Posted on by Staff Report

Add Aric Almirola to the list of drivers annoyed at Joey Logano.

The driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford had some choice words for Logano over his team scanner following a late restart, then re-emphasized them on pit road after the race.

RELATED: Race results

Almirola’s issue was how Logano raced him on a late restart, where tight driving quarters knocked Almirola out of the top five. Almirola finished eighth in Texas.

“We fought all day from the back and worked diligently all day, finally got ourselves in position and the 22 (of Logano) just went down in Turn 3 and put it right on my door and about wrecked us both,” Almirola told NBCSN reporters after the race. “I’m not sure, I’ll have to talk to him.

“He just continues to make things harder on himself. If that is the way he wants to race me when he is already locked into Homestead and we are out here fighting for our lives, that is fine. When Homestead comes around if I am not in, he will know it.”

When pressed on if he’d retaliate against Logano, Almirola replied: “I will just make it really difficult on him. He made it really difficult on me today which was really unnecessary. He could have run fourth, fifth, 11th, it doesn’t matter. He is still going to go to Homestead and race for a championship, It is just not smart.”

Logano irked Martin Truex Jr. last week by bumping the No. 78 Toyota out of the way on the final lap at Martinsville Speedway, winning his way to Homestead.

DEBATE: The Martinsville move

That led to Truex Jr. declaring that Logano wouldn’t win “the damn war” that is the 2018 series championship.

The No. 22 team declined comment to NBCSN regarding Almirola’s interview.

Posted on by Staff Report

Following the eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race, here’s a brief look at the playoffs picture. The 10-race postseason is two races into the Round of 8. There is just one more race before the field is whittled to four, with four drivers eliminated from the postseason following Phoenix (Nov. 11).

Winner

Kevin Harvick earned his fourth career trip to the Championship 4 with a clean sweep at Texas Motor Speedway. The Stewart-Haas Racing veteran had the move of the race, too. On the final restart of a NASCAR Overtime finish, Harvick elected to start on the outside, hit the restart perfectly and powered clear of Ryan Blaney for his eighth win of the season.

MORE: Full race results | Updated standings

Who’s hot

Joey Logano. Forget whatever happened to Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford as the temperatures got cooler. That he finished third one week after winning at Martinsville, on a day where several playoff contenders struggled, shows that this group is a serious threat to win the title. Logano isn’t making many friends by remaining as aggressive as ever on the track, but it’s helping his team round into championship form.

Kurt Busch. In a race in which it seemed nearly every playoff driver had issues, Kurt Busch enjoyed quite a smooth run. His seventh-place finish Sunday at Texas gives him a jolt heading into Phoenix. The only way his day could have been better is if Martin Truex Jr. had stayed a lap down after his pit-road penalty, because it would have significantly cut into the gap on the cutline. As it stands, though, Kurt looks like a threat to win at Phoenix.

Who’s not

Clint Bowyer. Bowyer’s in the “not” column for the second consecutive week, putting him in a must-win situation at Phoenix. Contact on Lap 1 with Denny Hamlin damaged Bowyer’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and put him two laps back. While the team confirmed the right rear damage wasn’t fatal to the car, the driver lost an extra lap and couldn’t recover — especially after an over-the-wall penalty with four laps remaining in the second stage.

Kyle Busch. Busch appeared to holler out “oh boy” on the scanner in the middle of Stage 2. In fact, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver felt he had a loose wheel. The vibration got so bad he pitted out of cycle to get new tires as a precautionary measure, but it cost him two laps and any shot at the win, plus the ability to pad his lead entering the Round of 8 finale. Busch’s 17th-place finish is his worst of the year on a 1.5-mile track.

