Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Alex Bowman’s roundabout path to the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway was capped by a trip to the infield care center and an abrupt post-race confrontation by new rival Bubba Wallace.

Wallace walked from his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet after the race and leaned down to confront the ailing Bowman before splashing a drink in his face. Wallace stormed off as Bowman continued to receive medical attention after gutting out a season-saving second-place finish in the Bank of America Roval 400.

The tensions boiled over after two on-track incidents, including one on the first lap and another caused by an intentional bump by Bowman on Lap 42. Wallace was still fuming, some 60-plus laps after their final clash.

“He don’t like to race. He just runs over everybody,” Wallace told NASCAR.com as he left the track. “He gets to Lap 1 and he runs over me and the 3 (Austin Dillon) into the back chicane. We’re back there in the trunk, man. Just take it easy for a lap. He had a fast car and he just run over us. Shoot us through the chicane and then we get a penalty for it. Every time he gets to me, he just runs over me.

“Smooth move of playing the sick card so I couldn’t bust him in his mouth.”

Bowman started at the rear of the field after an incident in final practice, and he had trouble shortly after the green flag, overcooking the backstretch chicane and making contact with Wallace’s car as he spun. Both cars drew penalties for missing the chicane.

The latter issue stemmed from Wallace making a middle finger gesture on multiple laps, with Bowman reaching a tipping point again in the backstretch chicane. After several corners of close-quarters racing, Bowman nudged Wallace’s car into a spin that placed him backward into the outside retaining wall.

After Bowman was released from the infield care center, he tried to explain their back-and-forth.

“I don’t know if he was mad about the first lap or what but obviously, that was just a mistake,” Bowman said. “Then I got flipped over for every single straightaway for three laps. I got flipped off by him for three or four laps in Richmond so I was just over it. I gotta stand up for myself at some point, right? Probably wouldn’t have gotten wrecked if he had his finger back in the car.”

Bowman also responded to Wallace’s post-race splash: “I probably shouldn’t repeat what he said to me, but nothing classy by any means. I mean, I get it, I’d be mad, too, but he put himself in that spot.”

Bowman’s crew chief, Greg Ives, told NASCAR.com that the high range of emotions was understandable.

“I mean, that’s what racing does,” Ives said. “It’s unfortunate that we got into Bubba there at the start. Definitely wasn’t intentional and then some other altercation happened off the chicane. That’s emotions for you. Last week, we got wrecked by the 3 and had a bad week. You know, we’ve got to put that behind us. That’s not usually how we race and it’s unfortunate that it had to happen. I know those race teams are trying as hard as they can, and it’s unfortunate we got into him.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

CONCORD, N.C. — Alex Bowman was the pinball that didn’t tilt Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s oval-road course circuit

An illness, a confrontation and three incidents before the halfway mark didn’t derail the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who avoided elimination by a scant five points with a resilient runner-up finish in the Bank of America Roval 400. Knocked out of the playoff picture were (in order) Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones.

Bowman fought through a lingering ailment that had dogged him since the middle of last week. He was at another deficit before the green flag after a crash in Saturday’s final Monster Energy Series practice that forced the team to break out a backup car. Top that with a first-lap incident that threatened to halt his playoff march early, and he stood in last place with plenty of ground to make up.

“Yeah, I mean probably about Lap 10 of the race, I was pretty done and out of it just from a physical standpoint,” Bowman said. “I just tried to keep digging and obviously, I tried to give it away on Lap 1. As soon as I touched the brake pedal it started wheel-hopping and turned around on me. I apologize to those that got collected in that. I feel like I hurt myself more than anybody on that one. But I’m glad we were able to rebound and the guys obviously gave me a really strong car to get back through the field.”

That rebound came after further incidents that did halt Bowman’s progress, including a Lap 23 restart led to a six-car stack-up in Turn 1 and a Lap 42 battle of bumpers with Bubba Wallace. Later, a well-timed call for fresh tires by crew chief Greg Ives and accident avoidance in a chaotic final stage gave Bowman the boost he needed to beat back the adversity.

“That’s what this team does, you know,” Ives told NASCAR.com. “There’s several instances where we don’t qualify well or we have an issue. I feel like our issues today were self-inflicted a little bit. Some of my speech and words of advice didn’t really go as planned, taking it easy and making sure there’s a clean race car at the end. Just proud of the way the team kept on fighting.”

