Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suárez appeared to get loose and spin during a restart just past the midway point of Saturday’s Bristol Night Race, an incident that sent his No. 99 Chevrolet down across the track and impacting multiple playoff drivers, including himself.
All told, 12 cars were involved at the close-quarters, high-banked half-mile that served as the host of the Round of 16 finale.
Suárez, who entered the race six points above the playoff elimination line, lost a lap after the spin. That was a better fate than Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, however.
Both the No. 3 and the No. 8 Chevrolets were behind Suárez and collected in the melee. Dillon’s team could not repair his car in the allotted 10-minute DVP window, leaving him out of the race and eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Reddick, who immediately lost laps while having his car repaired on pit road, was able to continue in the race but his 2022 championship hopes come to an end. The No. 8 team finished 25th, 31 laps down and was two points shy of advancing to the Round of 12.
The second round of the Cup Series Playoffs begins at Texas Motor Speedway on Sept. 25 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Kyle Busch’s engine failed at Lap 269 at Bristol Motor Speedway, sending the No. 18 Toyota behind the wall and ultimately ending his chances to advance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Busch lost his motor after scoring 14 stage points in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, providing a little extra cushion. The Las Vegas native, the series’ only active multi-time champion, has faced adversity in each race in the Round of 16. While leading under caution at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 4, the engine expired on his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing entry. Last week at Kansas, Busch spun at the exit of Turn 4 and finished 26th.
“Absolutely devastated,” Busch said. “Just unfortunate circumstances obviously. Another engine failure this week. Obviously we’re already in a hole, this just puts us in a deeper one. I can’t stress it enough just how much I feel for my guys, the ones that are out there pouring their souls into this effort and opportunity for us to go race for a championship. It’s not fair to them. I just hate it for those guys and Rowdy Nation and M&M’s and Interstate Batteries. I mean, we all want better and we all should have better. It’s just not coming to us right now.”
Since NASCAR introduced the elimination-style playoffs in 2014, Busch had never failed to advance out of the Round of 16, with a worst points finish of 10th in 2014. Busch finished Saturday night’s race two points below the elimination line and will not be eligible to win the 2022 Cup Series title.
Thursday, Sept. 22
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
10 p.m., Race for the Championship: Talladega Frights, USA Network
Friday, Sept. 23 1:01 a.m., Race for the Championship: Talladega Frights (re-air), USA Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Saturday, Sept. 24 9:30 a.m., Race for the Championship: Old School Versus New School (re-air), USA Network
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Auto Racing: Xfinity Series qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway, USA Network
Noon, Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane: Daddy Daycare (re-air), USA Network
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing: Cup Series qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway, USA Network
2:30 p.m.: Dale Jr. Download: Best of Dale Jr. Download, USA Network
3 p.m.: Countdown to Green: Texas, USA Network
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Auto Racing: Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, USA Network
6:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-race Show: Texas, USA Network
On PRN: 3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity race at Texas Motor Speedway
Sunday, Sept. 25 11 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Texas, FS1
12:30 p.m., Race for the Championship: Talladega Frights (re-air), USA Network
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing: Whelen Modified Tour (re-air), USA Network
2:30 p.m., Countdown to Green: Texas, USA Network
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Auto Racing: Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, USA Network
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show: Texas, USA Network
On PRN: 2:30, NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway
Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney suffered flat right-front tires early in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, causing serious concerns for their playoff hopes.
Ultimately, the duo advanced to the Round of 12, escaping the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. But their chances faced legitimate threats before the race had reached Lap 100 of 500.
Blaney suffered the heaviest damage after his tire went flat at Lap 92, sending the No. 12 Ford hard into the outside wall. The team attempted to fix the subsequent suspension damage — and lost a left-rear wheel following the crew’s first crack at fixing Blaney’s car — but their tries were to no avail. Blaney slowed to a relative crawl around the half-mile bullring and was forced to pit numerous times.
Blaney went behind the wall after meeting minimum speed and ended the night in 30th place, 162 laps down.
Just seven laps prior to Blaney’s issues, his rookie Team Penske teammate Cindric also suffered a flat right-front tire. The No. 2 Ford contacted the outside wall in Turn 2 but was able to continue after a green-flag pit stop. However, the Daytona 500 winner was left multiple laps down throughout the event.
