Former Cup Champs Racing On The Edge Early In Playoffs

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

MADISON, Ill. — Ryan Blaney wanted to hear Kyle Larson’s explanation soon after their race Sunday. He wanted to know why he was spun out by a fellow former Cup champion.

Just a mistake, he was told. It didn’t change the fact that Blaney had to rally over the second half of the race for a decent finish, but it still didn’t totally heal the sting Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway).

“I just wanted to get an explanation if he did do it on purpose or not,” Blaney said. “He said he didn’t, and I mostly believe that he didn’t mean to do it, but at the end of the day, I still got spun around.

“He’s got 50 feet underneath him on the racetrack. I’m as high as I can go.”

The opening two races of the NASCAR Cup playoffs have presented their challenges to the four former Cup champions in the 16-driver field. In addition to Blaney spinning thanks to Larson and having to rally for a fourth-place finish, Chase Elliott (third) and Joey Logano (fifth) had to rebound from poor opening-race results at Darlington that put them on the brink of elimination.

All four of the drivers appear that they should get through to the next round, as the four winless drivers who are the four worst in points after next Saturday’s race at Bristol will be eliminated.

Larson sits third in the standings and is 60 points above the cutoff, while Blaney is fifth at 42 points ahead, Elliott is ninth at 28 points ahead and Logano is 10th with a 21-point cushion.

Larson (three wins) and Blaney (two wins) have had better seasons than Logano and Elliott, who have had one win a piece and haven’t consistently run toward the front. Elliott was just nine points above the cutline entering Gateway.

“It was awesome to just be up there in the mix,” Elliott said. “It’s been a minute since I feel like we’ve been on that type of offense on restarts.

“We just had the pace and the balance and the car doing what I needed it to do, and I felt like I was doing a better job just extracting the pace in the right way…. It’s a great time to have a good run. “Hopefully, we keep it going.”

The frustration of these champions has been a little bit evident. Logano, the defending Cup champion who has three career Cup titles, entered the race three points below the cutline.

“When we walked in today, I said, ‘Man, we’ve got to leave here plus-20 to feel OK,'” Logano said. “We did a good job executing. Wish it was a win. but overall, another top-five here in St Louis is good, and we’ll take that and move on.”

Both Larson and Blaney were wishing they could have earned the win. Their race nearly turned into disaster for Larson and Blaney when about midway through, Larson nearly ended Blaney’s day.

Blaney thought he could be on the way to challenging for the win when Larson washed up into him when trying to make a pass underneath him.

“I misjudged it,” Larson said. “The lap before, I was able to get to his door and get him tight. And then the next time I was trying to do the same thing, and wasn’t going to get there, so I tried to tuck back in line and just clipped him.

“He should be upset. … Obviously, I’m not trying to ever wreck anybody on purpose, especially at the midway point of the race.”

Blaney indicated Larson should expect tougher battles in the future.

“Even though it wasn’t done, I don’t think, in like a malicious intent at all, I’ll still remember it,” Blaney said. “I still got the s— end of it, got turned around and had to come from the back and stuff like that.

“You remember it. … It’s just those racing situations that you kind of think about next time you run with that person, you probably run them a little bit tighter and don’t give enough space. There’s no war or anything. It’s just race people the way I get raced.”

For Blaney, it was the second consecutive race where he got spun.

“It was as good as it can be,” Blaney said. “I’ve gotten spun twice in two races in the playoffs. So sick of getting turned around.”

And now these drivers head to Bristol, a track where many a driver has been turned around. It has the potential to be an unpredictable race as the teams have a new tire and a temperature-sensitive surface for a night race where there could be a wide range in temperatures.

“Hopefully we can bring a car that’s fast there, and we can compete,” Logano said. “There’s a lot of what-ifs and unknowns going into Bristol, more than normal, with the new tire, the temperature and if it’s going to fall off or not. … The track has so many different swings and the race itself can go in so many different ways.

“All we can focus on is just try to bring the best car we can and qualify well and score stage points. That’s the only way you can feel decent about it.”

Logano said that even though he has three championships, he still experiences the highs and lows during the week of dealing with being on the bubble.

“I’m an anxious person in general,” Logano said about the elimination-style, 10-race playoff system. “I’m just always thinking about stuff. I’m fine with it. I’ve learned to love that. I feel like it makes me better as a driver having that pressure on me. So I’m OK with that.

“But to say it’s comfortable, that would be a lie. I don’t think anyone in playoffs would say it’s comfortable. I remember Jimmie Johnson said it’s 10 weeks of hell. He’s about right, but he was pretty good at handling it as well.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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