Among those on the other side of the playoff bubble was Almirola, who lined up 23rd with fresher tires on the final restart with six laps left. His No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford made it up to 14th by the checkered flag, but a brush with the backstretch chicane wall left him five points shy of catching Bowman.

“I’m disappointed it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to but I’m still really blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity,” Almirola said. “So many people put a lot behind me, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and Smithfield, Ford Motor Company. So, it stings but the sun is going to come up tomorrow. I’m still going to be Aric Almirola, I’m still going to be a husband and a father and they’re not going to take my birthday away. As disappointing as it is, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll move on to Dover (International Speedway) next week and we’ll continue to fight and battle and it’s still really achievable to go finish fifth in the points. We did that last year.”

RELATED: Full results | See the Round of 12 playoff field

Newman was in line for a 17th-place result that would have left him with a closer margin on the minus side, but an adventurous day ended with a late-race stall on pit road, a missed chicane and a collision with Daniel Suarez’s No. 41. The chicane punishment came in the form of a 30-second post-race penalty that dropped his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to 32nd on the score sheet.

“Yeah, we just didn’t have it,” Newman said. “I screwed up several times. We didn’t have a great race car, struggled all weekend, didn’t qualify good, just nothing went our way, but that’s racing and those other guys did a better job. Obviously, the Hendrick (Motorsports) guys had a great road-course package and we didn’t and we just didn’t do a good enough job, period.”

Busch wound up 20th in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and failed to score any stage points in his quest to stave off elimination. He was 15th in the points standings, just ahead of Jones, who finished last for the second straight week after radiator damage from a crash sidelined his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with just 23 of the 109 laps completed.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. – Moments after taking the checkered flag in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, race winner Chase Elliott revisited the site of his biggest mistake.

Elliott drove his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet up to the tire barrier in Turn 1 of the 2.28-mile, 17-turn course and began a burnout that bordered on the sarcastic.

RELATED: Official race results
SHOP: Elliott gear

Early in the final stage of the 109-lap event and after a restart on Lap 65, Elliott locked up his brakes and plowed straight into the tire barrier, taking out the “Tums” logo in the corner known as Heartburn Turn. After pitting to address the damage, Elliott fell to 37th in the running and spent the rest of the race working his way forward.

After a spate of opportune cautions, Elliott took the lead for good on Lap 104, passing Martin Truex Jr. for second and Kevin Harvick for the top spot after the final restart.

Five laps later, Elliott crossed the finish line 3.016 seconds ahead of teammate Alex Bowman, who made a heroic run from the rear of the field to finish second and wrestle the final berth in the Round of 12 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs from Aric Almirola and Ryan Newman.

“Oh, my gosh, what a mistake, holy moly,” said Elliott, who picked up his third victory of the season, his first at the Charlotte road course and the sixth of his career. “You talk about messing something up, right here — don’t do that.

“What a day. Such a fast NAPA Camaro ZL1, and honestly that was the only reason we were able to get back in it. I pretty well blew it and got the cautions at the right time and brought it home. … But I don’t think that I could have done anything more stupid, leading that race.”

Bowman and Newman were locked in a tight battle for the final spot in the Round of 12 before Newman blew the backstretch chicane with three laps left and dropped to 32nd at the finish. That left Newman 14th in the standings and 15 points behind Bowman.

WATCH: Newman makes late mistake

Almirola raced to a 14th-place finish and left Charlotte five points behind Bowman, the first driver outside the top 12. Kurt Busch (20th) and Erik Jones (40th after a Lap 23 crash knocked a hole in the radiator of his No. 20 Toyota) also were eliminated from the playoffs, which resume next Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

Bowman overcame a litany of mistakes and ill fortune to grab the final slot in the Round of 12. With 25 seconds left in Saturday’s final Cup practice, he crashed in Turns 3 and 4 and was forced to go to a backup car. That meant starting from the rear Sunday, and halfway through the first lap, Bowman spun in the backstretch chicane.

He was turned sideways in the six-car Lap 23 wreck that started when Busch slammed into the rear of Chris Buescher’s Chevrolet as the cars slowed entering the corner. And on Lap 42, Bowman turned Bubba Wallace at the exit of the backstretch chicane after a heated exchange that featured uncomplimentary hand gestures from Wallace.