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank Driver Points to cutoff
1. Kevin Harvick WINNER (Texas)
2. Joey Logano WINNER (Martinsville)
3. Kyle Busch +28
4. Martin Truex Jr. +25
————— CUT-OFF LINE —————
5. Kurt Busch -25
6. Chase Elliott -39
7. Aric Almirola -57
8. Clint Bowyer -73

Next race

The Monster Energy Series travels to ISM Raceway at Phoenix for a Sunday race on Nov. 11 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It is the final race in the Round of 8.

Who it favors

Chase Elliott. Elliott likely needs to win at Phoenix to make the Championship 4, and he appears equipped to do so. His past two trips to the 1-mile track resulted in finishes of second and third; the runner-up showing came last year in the playoffs, and Elliott has shown a knack this year for closing those races out with a win.

Who it hurts

Clint Bowyer. Bowyer’s average finish of 20.7 over the past 10 races at ISM Raceway ranks last among playoff drivers. We understand those results are a little skewed since Bowyer was in the No. 14 Ford for only three of those races, but Bowyer’s career average finish of 18.4 at Phoenix is worse than all but two other tracks in the circuit. His lone top-10 finish during this stretch was earlier this season in the spring, the only bright spot in Bowyer’s recent track history.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Texas — This time, there was no late-race glitch to interrupt Kevin Harvick’s domination of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

Streaking away from pole winner Ryan Blaney during an overtime restart on Lap 336, Harvick won Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with the utmost of authority, sweeping the stages and leading a race-high 177 laps on the way to his series-best eighth victory of the season and a guaranteed spot in the Nov. 18 Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

MORE: Full race results | Playoff standings
SHOP: Harvick gear

The victory was Harvick’s first since Michigan in August, and it broke a streak of bad luck during which the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led laps but failed to find Victory Lane, thanks to mechanical issues or pit road mistakes.

“We’ve been working day after day to make speed,” said Harvick, who won for the second time at Texas and the 45th time in his career, 17th most all-time. “This place has been really good to me. We finally knocked that barrier down (with a win in last year’s playoff race at TMS).

“The expectations are to win. Like I told you guys before the race, we don’t race for points. We race for wins. We don’t count our fingers and our toes trying to figure out how to make it in (to the Championship 4 race). Today we earned our way in, and we’re going to race again next week (at Phoenix) and try to win another race and then see what we can do at Homestead.”

Harvick joins Joey Logano, last Sunday’s Martinsville winner, in the title race. Logano ran third at Texas after leading 54 laps, second only to Harvick. To celebrate the victory, Harvick pulled a young fan out of the stands and took a selfie with him on the frontstretch in front of the crowd. It was the perfect capper for a dominant day for the No. 4.

RELATED: Find out about the fan in the selfie

The only stress for Harvick was lane choice for the overtime. On the previous restart on Lap 311 of a scheduled 334, following a caution for Matt DiBenedetto’s hard crash into the inside wall on the backstretch, Harvick picked the inside lane, and Blaney cleared him off Turn 2.

It took Harvick seven laps of chasing to regain the lead, but in the two-lap overtime, he didn’t have the luxury of time to mount a pursuit. So Harvick picked the top lane for the first time and roared around Blaney in Turn 1.

Then Harvick was off into the Texas sunset.

“That last restart I knew I needed to pick the top,” Harvick said. “I wanted to be on the bottom to be safe, because the top got such a good side-draft getting into Turn 1 and the outside groove got rubbered up. I thought if I could keep him from finishing the corner, I could drive back by him. It all worked out.”

Blaney got a shove from fifth-place finisher Kyle Larson on the final restart, but it wasn’t enough.

“The 42 (Larson) gave me a heck of a push, but I didn’t quite get far enough ahead of the 4 into (Turn) 1,” Blaney said. “We went in side‑by‑side. If I sailed off in there as fast as he did, I would have got loose, wrecked us both.

“You kind of knew you were beat getting into 1 when you’re there, because you know the guy on the outside is going to pin you. I figured when he took the top, it was going to take a really good push and position into 1 to have a prayer at it. Just didn’t happen.”