As other drivers was ousted, Cindric clawed up the running order and eventually finished 20th, seven laps down. He claimed the final available spot in the Round of 12 by two points over both Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch.
Joey Logano took the green flag on his 500th career NASCAR Cup Series start Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Logano’s milestone became official once his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang rolled off from the 15th starting position for Saturday’s Bristol Night Race (coverage on USA Network, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at The Last Great Colosseum.
So many memories made along the way, and so many more to make.
Logano is making his ninth NASCAR Playoff appearance in the past 10 years, all of which have come with Penske. He’s earned 27 of his 29 Cup wins with the Ford-backed organization, winning the 2018 title following the only year during that stretch he missed the postseason.
The Connecticut native’s first start came at his fellow New England track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, when he piloted a No. 96 Toyota for owner Jeff Moorad to a 32nd-place finish. He also made his first start later that season for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 02 Toyota before hopping into the No. 20 Toyota full-time for the organization in 2009.
Logano earned his first win later that year at Loudon with crew chief Greg Zipadelli atop the pit box and raced for JGR until departing for Team Penske before the 2013 season.
In August 2022, Logano and Team Penske agreed on a long-term extension to remain in the No. 22 for the foreseeable future.
Here it is. The first elimination race of the 2022 season. Four drivers will see their title hopes come to an end at the “Last Great Colosseum,” one of the most iconic tracks in NASCAR’s history. Two champions of the sport, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, find themselves below the cutline alongside Austin Dillon and Chase Briscoe. And coincidentally, Busch and Harvick are two of the most dominant active drivers at the 0.533-mile high-banked oval. On a night where 500 laps may as well feel like an eternity, it will likely come down to the final laps to determine which drivers move on to the Round of 12. The key is being there at the end. Easier said than done as the door-to-door battles ramp up near the finish. Don’t be the first one out.
Who’s hot? Who’s not?
When Kevin Harvick won at Michigan International Speedway, the pressure was off the entire No. 4 team. Now, the pressure is back on. The two opening Round of 16 races were not kind to Harvick, leaving him sunken to the bottom of the playoff standings. But here’s the deal. This is Bristol — where Harvick has been red hot over the last six seasons. Harvick has nine top 10s, including two wins, in his last 12 races at the Colosseum. He has led a total of 782 laps in his last 16. Not many have been better than ‘the Closer’ when it’s closing time. He needs a win and he should be among the favorites to get it done on Saturday night.
With how much success Chase Elliott has had at almost every track, he has been pretty tame at Bristol by his standards. Elliott’s best career finish at the Tennessee track is third (2018), and while he has had five finishes of seventh or better in 11 starts here, he also has six finishes of 11th or worse. The 2022 Regular Season Champion came into the playoffs with extra points but sputtering momentum. Since Watkins Glen International, he has two finishes outside the top 28. Points may not be an issue moving through the Round of 16, but maybe Bristol can be a positive turning point in the No. 9 team’s quest for a second championship.
Driving under the radar
Brad Keselowski might not be the most popular pick to win on Saturday, but he is a good one. Keselowski has three wins at the track, albeit with Team Penske, and three top sixes in his last four races here. He simply knows how to navigate around the race track. All eyes will be on the playoff drivers as expected, but as the first two races have shown, non-playoff drivers have just as much motivation to reach Victory Lane. A win for Keselowski in his first season with RFK Racing would be a huge statement. He has the talent and ability to do it, strongly shown by his 10th-place effort in qualifying.
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Race-day staples ✅
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Bubble Watch, presented by Xfinity: Where drivers stand before Bristol | Latest driver standing
• Paint Scheme Preview: Colors for the Colosseum | Pick a favorite • Power Rankings: Alex Bowman, William Byron surging | Updated driver rankings • NASCAR betting: Odds for Saturday’s Bristol playoff race | Underdogs, value bets • Fantasy Fastlane: Kevin Harvick needs to win at Bristol | Top plays, sleepers • Backseat Drivers: Debating which driver will get eliminated on Saturday | Watch the segment
Catch the pack 💨
Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up to Saturday’s race.
