After none of the contenders won the first three races of the playoffs — a first in any round in this postseason format — the trend continued with the eliminated Reddick leading 53 of the final 54 laps on a long race day that went into the night.
Reddick finished 1.19 seconds ahead of
“I was extremely worried, I’m not going to lie,” Reddick said. “Unfortunately, just about every time we’ve had fast cars, we’ve had some tire problems. That last run, the right sides were vibrating really, really hard there. ... I was just trying to maximize and use the gap that I built over (Logano) just in case.”
Logano took over the points lead, by 12 over
Elliott, who entered the round of 12 as the points leader, had a fiery finish after contact with the outside wall in Turn 4 when leading just past the halfway mark of the race.
Flames were already visible from under the right side of the No. 9 Chevrolet when he got onto the frontstretch, then turned across and came to a stop in the middle of the infield, where Elliott climbed out uninjured as the car was being engulfed by flames. He finished 32nd.
“I’m not sure that
Non-playoff drivers
Bell, the
Contenders
Soon after the caution came out for Truex’s spinout from the lead on lap 268, Hamlin was sliding through the infield after Byron made contact with him from behind. When pressed after the race, Byron admitted that he intentionally did it, upset about being pushed up against the wall by Hamlin during green-flag laps just before that.
Hamlin stayed side-by-side and nose-to-tail with Byron during the caution period, livid because of the position he was losing on the track. Since he couldn’t keep pace after going into the grass, Hamlin had to restart 22nd instead of near the front.
“I guess we can just wreck each other under caution. I tried to wreck him back,” Hamlin said. "Yeah, I don’t think we touched. I got to look. I don’t think we touched. Obviously, he sent us into the infield under caution.”
The race was about to resume following the caution period for the end of the second stage when
Drivers got a chance to get out of the cars for a break on a day with record heat. The temperatures in the upper 90s made for the hottest Cup race ever at the track that opened in 1997.
ANOTHER EARLY BUSCH EXIT
Busch got loose when going higher up the track when getting close to teammate Hamlin.
“I went to the high groove where I was making time in the spray and the sticky stuff, but it is not so sticky apparently. I crashed,” Busch said. “I’m trying to go, trying to race. Banana peels out there for me.”
It came a week after the two-time champion was eliminated from title contention in his final season with
MULTIPLE IMPACTS
Cody Ware’s car went nearly nose-first into the safer barrier on the outside wall in Turn 4, and then shot down the track and onto pit road. There was then an even bigger hit when the car slammed hard just past a cutout in the pit wall.
Ware escaped serious injury, even though he was put on a stretcher and into an ambulance after first being tended to for several minutes after getting out of the car. He was taken to the infield care center, where he was treated and released.
His team said he had some discomfort in his ankle, but no broken bones.
UP NEXT
The middle race of the second round of the playoffs is Sunday at Talladega, where Chastain got his second win of the season in April. He hasn't won since, but has finished seventh or better in the last three playoff races.
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