RELATED: Wallace on 88: ‘He just runs over everybody’

At the end of the race, Wallace still was seething. As Bowman sat exhausted with his back against the driver’s side of his No. 88 Chevrolet, Wallace threw a drink into Bowman’s face and walked away.

Bowman could take solace, however, in the knowledge his championship hopes are still alive. After the race, Bowman visited the infield care center suffering from dehydration, team owner Rick Hendrick confirmed.

Truex, Harvick and Kyle Busch already had clinched Round of 12 spots entering the Charlotte race. Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, pole winner William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Bowman clinched Sunday.

Harvick finished third in the Roval 400, followed by Bowyer, Keselowski, Truex and Blaney, who gritted out his eighth-place finish after damaging the rear suspension by hitting the wall.

Posted on by Staff Report

Four drivers were eliminated from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs following Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval as the postseason field was trimmed from 16 drivers to 12.

Read on for a full update on the standings and results.

Eliminated drivers

• Aric Almirola, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
• Ryan Newman, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
• Kurt Busch, No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
• Erik Jones, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Advancing to the Round of 12

* Note: This will be updated with the official points and standings later.

1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota: 3,046 points
2. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota: 3,041 points
3. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota: 3,030 points
4. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford: 3,029 points
5. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford: 3,028 points
6. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: 3,024 points
7. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Team Penske Ford: 3,024 points
8. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet: 3,006 points
9. Alex Bowman, No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: 3,005 points
10. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford: 3,004 points
11. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: 3,001 points
12. Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford: 3,000 points

MORE: Official results

The ups

• Three drivers had clinched a spot in the Round of 12 entering Charlotte (Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch) and three more clinched following Stage 1. Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin all earned enough stage points in the first 25 laps to officially lock in for the next round. Chase Elliott officially locked in at the conclusion of Stage 2, which he won.

• Clint Bowyer, meanwhile, came into the Charlotte Roval four points behind the cutoff line. He drove his way into advancement with a strong showing, besting Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola for the final spot.

• Alex Bowman spun on Lap 1 approaching the backstretch chicane when he came in too hot in his No. 88 Chevrolet. After getting fresh tires and later serving the pass-through penalty, Bowman was scored last in the 40-car field, still on the lead lap. Bowman started the day two points behind the cutoff line, but was 29 points behind the line after that incident. That made his rally to a runner-up finish all the sweeter.

The downs

• Erik Jones faced a must-win situation in Charlotte, but he exited the race — and playoffs — early following a wreck late in Stage 1. “Heartburn Turn” produced plenty of heartache for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, whose No. 20 was damaged enough to go behind the wall and out of the race. Jones was hit from behind, a further frustration. It was a disappointing end to the season for Jones, who was one of the hottest drivers all summer and won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in the second-to-last race of the regular season.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, Sept. 30
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, Oct. 1
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., Glory Road: Stock Car Evolution, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., Glory Road: Endurance Racing, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
9 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, Oct. 2
Midnight, Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
noon, NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, Oct. 3
5:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Motorsports Hour, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 1994 Coke 600, FS1/FOX Sports App (re-air)

Friday, Oct. 4
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
3:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
4:30 p.m., Drivers & Dreams: Grassroots Racing in America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)
5:30 p.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in Meridian, Idaho, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Series, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice
3:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice

Saturday, Oct. 5
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
1 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200
6:30 p.m., Valleystar Credit Union 300

Sunday, Oct. 6
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Dover, FS1, FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Drydene 400, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Proving Grounds: The Fast and the Ridiculous, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Drydene 400

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott won Stage 2 in the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his fifth stage win of the season.

Elliott, in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, was leading when the caution came out with 10 laps to go. He and crew chief Alan Gustafson made a gutsy call to pit and give up the lead, but Elliott feverishly worked his way through the field following the ensuing restart to re-take the lead and nab the stage win.

That caution emerged when Alex Bowman, who had been battling Bubba Wallace for multiple laps, expressed his frustration with the No. 43 driver and punted his Chevrolet counterpart.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Elliott battled hard with Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski over the closing laps, with the 2012 champion settling for second. Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. Martin Truex Jr. (P7) and William Byron (P10) were other playoff drivers to finish in the top 10.