Harvick was the only one of so-called ‘Big 3’ to avoid trouble on Sunday.

Kyle Busch drew an early speeding penalty entering pit road and later had to make an unscheduled pit stop because of a loose wheel. He finished 17th, the last driver on the lead lap.

Martin Truex Jr. came to pit road early on Lap 247 to correct a loose left front wheel and in the process drove through too many pit boxes entering his stall. Two laps down after a pass-through penalty, Truex rallied to finish ninth.

Nevertheless, with the Round of 8 elimination race at Phoenix looming, Busch holds a 28-point edge over his brother Kurt Busch, who is fifth in the Playoff standings after running seventh on Sunday. Truex is 25 points ahead of Kurt Busch, who likely will need a victory at Phoenix to advance to the Championship 4.

The same is true for sixth-place Texas finisher Chase Elliott (39 points below the cut line). Aric Almirola (eighth Sunday) and Clint Bowyer (26th, after contact with Denny Hamlin’s Toyota on Lap 1) are both in must-win situations.

Erik Jones ran fourth for the third time in the last five races.

Posted on by Staff Report

What channels are NASCAR races on this week? We answer that and give you the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET. 

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

Monday, November 5
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN
Noon: Motorsports Monday (with hosts Woody Cain and Joey Meier)

Tuesday, November 6
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN
7 p.m.: NASCAR Live (with host Mike Bagley)

Wednesday, November 7
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Wednesdays with Dale Jr., NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN
Noon: Crew Call (with hosts Sammi Jo Francis and Rocko Williams)
1 p.m.: NASCAR Coast to Coast (with hosts Kyle Rickey and Hannah Newhouse)

Thursday, November 8
2 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1 (re-air)
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN
1 p.m.: Throwback Thursday: 1990 Checker 500

Friday, November 9
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1 (re-air)
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FS2
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 1988 Daytona 500, FS2
Noon: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS2
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FS1
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
8 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, FS1
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150, FS1
11:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (re-air)

Saturday, November 10
4 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150, FS1 (re-air)
11:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
1:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Countdown to Green, NBC/NBC Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Whelen Trusted to Perform 200, NBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN 1, 4)

Sunday, November 11
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBC/NBC Sports App
2:20 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500, NBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN 3)
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Posted on by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series will be in action at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. All three series enter their final elimination races that will set up the Championship 4. Check out the full schedule below, which is subject to change.

Note: All times are ET

MORE: How to find NBCSN

SUNDAY, November 11
RACE-DAY SCHEDULE
12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
1:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver Introductions
2:20:30 p.m.: Intro Presentation of Colors by: Luke Air Force Base
2:20:50 p.m.: Invocation by: Dean of Students & Campus Pastor at Grand Canyon University, Chaplain Tim Griffin
2:21:35 p.m.: National Anthem by: U.S. Navy Retired Petty Officer First Class, Steven Powell
2:23:15 p.m.: Fly-By: (2) F-16s Luke Air Force Base & (2) A-10s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (Turn 1 & 2 to Turn 3 & 4)
2:28:15 p.m.: “Driver’s, Start Your Engines” by: Skeet Ulrich, Star of CW’s Riverdale
2:35:45 p.m.: Green Flag – Can-Am 500 (312 laps, 312 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN 3) (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
5:30 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

Friday, November 9
10:30-11:20 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice, FS2 (Results)
12:05-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS2 (Results)
1:35-2:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
2:35-3:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
4:35-5:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
5:35 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FS1 (Results)
7 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 (150 laps, 150 miles), FS1 (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
12:15 p.m.: Chip Ganassi Racing
12:45 p.m.: Kurt Busch
1 p.m.: Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell and Matt Tifft
3 p.m.: Chase Elliott
3:15 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
3:30 p.m.: Kyle Busch
4 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson and Fernando Alonso (via Skype)
4:30 p.m.: USAA Hats Off to Heroes Program
7:45 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
10:15 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

SATURDAY, November 10
11:30-12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series second practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
12:35 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
2-2:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App) (Results)
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN 1, 4) (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
5:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick swept the opening two stages on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in another dominant performance for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Harvick grabbed the lead in Stage 2 on Lap 160 after a cycle of green-flag pit stops and closed out for his series-leading 18th stage victory of the season.

