Posted on by Data Skrive

Bubba Wallace crossed the finish line third in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. It’s Wallace’s first top-five finish of the 2019 season.

Kevin Harvick secured the win in the race, with Joey Logano taking second. William Byron took fourth place, followed by Clint Bowyer in the No. 5 spot.

Logano picked up 10 bonus points by winning Stage 1, and Harvick took Stage 2.

Wallace earned 34 points over the weekend, increasing his total to 351 on the season. He ranks No. 27 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series overall standings. Wallace did not muster any playoff points Sunday and has yet to tally his first playoff points of the season.

The third-year driver qualified in 15th position at 184.030 mph.

Wallace still is looking for his first career win but boasts two top-five finishes and four finishes in the top 10.

Wallace battled 39 others cars in the field and the race saw nine cautions and 48 caution laps. There were 14 lead changes before the checkered flag.

With Harvick finishing out front in Stewart-Haas Racing’s Mustang, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 948 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 923. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 883 points on the season.

Bubba Wallace Driver Page | Get Bubba Wallace Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Joey Logano crossed the finish line second in the Big Machine Vodka 400 At The Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, 6.118 seconds off the winning pace.

Kevin Harvick finished first, with Bubba Wallace placing third. William Byron took fourth place, followed by Clint Bowyer to round out the top five.

Logano picked up 10 bonus points by winning Stage 1, and Harvick won Stage 2 to pad his totals for the weekend.

Logano earned 52 points over the weekend, increasing his total to 2028 on the year. He ranks No. 5 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series overall points standings. Logano collected one playoff point in the race and is now up to 28 for the 2019 season.

The 12-year driver qualified in the fourth position at 185.193 mph. He led on two occasions for a total of 11 laps.

Logano has tallied 23 career victories, 114 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 194 races.

There were 40 cars in the field and the race endured nine cautions and 48 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 14 lead changes.

With Harvick finishing out front in Stewart-Haas Racing’s Mustang, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 948 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 923. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 883 points on the season.

Joey Logano Driver Page | Get Joey Logano Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Holly Cain

SPEEDWAY, Ind. —  It was the kind of day Bubba Wallace had likely pictured as a kid — a triumphant performance on one of racing’s brightest stages. His third-place finish in Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard was his best showing since a runner-up finish in the 2018 season-opening Daytona 500.

Certainly, Wallace knows where to make an impact, but he’d love to have even more of these “wow” days in the iconic No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet. This weekend was a strong statement that Wallace and the team are jelling.

RELATED: Full Indy results

“It was a good day for my team, we needed this, we needed this weekend,” said Wallace, who took the checkered flag just behind a pair of NASCAR Playoffs contenders, race winner Kevin Harvick and reigning series champion Joey Logano, who finished second.

This race outcome was no fluke for the Petty team. Wallace was fast from the time the car was unloaded in Indy. He was fifth fastest in opening practice Saturday and answered it with a 16th- place run in the second practice. He then went on to start 15th in the Brickyard 400 after a rare race-morning qualifying session.

So understandably, Wallace was optimistic, even confident about his race chances.

“I was bragging to everybody saying this 43 could be kissing some bricks Sunday afternoon,” Wallace said. “We were just shy of it. It’s incredible to think about. Where the season started and where we were 10 races in, but ever since Charlotte, we’ve been bringing some heat.”

After scoring only a single top-20 finish through the opening 17 races of the season, the No. 43 team has found speed and reason to look forward to the remaining 10 weeks left in the season.

He’s had two top-15 finishes in the last three races – including a 14th-place run three weeks ago at Bristol. And after a headline-making rookie season where he finished runner-up at Daytona, Wallace has been adjusting to the increased level of competition while running for a small single-car team.

“It’s just the passion and the drive my team has,” Wallace said. “It’s a blast coming to the race track and being away from the race track with my guys.

“Smaller teams, you’re more like family. That truly means a lot. It’s an unforgettable day here in Indy.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Eleven laps into Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Daniel Suarez drifted too high in Turn 2 and hit the outside wall, but that wasn’t what cost him a spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Suarez recovered quickly from the early incident and drove forward. He was fourth for a restart on Lap 112 of 160 and ahead of Ryan Newman in the battle for the final playoff spot. Suarez’s No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, however, picked up a vibration, forcing him to pit road on Lap 126. Three laps later, a caution for Kyle Larson’s wreck trapped Suarez a lap down.

WATCH: Suarez hits wall hard early

Though Suarez returned to the lead lap as the beneficiary under the yellow, the vibration and the inopportune caution proved the telling blow. Suarez chased Newman over the closing laps but finished 11th to Newman’s eighth and finished the regular season four points behind Newman.