Defending Cup champion Joey Logano hit the wall exiting pit road early in the stage. He wound up placing 22nd in the stage.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 10
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 9
3 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 7
5 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports 5
7 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 4
8 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 3
9 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 2
10 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 1

STAGE 1

Kyle Larson won Stage 1 under caution in the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his fifth stage win of the season.

Larson, in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, didn’t lead any laps under green flag conditions but at the stage end was scored ahead of pole-winner and Stage 1 dominator William Byron, who led 22 laps in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to place second.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

The caution came out with six laps remaining in the stage when Ryan Preece spun in the backstretch chicane. On the ensuing restart, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones were all involved in a mess in Turn 1 to bring out another caution. Larson had just enough time to pass Byron before the yellow came out, thus handing him the stage win as the stage never restarted.

Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and defending race winner Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.

Bowman, who earned a front-row starting position but had to start in the back of the pack due to a crash in final practice, got turned around on the first lap. In need of a Hail Mary-type day to make the cut, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had recovered to crack the top 15 before being relegated back to 30th at stage finish.

Erik Jones (p39) was forced to take the No. 20 behind the wall because of a punctured radiator as well, marking the end of his day and playoff pursuit.

Daniel Suarez was the only non-playoff driver to finish in the top 10, with playoff drivers Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr,, Ryan Newman, Bowman, Hamlin and Jones all finishing 11th or worse.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 10
2 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Joey Logano Team Penske 7
5 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 6
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 5
7 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 3
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 2
10 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 1
Posted on by Nick Giffen

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

Today’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Roval is the third of three Cup Series road-course events. Exactly one race at the Roval has ever taken place, giving us a small sample size to work with when looking at track history.

So how do we gauge driver performance when track history is nearly nonexistent? The easiest thing we can do is look across a range of tracks, and across multiple road-course races.

Four of the seven road-course winners during the era of stage racing in the Cup Series came from the front two rows. The other three winners all started inside the top 12.

That means it’s probably going to be very hard to win if a driver doesn’t start toward the front. Last year’s winner — Ryan Blaney — benefited from plenty of randomness at the front of the field. There were two sets of crashes in which the front two cars took each other out, so it’s certainly possible for randomness to come into play. When it does, though, other top cars are likely to benefit.

The recipe for success is to find drivers capable of winning by shopping around for value. Let’s apply that process to today’s race.

Kevin Harvick +1350

Harvick is a very good road racer, with multiple career wins at road-course races, including one in 2017 at Sonoma. Ten of his past 11 incident-free road-course races have resulted in top-10 finishes, including six of his last seven road-course races overall.

Harvick was quick in final practice, posting the fifth-fastest five-lap average out of 18 drivers that made a run. He also claims the sixth starting position for today’s race. That combination of starting position and practice speed should keep him near the front for most of the race.

With such limited data not only in track history, but also in practice, it behooves us to take a driver of Harvick’s overall record at a price that’s quite affordable, especially when he’s shown significant speed in the limited on-track data we do have.

The +1200 number for Harvick MGM is offering is quite generous — he has odds of +900 or shorter across most other books, which is right on the cusp of value.

Joey Logano +1400

Knowing that more than 50% of road-course races in the stage era have been won by drivers starting inside the top three, this number being offered at PointsBet on Logano is quite generous.

Logano starts third for today’s race, and with Alex Bowman moving to the rear, Joey will have to overcome only polesitter William Byron and possibly Byron’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, who should move to the front row after Bowman heads to the rear.

Logano’s road-course record in 2019 is certainly less than inspiring, but he does have some positives going for him. In the high-downforce era of the Gen-6 car, Logano has had three top-seven finishes at Watkins Glen, including one win. He also had a fifth-place finish at Sonoma.

Logano is comfortably inside the playoff picture, so he’s all about the win while other contenders could be playing it safe. That increases his upside relative to other drivers, making the +1400 odds a fine price for a top-three starter with solid road-course history.

If you’re in Vegas, you can get Logano at +1200 at MGM. I like betting him down to +1000.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

CONCORD, N.C. – What happened during Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval will be filed away in the memory banks of Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe for future reference.

The two Xfinity Series Playoff drivers had combined to lead 40 of the 67 laps and were battling for second place with 10 to go when they made contact in the chicane in Turn 17. Then, coming into Turn 2, the pair were still battling when apparent contact from Bell sent Briscoe spinning.