Pole-sitter and non-playoff driver Ryan Blaney followed Harvick to the green-white-checkered flag to finish second. Martin Truex Jr., who started at the rear of the field because of an engine change, was third. Brad Keselowski, who had to overcome a speeding penalty on pit road, was fourth, and Martinsville winner Joey Logano was fifth.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Logano and Kurt Busch were among the cars that stayed out the longest hoping for a caution, but it never came. Busch managed to finish eighth in the stage.

The stage featured a caution on Lap 96 when Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and William Byron got into each other in Turn 3 with the No. 24 hitting the No. 48 from behind. Both cars were able to continue.

Driver Team Points
Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 10
Ryan Blaney Team Penske 9
Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing 8
Brad Keselowski Team Penske 7
Joey Logano Team Penske 6
Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 5
Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 4
Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing 3
Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing 2
Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 1

Stage 1 recap

Harvick used pit-stop strategy to grab the lead early and went on to win Stage 1. During the competition caution on Lap 30, Harvick took just two tires to gain track position oveer Blaney, who took four tires.

As a result, Harvick jumped to a lead that he would not relinquish as he dominated the early going by being in front for 53 of the opening 85 laps. Blaney recovered to finish fourth in the stage. Kurt Busch, in second; Erik Jones, in third; and fifth-place Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Playoff driver Kyle Busch was hit with a speeding penalty on pit road during the competition caution and had to start from the tail of the field on the ensuing restart. However, he came on strong at the end of the stage to finish seventh.

Another playoff driver, Clint Bowyer, made contact with non-playoff driver Denny Hamlin on Lap 1, leading to an early pit stop for the No. 14. As a result, Bowyer fell two laps off the pace and was in 30th place at the stage’s conclusion.

Driver Team Points
Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 10
Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing 9
Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 8
Ryan Blaney Team Penske 7
Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing 6
Joey Logano Team Penske 5
Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 4
Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 3
Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 2
Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 1
Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR announced before the season that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.

Official team rosters for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have been released. Click the print icon above, or the link below.

ROSTERS: Texas fall race

RELATED: Overview of 2018 rules updates

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Texas – After Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. felt as though he had just been through a trial by fire.

“I’m telling you, God is testing us,” said Truex, who had to start from the rear of the field after an engine change in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota and later suffered both a loose wheel and a pit road penalty for driving through too many boxes.

“Had to start at the back, got to the front, hung around there for a while and then had a loose wheel there again,” Truex said. “Just a tough day. Overall, a good day. Luckily, we were able to get up front and get some stage points in the first two stages and then we had trouble, but we had it at least in time to recover.”

RELATED: Full results | Playoff standings

Two laps down at one point, Truex recovered to finish ninth and takes a 25-point edge over fifth place Kurt Busch into next Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 elimination race at Phoenix, where the field will be cut to four.

Another saving grace for Truex was that Kevin Harvick won at Texas.

“Harvick or Kyle (Busch) winning is a perfect scenario — the guys that are ahead of you in points,” Truex said. “That was good. I feel OK about where we are. I think we need a little more speed to run with the Fords – they’re clearly really, really fast right now.

“If this was last year, they would all be complaining that we’re too fast, so I don’t know if I should do a (Brad) Keselowski and start whining about it or not. They’re really fast, and if we’re off just a little bit we can’t run with them.

“We were off a little bit today. On the short run, they were really fast, but on the long run I thought we were as good as anybody, but just never got to show it. Track position was so, so hard to get.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Ever wonder what goes on in a driver meeting? We’re here to help.