“I made a little mistake there,” Suarez said of the early brush with the wall. “I wasn’t expecting how aero-loose the car got when I got behind the 24 (William Byron). The car actually was pretty good after that, though.

“The guys were able to fix it. It was mostly cosmetic. The guys were able to fix it, and the car was just as good as before. I feel like after that the day went smooth, other than getting caught in the pit road cycle on the last stop.

“That made us lose all our track position, and it was very difficult to overcome that. We fought hard. We made it all the way back to 11th, and I feel like if we had 15 more laps, I was going to get the 6 (Newman) but that’s racing. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driven by Kevin Harvick passed post-race technical inspection Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with no issues.

The No. 4 Ford was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Harvick won the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard. Additionally, no cars are headed back to the R&D Center after the race.

With post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Race recap | Full results

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Ryan Newman got the last word.

A week after a run-in with Daniel Suarez at Darlington Raceway left the duo sharing the hot seat on NASCAR’s playoff bubble, it was the Roush Fenway Racing driver moving on to compete for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title after an eighth-place run in Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

MORE: Full race results | Who’s in, out

Newman was the 16th and final driver to advance to the 2019 running of NASCAR’s 10-race postseason stretch and — while it might be a tad bit sweeter knowing he’s in over his Stewart-Haas Racing rival — the veteran is focused on the gains his No. 6 team has accrued over its first 26 races together, and where they can take things from here.

“I guess if you look at our roster, there’s more new people on our team together for the first time than all the other teams put together and I’m proud that we’ve been able to take that and use our experience collectively,” Newman said on pit road following the race. “Not our experience together, but collectively, of our own knowledge from places and things that we’ve done and turned that into a playoff position. Now we’ve just got to do something with it. We were eighth today, and if we can do that three times we’ll be in good shape.

“We’re continuing to build (the 6 team) and today was another stepping stone. We’re focused on ourselves and we’ve got three races to prove that this is no spoof. We finished eighth today and I saw a lot of guys run out of talent, losing control of their car all by themselves. We’ve just got to take these cars to the best of our ability and roll on.”

RELATED: Suarez falls just short

While Newman indicated the team has a ways to go before it reaches its full potential while also facing an uphill battle of finding the raw speed NASCAR’s elite group brings to the track each weekend, the list of drivers able to will themselves through the playoffs is a short one, but he’s certainly on it.

The 18-year Cup Series mainstay has a history of elevating his game once the calendar hits September — think 2014, when he finished second in the standings without a victory — and going into Full Ryan Newman Mode©.

“We didn’t have a fast enough car today to be able to be able to go up there and lead and we’ve got be able to do that for these next three races,” he said. “We’ve got some work to do. We’re still learning. This is the first time we’ve been here (as a group) and every race track we go to the rest of the reason with the exception of the Roval we’ve been to before so hopefully our experience will come to prove itself.”

And as far as experience goes, it’s something that has shown to be critically important in the history of this elimination format.

He summed that up quite frankly.

“I think they favor experience,” said Newman. “But to me it either favors experience or it favors a rookie who’s just clueless.”

Two things Newman isn’t — rookie, nor clueless.

Experienced.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It was a dominating victory for Kevin Harvick and a statement of superiority for his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads toward its 10-race playoff.

It was an ignominious end to Jimmie Johnson’s unique and unprecedented streak of qualifying for every Cup Series postseason.

RELATED: Race results
SHOP: Harvick gear

And it was heartbreak for Daniel Suarez, as he chased Ryan Newman over the final nine laps of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the final playoff berth in the balance.

Newman came home eighth, as he and fifth-place finisher Clint Bowyer locked up the final two playoff spots. Suarez ran 11th after getting trapped in traffic on the final restart on Lap 152 of 160 and finished four points behind Newman in the final regular-season standings.

But the story of the race was Harvick, who was in a class by himself. The 2014 series champion won the second stage and during the final nine laps of the race sped to a 6.118-second advantage over runner-up Joey Logano.

Harvick started from the pole, led five times for 119 laps and controlled the event, except for one 19-lap stretch when eventual seventh-place finisher Ryan Blaney grabbed the top spot after a restart on Lap 112.

MORE: Meet the 2019 playoff field

“I can’t tell you how much coming to Indianapolis means to me,” Harvick said. “As a kid, I watched Rick Mears win the Indy 500 and got to be around him as a kid. He was my hero.

“My team built a great race car. I can’t say enough about everyone on (this team). They built a heck of a race car. It’s the same stuff that we took to Michigan and had a real good weekend there, obviously, and went to Victory Lane. I know how much this means to (crew chief) Rodney (Childers) and all the guys who work on this car. We’ve been so close at winning here before.”