• 2023 schedule: See the latest slate for all three national series | Read more
• Kyle Busch: Two-time champion leaving JGR to join RCR in ’23 |Read more
• Reactions: Toyota, JGR react to Busch’s announcement | Read more
• Contract: Kyle Larson signs with Hendrick Motorsports through 2026 | Read more
• Austin Dillon: Driver reveals contract extension for pit crew | Watch video
• Reddick chimes in: Not surprised Busch is getting 8 car | Read more
• Joey Logano: Reacts to Kyle Busch heading to RCR, tells similar story | Listen in
• Track history: NASCAR’s history of racing at unique tracks | Learn more
• Heading to Phoenix: Ty Majeski punches Championship 4 ticket with Thursday win | Race recap
Get in on the action 💰
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• BetMGM: Breaking down the Bristol driver matchups | Read more
• The Action Network: Should you pick Kyle Busch at Bristol? | Matchup insight • Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | New rules for playoffs
• Going all the way: 2022 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
Chaos at the Colosseum ⚔️
It gets wild at Bristol, especially after dark. Relive some of the most memorable moments in track history.
• Do you remember? Back to some memorable moments at Bristol | Relive them
• At-track photos: Scenes from Bristol Night Race weekend | See them here
• Last year: Kyle Larson fends off Kevin Harvick for the win | 2021 recap
• Race Rewind: Bristol win for Larson, hot heads on pit road | Watch highlights
Fast facts ⏩
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• There has never been a stretch of three straight playoff wins by non-playoff drivers (currently at two). • Christopher Bell is the only driver locked into the Round of 12 so far. • The last time Ford won a playoff race was 16 races ago at Kansas in 2020 (Joey Logano). • All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers won on a short track in the last nine races. • The driver leading the most laps won only one of the last nine races of 2022.
Say what? 🎙
Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Saturday’s race.
• “It absolutely feels good. Man, what a ride to rip around here in less than 15 seconds. It’s pretty crazy how fast these cars are at this race track, but I’m just proud of my team, proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. They brought me a really fast BlueOval City Ford Mustang. We were good in race trim and obviously had a lot of speed in qualifying trim, so now we’ve got to go do it for 500 laps.” — Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
• “We’re in a good spot and we definitely feel good about how we’ve started the playoffs from a speed standpoint. We still need to clean up a few things and execute better if we’re going to have a shot to continue advancing beyond this round, but I’m confident going to Bristol this weekend. It would be nice if we can qualify up front and stay there all night to give ourselves a chance to pick up some more playoff points.” — Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, who qualified fourth
• “The addition of Kyle Busch to the Richard Childress Racing lineup is significant, not only for our organization, but for the sport as a whole. Kyle is a proven contender at the highest levels of the sport, and I believe that his experience and dedication to motorsports will elevate our race program across the board. I’ve always admired Kyle’s driving style and his ability to win and race for championships ever since he entered the sport. Who wouldn’t want a proven NASCAR Cup Series champion driving their car?” — Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing
When it comes to Saturday’s NASCAR Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol (7:30 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM), there’s a lot to pay attention to.
First, this is a cutoff race for the playoffs as the field gets narrowed from 16 down to 12 drivers.
Next, this is the first time the Next Gen car gets a run at Bristol on concrete.
Finally, track position has been key with very minimal tire wear across all three series.
However, when all is said and done, we can cut through the noise and find some simplicity in just betting a head-to-head driver matchup.
That’s where I’m looking at with my best post-qualifying bet for tonight’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Best friends Chase Elliott (-125) and Ryan Blaney (-105) are pitted against each other at DraftKings Sportsbook.
To me, Blaney should be the clear favorite, yet Elliott is being priced as a slight favorite in this matchup.
Blaney and Elliott both practiced in the first group on Friday, and Blaney was clearly faster in every metric.
Bristol is also a very unique track where track history is quite predictive of future performance. For all the track-specific stats I reference, I’ll just refer to the years since Blaney joined Team Penske in 2018.
In the fastest lap department, Blaney trumps Elliott 6.8% to 5.9%. The same holds true for laps led, where Blaney holds a 17.2% to 12.2% edge. Clearly Blaney has been the better dominator.
In raw finishes as well, Blaney holds the advantage.
Blaney’s average finish is 7.6 compared to Elliott’s 12.2 in major incident-free races. If we just look at lead-lap finishes, Blaney leads 5.0 to 10.3.