RELATED: Official race results

“The 98 (Briscoe) was really fast and I was going to let him go as soon as he got beside me and then whenever we got into the chicane, he didn’t leave me any option besides running me off the race track,” Bell said. “At that point, I was just going to race him back as hard as I could.”

The spin dropped Briscoe back to 20th place, while Bell had to start at the rear as a penalty for what NASCAR ruled was missing the chicane. Briscoe rallied for a top 10 – his 11th top 10 in 12 races. Bell, who already is locked him into the Round of 8 with a win at Richmond last weekend, finished 12th.

“I felt like getting down into the final two corners I obviously outbraked him,” Briscoe said. “I honestly thought he was going to give it to me after I ran him down that far. At that point, as soon as I pulled out, I was committed. There was no way I wasn’t going to do what I did the next corner and it’s so narrow. It funnels anyway. And then I gave him plenty of room down through here and even tried to give him a lot of room so we could race it. I felt like I got tagged in the left rear and turned around.”

The way the contact in Turn 2 went down left Briscoe a bit flummoxed.

“I felt like I got turned down here and that’s what I don’t understand,” Briscoe said. “We’re both racing for the win. I had no reason to move him off the race track or anything.”

Bell, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who will move up to the Cup ranks with Leavine Family Racing in 2020, indicated he doesn’t expect any carry-over to future races.

RELATED: Bell to move to Cup with Leavine Family Racing

“We haven’t ever had any issues before,” Bell said. “He’s a hard racer, I’m a hard racer. If he has a problem with it, he can come ask me my opinion. That’s that.”

The contact took Briscoe out of contention for the win in a race that he scored the Stage 1 win in. He also won the inaugural Xfinity race at the Roval last year and sat on the pole for Saturday’s race.

“I felt like we had the car to beat all day long,” Briscoe said. “We were able to constantly come back through the field. There at the end, I felt like I still could have ran down AJ (Allmendinger, the race winner). I felt like we were really good on the long run and that’s where he struggled.”

The finish puts Briscoe 35 points to the good and in sixth place in the standings heading to the Round of 12 finale at Dover International Speedway in Saturday’s Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The 24-year old finished fifth at the Monster Mile in the spring.

“As long as we get a couple stage points and run inside the top 10 we should be OK,” Briscoe said. “Today, we definitely wanted to get the win but the big picture was trying to get points and we were able to do that.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CONCORD, N.C. – AJ Allmendinger stole the thunder from a series of intense battles among NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff drivers to win Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Allmendinger muscled his way past series leader Christopher Bell as the cars climbed from the infield section onto the banking on Lap 48 of 67 and held the top spot through three subsequent restarts in the action-filled second race of the Xfinity Round of 12.

The road-course ace scored his third victory in 16 starts in his series, finishing 2.386 seconds ahead of Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick during a three-lap run to the finish.

MORE: Official race results | Roval wreck photos

“Whooo! Damn, I’m tired — thank you everybody!” Allmendinger said during a post-race interview beneath. “I can’t thank (owner) Matt Kaulig enough, first of all. He put his belief in me, wanting me to come here and help build this team.

“I have to thank Tyler Reddick – he’s phenomenal. He told me when I got here I needed to get better on the road courses, because he out-qualified me in every race lately and even beat me in a couple.

“I knew with him behind me (for the last two restarts), I could be defensive on the right side and give myself an angle, and Tyler wouldn’t shove down in there. I appreciate that. I tried to change the restarts up enough each time, but you can only do so much. I knew once we got into clear air, this thing was good. In traffic, it was a struggle.”

For the final two restarts, Allmendinger lined up next to playoff driver Austin Cindric, who broke a rear shock and lost the runner-up position to Reddick on the penultimate lap. Cindric held third over Justin Allgaier, with Noah Gragson securing the fifth position after starting from the rear of the field in a backup car.

“I wish I had a chance to fight the 10 (Allmendinger) there at the end, but under caution I felt a shock mount break,” Cindric said. “The right-rear shock was clean off the race car before I even restarted the race, so I’m glad I didn’t wreck, and I’m glad I finished third.

“I guess all of that is positive, but at the same time, I felt like we had a good shot, especially if the thing would have gone green, to try to pressure him into a mistake or getting a good lunge.”