True, this was Harvick’s first Brickyard victory with his current SHR contingent, but it was his second overall, the first coming with Richard Childress Racing 16 years ago. Harvick won for the third time this season and the 48th time in his career, tying Herb Thomas for 15th on the all-time list and moving to one win behind his car owner, Tony Stewart.

“I don’t know if we had the best car, but we had the fastest car,” Harvick said. “We gave up the lead there (to Blaney) on one of those restarts, and then we came and pitted, and the caution came out (for Kyle Larson’s crash on Lap 129), and it worked our way.

“We’ve given so many away just because of circumstances here, and the way that the caution flag fell today actually worked in our favor. It gave us control of the race, and we were able to keep control of the race and not make any mistakes, and here we are in Victory Lane at one of the greatest places on earth to race.”

A four-time winner at the Brickyard, Johnson hoped to find magic at the 2.5-mile track. Instead, he found misery. Moments after a restart on Lap 105, his No. 48 Chevrolet broke loose underneath the Camaro of Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, slid sideways and collided with the No. 1 Chevrolet of Kurt Busch.

An eight-car wreck ensued, and Johnson’s car was too heavily damaged to continue. The seven-time champion finished 35th his streak of 15 straight NASCAR postseasons came to an end.

“Yeah, it’s really disappointing,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, we had a bad 25 races that led to the position we’re in here today (18 points out of the Playoffs) and we needed a stellar day. I think we were having a strong day. I’m really proud of my team with what’s been going on.

“The No. 1 car (Kurt Busch) had a little trouble on the restart. I’m on the inside going into the corner and it was just super tight. It’s unfortunate that happened. Certainly, it’s not what we needed on that restart. I couldn’t go below the white line and kind of got snipped there and turned around—and around and round we go.”

Similarly, bad luck caught up with Suarez, who pitted because of a vibration on Lap 126 and got caught a lap down when Larson’s wreck caused the seventh caution three circuits later. Suarez got the lap back under the yellow, but he had to restart from the rear and never recovered.

Bubba Wallace ran third in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet, posting the second top-three result of his career, the first having come in a runner-up run in the 2018 Daytona 500. Byron was fourth, followed by Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Blaney, Newman, Chase Elliott and Paul Menard.

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs field was set on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the regular-season finale.

Fourteen of 16 spots had been clinched in advance of the Brickyard 400, meaning two spots were available. Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman earned them.

RELATED: Official results

Daniel Suarez and Newman entered the day tied for the final position (Suarez held the tiebreaker), with seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson 18 points behind the cutoff line. A late wreck ended Johnson’s hopes, leaving Bowyer, Newman and Suarez to duke it out.

Monster Energy Series Playoffs field

1. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing: 2,045 points
2. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing: 2,030 points
3. Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing: 2,029 points
4. Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing: 2,028 points
5. Joey Logano, Team Penske: 2,028 points
6. Brad Keselowski, Team Penske: 2,024 points
7. Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports: 2,018 points
8. Kurt Busch, Chip Ganassi Racing: 2,011 points
9. Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports: 2,005 points
10. Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing: 2,005 points
11. Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing: 2,005 points
12. Ryan Blaney, Team Penske: 2,004 points
13. William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports: 2,001 points
14. Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing: 2,001 points
15. Clint Bowyer, Stewart-Haas Racing: 2,000 points
16. Ryan Newman, Roush Fenway Racing: 2,000 points

Round Of 16 Playoff Grid

 

SEVEN-TIME OUT: Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet was darting through the field, showing plenty of speed in pursuit of a postseason berth. Those hopes ended, though, on the Stage 3 restart when Johnson and Kurt Busch triggered a multicar wreck, eliminating the No. 48 from playoff contention. Johnson, a seven-time Cup Series champion, had qualified for the playoffs every year since the inception of the postseason in 2004. He won six titles in previous playoff iterations, then a seventh in 2016 in the elimination era.

OH, DANNY BOY: Daniel Suarez smacked the outside wall early at Indianapolis, sending him to pit road a couple of times to try and get his No. 41 Ford fixed. The impact sent him tumbling down the leaderboard — and, therefore, standings — and he was unable to recover to advance to the playoffs, especially after an untimely late caution during a pit cycle.

CHAMP IS HERE: Kyle Busch won the regular-season championship for the second consecutive season by virtue of having the most points during the 26-race regular season. He clinched the title last week at Darlington Raceway. His reward? Besides the prestige and a pretty sweet trophy, that’s worth 15 playoff points that carry over into the postseason. Good thing he clinched last week, because “Rowdy” exited early after an incident with his No. 18 Toyota.