This year, we’ll publish the actual rules video your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will watch before climbing into their stock cars. Above is the video for the AAA Texas 500 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Texas Motor Speedway.

Posted on by @KESELOWSKI

FORT WORTH, Texas – A frustrated Daniel Hemric marched over to his RCR teammate Matt Tifft’s car parked on pit road following Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The trio of RCR teammates – Hemric, Tifft and Shane Lee — tangled late in the 300-mile event, affecting Hemric’s position in the playoff standings. Hemric finished 10th and now sits fourth, just above the cutline with one race remaining until the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tifft is 14 points below the cutline, ranking sixth of eight drivers.

RELATED: Custer makes Championship 4 | Full race results

Tifft attempted to approach Hemric again minutes later, but the No. 21 driver wasn’t ready to chat.

“Tifft wanted to talk then, I wasn’t having it,” Hemric said. “We’ll talk eventually, we’ll work it out. But everybody’s racing for everything, right? You’re not supposed to give anybody anything. And I understand that. But that’s one thing, to drive in the back of somebody is something else.”

“… Just wrong place, wrong time all day it seemed like … The SouthPoint Hotel Casino Chevrolet is fast, just like we’ve been for the last two or three months. So, just really pissed off at the finish we had because my teammate drove in the back of me off (Turn) 2, turned me sideways and left the other teammate to get underneath me and he just busted his ass underneath me.

“Damn, it’s frustrating,” he added. “I don’t know what we’ve got to do to win one of these damn things. It’s getting frustrating. Our race car’s too good not to win races.”

The drama unfolded with five laps remaining when Hemric said Tifft’s No. 2 Chevrolet “ran into the back” of his No. 21 Chevrolet, causing the No. 3 of Shane Lee to get underneath him and make contact.

“There’s no way around it,” Hemric said. “It wasn’t something the 3 could do – he’s doing a heck of a job in only his third or fourth start in these cars. But the 2’s the one who put him in that situation.

“We work really good together, it’s just a frustrating day,” added Hemric. “You’re bound to have days where you run into each other. Just never happy about it when it happens.”

Tifft said he didn’t think he made contact with Hemric’s No. 21, saying that “the the air just got him free and I had momentum behind.” His No. 2 Chevrolet crossed the start-finish line seventh, but Tifft thought they had a better car than where they finished.

“The good thing is we ran together the whole race and both of our cars had speed,” Tifft said on the snafu. “I think we’re both frustrated at the end because we felt like it played out to where we both got back in the pack and were both trying to make our way back up … Once he got sideways, I just tried to duck out to make sure he didn’t get turned and that I had a clear path, too.

“He was frustrated (about) the fact that he got put in that situation. But he understood that I had to go and if I would have gave, somebody would have done the same to me and put me in the same spot. … We’ll be fine, we’ll talk it out.”

Tifft and Hemric weren’t the only Xfinity Series Playoffs drivers to experience frustrating ends to their days in the Lone Star State; six-time 2018 winner Christopher Bell exited the race early at Lap 133 after his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was caught up in its second wreck of the day.

This marks the second straight week Bell’s race has ended on a wrecker, as he also exited Kansas early for a wreck on Oct. 20.

WATCH: Bell on outlook for next couple weeks

“This format, it’s very tough and it creates a lot of drama,” Bell said. “I’ve always been proud of myself for winning races and I’ve won six races this year and I’ve got a chance to win two more. I’m going to go out there and try to win races. I’ve never been a points racer and my results show for that. I’m either up front or crashing. I’m going to go out and try to win two more races.”

The incident put him 34 points below the cutline – and in a must-win situation heading into ISM Raceway next week.

“It doesn’t matter that my back is up against the wall, we’re going to go out there and try to win two races and that’s the only thing we can do,” he said. “At least we know what we have to do.

“Today, I came in here with a different mentality to just survive and I didn’t survive, so screw that, I’m going to try to win.”