While Allmendinger was enjoying the clean air at the front of the field, the top drivers in the Xfinity playoffs were busy salvaging respectable finishes from a litany of troubles.

After giving up the lead to Allmendinger, Bell drew a penalty for blowing the final chicane while racing side by side with Chase Briscoe, but not before contact between their two cars sent Briscoe spinning between Turns 2 and 3 on Lap 58.

WATCH: Briscoe, Bell tangle

Already qualified for the next round of the playoffs after last week’s victory at Richmond Raceway, Bell recovered from a rear-of-the-field penalty to finish 12th and maintained a 10-point advantage over Cole Custer, who came home eighth after spinning in Turn 1 during a multi-car mashup on Lap 44. Despite the wild day, Custer was able clinch a spot in the Round of 8 on points.

After his spin on Lap 58, Briscoe charged through traffic to finish ninth and heads to next week’s elimination race at Dover International Speedway sixth in the standings — 46 points behind Bell but 35 ahead of ninth-place John Hunter Nemechek, who ran seventh Saturday. The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight at Dover.

Nemechek is 11 points behind Michael Annett in eighth place, tied with Brandon Jones (16th Saturday). Ryan Sieg finished 30th after suffering fuel pressure issues and enters the Dover race 37 points below the cutline. Justin Haley, Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate, broke a track-bar mount early in the race and finished 31st, six laps down and 39 points behind Annett.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

CONCORD, N.C. — William Byron is on the pole for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Is the young Hendrick Motorsports driver worthy of a lineup spot considering he is on the NASCAR Playoffs bubble to advance to the Round of 12? And how should you navigate the playoff game format? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

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RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Charlotte:
Playoff driver 1: Kyle Larson
Playoff driver 2: Clint Bowyer
Non-playoff driver 1: Jimmie Johnson
Non-playoff driver 2: Matt DiBenedetto
Garage: William Byron

RELATED: Odds for Charlotte | Lap averages | Weekend preview

Analysis: This is an elimination race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, so it is important to know the agendas. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. are locked into the Round of 12, while Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin are pretty much set to advance as well — but have not yet mathematically clinched their spots. With that said, I am avoiding those drivers for the most part because I am placing a premium on the drivers who need stage points and points to advance. Truex would have been the one exception to that rule — due to his Round of 16 hot streak and past road-course success — but a blown motor in final practice will drop him to the rear for an engine change.

I am all-in for chasing stage points in this race and targeting drivers who need to grab points to advance. So that puts Byron, Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott squarely in my crosshairs. Larson has looked like one of the best cars in practice and led the most laps here last year, so I am playing him. Bowyer’s combination of solid 1.5-mile results and road-racing ability plugs him into my lineup, too. Plus, at just four points out, I expect him to be on the aggressive end for stage points. For the garage, I want to take Elliott because he had the best car in final practice and is only starting 19th because he mucked up the qualifying lap Friday. That said, though, I am taking Byron in the garage as a pure stage-points play since he is starting from the pole. He was aggressive on the stage-points front at Sonoma Raceway and I expect more of the same Sunday.

On the non-playoff side, I am taking Jimmie Johnson for one spot. He qualified fourth, ran well here last year and has had speed in recent weeks. The seven-time champion had an incident in final practice, but the team worked to repair the damage to avoid going to a backup. My second spot was a choice between Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher. The JTG Daugherty Racing driver has the better starting spot, but I like DiBenedetto’s road record a bit more.

For the bonus picks, I am taking Logano to win Stage 1, Elliott to win Stage 2 and Larson for the win with Chevrolet as the manufacturer.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

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1. Which Team Penske driver will finish higher: Brad Keselowski or Ryan Blaney? Blaney has had two top-five finishes at road courses in 2019, and Keselowski has one top-10 finish. Blaney also won this race last year, and Keselowski was involved in a late-race wreck. I am taking BLANEY on this one, based on the better road record this year.

2. O/U 3.5 drivers earn at least 10 stage points. I am big on the OVER here. In last year’s race, six drivers (Larson, Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Elliott, Johnson and Blaney) all got at least 10 stage points. Factor in that a slew of drivers starting in the top 10 are likely to be players on that front to improve their playoff position, I feel even better about taking the over on this one.