Finally, Blaney holds a safer spot in the playoff standings. While the edge isn’t huge, if Blaney is able to lock himself into the next round after Stage 1 it’s possible he’s able to play the track position game to his advantage.
Elliott may have to points race in Stage 2. That means if a caution comes out with 20 or so laps to go before the end of Stage 2, Blaney may pit while Elliott stays out for points.
When the Stage 2 caution flies, Elliott would then come in to pit, while Blaney stays out and cycles to the front.
These little things are the edges we can look for when betting matchups.
Every indication shows that Blaney should be favored here.
My model also makes Blaney the favorite, so I like getting him at -105 and would bet this down to -115.
Speeds were lightning quick in practice and qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race, but nobody was faster than Aric Almirola. That’s a complete 180-degree turn from last week at Kansas Speedway, when the No. 10 car was the caboose, never making a qualifying run due to an engine issue. It’s the first pole for Ford at Bristol Motor Speedway since the spring of 2012 when Greg Biffle accomplished the feat.
Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup: Starter 1: Kevin Harvick
Starter 2: Christopher Bell
Starter 3: Kyle Larson
Starter 4: Ryan Blaney
Starter 5: Denny Hamlin
Garage pick: Kyle Busch
NEXT IN LINE: Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano.
RISING: The string of non-playoff drivers rising to the occasion during the 2022 postseason continued on Friday, with Almirola taking the pole. He’s not too shabby on concrete tracks, as he was strong last year at Nashville Superspeedway and multiple times at Dover Motor Speedway. He also has four top-10 finishes in 24 Bristol starts. On the long run, the No. 10 Ford also showed speed, ranking fifth on 10-lap averages.
Going into the weekend, I didn’t expect a whole lot out of Briscoe. The No. 14 team has had a mediocre opening two races of the playoffs but is within striking distance of the bubble. Briscoe silenced the critics on Friday, running the quickest lap in the opening round of qualifying and will take the green flag from second. It will be interesting to see if that converts to long-run speed, as he sat 18th in the 10-lap average category.
FALLING: Daniel Suárez’s struggles in the Next Gen car on short tracks continued Friday. The No. 99 Chevrolet has a best finish of 16th in three short-track races this year and will start the race from 29th. That’s precisely where he was on the 10-lap average and sat 32nd on one-lap speed. His six points on the cutline could evaporate rapidly on Saturday evening.
For the third straight week, Chase Elliott had a poor qualifying. At Darlington Raceway, that got him in trouble early and last week the No. 9 Chevrolet was a non-factor, hardly reaching the top 10 throughout the race. At Bristol, one of his better tracks in recent years despite not yet winning, he will start 23rd. Now three qualifying sessions into the postseason, he has an average starting position of 22.6.
FEATURED MATCHUPS:
Bubba Wallace vs. Christopher Bell
Both drivers are playing with house money at Bristol, being the only two drivers that are locked into the postseason – Bell in the driver standings, Wallace in the owner standings for the No. 45 Toyota. “Thunder Valley” is one of Bell’s favorite stops on the circuit, and he showed top-five speed throughout Friday. Don’t be surprised if he earns his second victory of 2022.
Kevin Harvick vs. Kyle Busch
Many times in the past when either Harvick or Busch’s backs have been against the wall, they’ve prevailed. Harvick is in a must-win situation on Saturday and looked solid on Friday, ranking seventh in qualifying, which is tied for his best effort of the season. On the other hand, Busch spun in practice and will start 21st. While I fully expect an eight-time Bristol winner to be a contender by the end of 500 laps, Harvick is my choice.
Chase Briscoe vs. Austin Dillon
Going into the weekend, Dillon was my clear choice here. However, Briscoe had strong practice and qualifying sessions while the No. 3 Chevrolet was comparatively slow and will start 28th (was just 33rd in practice). Briscoe seems to be the easy choice.
Ross Chastain vs. Tyler Reddick
Justin Marks, Trackhouse Racing co-owner, called qualifying a “stinger.” Chastain will take the green flag in 12th, ahead of Reddick’s 17th. But Chastain could have a few receipts coming his way from earlier season chaos — Bristol is a good track for drivers to give payback. Reddick is probably the smart choice.