TOP SEED: Kyle Busch is the top seed in the playoffs for the second consecutive season — he shared the honor with Kevin Harvick last year.

NEXT UP: The Monster Energy Series Playoffs begin next Sunday, Sept. 15, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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. 9
3 p.m., NASCAR 120: Indianapolis, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Monday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, Sept. 10
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Glory Road, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 p.m., Glory Road (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
9 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, Sept. 11
Midnight, Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Whelen Series: Riverhead Raceway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
noon, NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, Sept. 12
2 p.m., Glory Road (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Glory Road (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR America: Motorsports Hour, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., Burnouts on the Boulevard, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, Sept. 13
2 p.m., Glory Road (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., Burnouts on the Boulevard (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice at Last Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
7:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN3, 5)
8:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1/FOX Sports App
9 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Saturday, Sept. 14
7 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App (re-air)
1 p.m., Wood Brothers (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2 p.m., Racing Roots: Denny Hamlin (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
3:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
4 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
7 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN5)
10 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
10:30 p.m., Racing Roots: Ricky Stenhouse, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On PRN:
4 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
7 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Sunday, Sept. 15
10 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, FS2
3 p.m., IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, NBC/NBC Sports App
4 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN4, 5)
10:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
11:30 p.m., Proving Grounds: Faster and Louderer, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On PRN:
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Jimmie Johnson emerged from a required check-up in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s infield care center fine physically, but obviously disappointed.

Johnson’s amazing run of NASCAR Playoffs contention ended with an accident on Lap 105 of Sunday’s 160-lap Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard — the regular-season finale and his last shot at championship eligibility.

It was clearly not the meeting with the press Johnson had hoped to be having.

RELATED: Goal is still to win a race

“Yeah, it’s really disappointing,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, we had a bad 25 races that led to the position we’re in here today and we needed a stellar day.

“I think we were having a strong day. I’m really proud of my team with what’s been going on. The No. 1 car (Kurt Busch) had a little trouble on the restart. I’m in on the inside going into the corner and it was just super tight. It’s unfortunate that happened. Certainly, it’s not what we needed on that restart. I couldn’t go below the white line and kind of got snipped there and turned around; and around and round we go.’’

Johnson’s 35th-place finish was his worst showing since a 39th-place result in 2007 at the historic Indianapolis track, where his four race-winning trophies remain most among the current field of competitors.

The result landed him 18th in the standings after the race — last among a foursome that came to Indy to settle the two final positions in the 16-driver playoff field. Clint Bowyer’s fifth-place effort and Ryan Newman’s eighth-place work were good enough to propel the veterans into the crucial 15th and 16th positions in the playoff lineup. Third-year Cup driver Daniel Suarez finished 11th and missed the playoffs by a mere four points to Newman.

This is the first time since NASCAR introduced the playoff system in 2004 that Johnson failed to make the postseason.

Even in the frustration and disappointment, however, the seven-time Cup champion and 83-race winner offered a hefty dose of perspective.

“I’m not stoked by the situation at all, but I am impressed that we’ve been in 16 consecutive playoffs in a row and I’m not sure anyone else has done that. Our record doesn’t stink. I wish we could have kept it going, but life goes on.’’

Even in his disappointment, Johnson was able to look forward and upward.

“Well, first of all, I think it’s pretty impressive the run we’ve been on to be in the playoffs for this many consecutive years,’’ Johnson said. “I’m not sure who is close, but I don’t think they’re very close. So, we have that to be proud of.

“Sure, we wanted to continue on, but the goal is to win a race. This team is getting stronger each and every week and (crew chief) Cliff Daniels is doing an amazing job of leading this group and we’re ready to roll. We’ll dust ourselves off and go to Vegas and try to get a trophy.’’

“There’s still 10 races to go win and we can still climb higher in points,’’ Johnson added. “More importantly, this team has so much momentum and brotherhood right now and we need to cultivate that and get us set up for 2020.”

As Johnson was driving his badly damaged No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet off the track and into the garage, his crew chief Daniels — who is only four races into that position — reminded the team, “Our team is too strong,’’ Daniels reminded. “Keep your head up.’’

Johnson said he hadn’t had a chance to speak with Daniels yet, but was clearly upbeat about the team’s future. After speaking with reporters, he climbed onto a waiting golf cart and rode off to applause and cheers from fans who had gathered nearby.

As Johnson had assured reporters only moments earlier, “The fire’s there. This team inspires and motivates me. These guys really want to perform and it’s a great thing.”