing a wrench in the postseason plans of several heavyweights. Race-winner Kyle Larson can rest easy knowing he's locked into the Round of 8, but read on to see how five other key drivers were impacted at the "Monster Mile."
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Tyler Strong | NASCAR Digital Media
Driver: Chase Elliott
Dover finish: 38th
Position entering: 6th, 3,024 points
Position leaving: 11th, 3,025 points
What happened: Eight laps into Sunday's race, Elliott's engine -- and perhaps his championship hopes -- blew up. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was forced to bring his No. 9 Chevrolet behind the wall and consequently retire from the race. As the most recent Talladega winner and defending winner of the Kansas Speedway fall race, he's definitely not out, but he has a lot more work to do than it might've looked like heading into Dover.
Dover finish: 38th
Position entering: 6th, 3,024 points
Position leaving: 11th, 3,025 points
What happened: Eight laps into Sunday's race, Elliott's engine -- and perhaps his championship hopes -- blew up. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was forced to bring his No. 9 Chevrolet behind the wall and consequently retire from the race. As the most recent Talladega winner and defending winner of the Kansas Speedway fall race, he's definitely not out, but he has a lot more work to do than it might've looked like heading into Dover.
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Tyler Strong | NASCAR Digital Media
Driver: Joey Logano
Dover finish: 34th
Position entering: 4th, 3,029 points
Position leaving: 9th, 3,032 points
What happened: Like Elliott, Logano's race was essentially over in a hurry. As cars were about to take the green flag, the defending champ's No. 22 Ford was in the garage with its hood up -- not exactly a winning combination. The Team Penske driver had to come in for a broken rear axle and started the race 23 laps down. He fought tooth and nail to get back any points he could (much to the dismay of some of the leaders) but still came away on the wrong side of the bubble after looking like a lock to advance entering the round. With five wins combined at Talladega and Kansas, there's little reason to count one of NASCAR's most clutch drivers out, but a Round of 8 appearance is far from a guarantee at this point.
Dover finish: 34th
Position entering: 4th, 3,029 points
Position leaving: 9th, 3,032 points
What happened: Like Elliott, Logano's race was essentially over in a hurry. As cars were about to take the green flag, the defending champ's No. 22 Ford was in the garage with its hood up -- not exactly a winning combination. The Team Penske driver had to come in for a broken rear axle and started the race 23 laps down. He fought tooth and nail to get back any points he could (much to the dismay of some of the leaders) but still came away on the wrong side of the bubble after looking like a lock to advance entering the round. With five wins combined at Talladega and Kansas, there's little reason to count one of NASCAR's most clutch drivers out, but a Round of 8 appearance is far from a guarantee at this point.
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Tyler Strong | NASCAR Digital Media
Driver: Ryan Blaney
Dover finish: 35th
Position entering: 10th, 3,004 points
Position leaving: 12th, 3,010 points
What happened: Things looked to be smooth sailing for Blaney despite Dover being an underwhelming track for him historically, as he placed 10th and eighth in the stages, but a brake issue in the final stage completely derailed his afternoon. Penske tends to find ways to Victory Lane at Talladega, so perhaps he rebounds next week. Kansas lines up nicely for him as well, but Blaney is dangerously close to Hail Mary territory, now ranked last of the playoff drivers.
Dover finish: 35th
Position entering: 10th, 3,004 points
Position leaving: 12th, 3,010 points
What happened: Things looked to be smooth sailing for Blaney despite Dover being an underwhelming track for him historically, as he placed 10th and eighth in the stages, but a brake issue in the final stage completely derailed his afternoon. Penske tends to find ways to Victory Lane at Talladega, so perhaps he rebounds next week. Kansas lines up nicely for him as well, but Blaney is dangerously close to Hail Mary territory, now ranked last of the playoff drivers.
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Tyler Strong | NASCAR Digital Media
Driver: Clint Bowyer
Dover finish: 10th
Position entering: 12th, 3,000 points
Position leaving: 10th, 3,028 points
What happened: And now for the beneficiaries ... Bowyer's methodical 10th-place Dover run combined with multiple parts failures on the cars of some drivers ahead of him makes that feel more like a top five. Plus, 10th place in the standings with two races to go feels a lot more manageable than the 11 drivers ahead of him he had going into Dover, though he's still got his hands full. With the unpredictability of Talladega, Bowyer could still find himself in must-win territory at his hometown track Kansas in two weeks. He has never won there, but there quite literally couldn't be a better time to change that.
Dover finish: 10th
Position entering: 12th, 3,000 points
Position leaving: 10th, 3,028 points
What happened: And now for the beneficiaries ... Bowyer's methodical 10th-place Dover run combined with multiple parts failures on the cars of some drivers ahead of him makes that feel more like a top five. Plus, 10th place in the standings with two races to go feels a lot more manageable than the 11 drivers ahead of him he had going into Dover, though he's still got his hands full. With the unpredictability of Talladega, Bowyer could still find himself in must-win territory at his hometown track Kansas in two weeks. He has never won there, but there quite literally couldn't be a better time to change that.
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Tyler Strong | NASCAR Digital Media
Driver: Alex Bowman
Dover finish: 3rd
Position entering: 9th, 3,005 points
Position leaving: 7th, 3,049 points
What happened: In his first six trips to Dover -- two of which were in the No. 88 -- Bowman never finished better than 20th. All of a sudden, he has rattled off finishes of second and third in two 2019 races at the "Monster Mile." If the Round of 8 started today, he'd be in -- and how many people saw that coming in February? Bowman's one of the great stories of the playoffs and a runner-up finish at both Talladega and Kansas earlier this spring make it appear he's a safer bet than not to advance at the moment.
Dover finish: 3rd
Position entering: 9th, 3,005 points
Position leaving: 7th, 3,049 points
What happened: In his first six trips to Dover -- two of which were in the No. 88 -- Bowman never finished better than 20th. All of a sudden, he has rattled off finishes of second and third in two 2019 races at the "Monster Mile." If the Round of 8 started today, he'd be in -- and how many people saw that coming in February? Bowman's one of the great stories of the playoffs and a runner-up finish at both Talladega and Kansas earlier this spring make it appear he's a safer bet than not to advance at the moment.