Rowdy wins on wild day
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — There should be no confusion about the intensity of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after Sunday’s show at Martinsville Speedway, where Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski all had legitimate shots at a victory.
It was Kyle Busch, though, who secured his place among the four drivers who will race for the title in the season finale next month at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He won in overtime of a race that turned wild very, very quickly and ended with a multicar accident after Busch took the checkered flag.
Busch moved Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin out of his way to earn a spot in the final four for the third year in a row. Busch won the championship in 2015.
“We weren’t the best all day, but we put ourselves in the right spots there at the end,” said Busch,
sometimes known by the nickname Rowdy. “There was kind of chaos ensuing, and none of it was our fault — we just came out on the right end of the stick.”
Keselowski was in position to win when Joey Logano developed a tire problem with about 10 laps remaining in regulation. Had his fellow Team Penske driver pitted under green to fix the tire, Keselowski likely would have coasted to the win and earned the spot in the finale. Instead, Logano spun and brought out a caution.
Keselowski was moved out of the way by Elliott after a restart, and Hamlin then spun Elliott out of the lead with two laps remaining in regulation. Elliott wrecked, then chased Hamlin down on the cool-down lap to show his displeasure. They had a heated exchange after they climbed from their cars.
It was a disastrous result for Elliott — from potential race winner to 27th, the lowest finish of the eight remaining playoff drivers.
“My mom always said if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” Elliott said. “He’s not worth my time. I got punted from behind and wrecked in turn three leading the race. I don’t know what his problem was. It was unnecessary, and I hadn’t raced him dirty all day long. We had the best car I’ve ever had here at Martinsville and had an opportunity to go straight to Homestead, and because of him we don’t.”
Elliott could repeatedly be seen saying “You wrecked me” to Hamlin as the crowd roared its approval over the tension. Hamlin at first defended his actions because of the stakes, but he later apologized to Elliott on social media.
“I’ve raced nearly 10,000 races since I was 7. Today was the first time I ever spun out the leader,” Hamlin wrote on Twitter. “I regret the outcome because it was not intentional the way it turned out, but I am responsible for my own car and take blame. Nothing I say now can turn back the clock.”
Hamlin faded to seventh after Busch bumped him for the win.
“That was our chance to move to Homestead,” Busch said with a shrug.
Keselowski wound up fourth in a race his team believed he had to win. Instead, he was simply darting his way around a huge pileup on the final lap that ended an emotional opening race of the third round of the playoffs.
“Yeah, everybody is just desperate,” Keselowski said.
Martin Truex Jr. wound up second in a 1-2 sweep for Toyota, which has won six of the seven playoff races this year. Truex and Busch have won three playoff races each, while Keselowski won in the second round.
The favorite to win the championship, Truex said he is confident enough he will earn a shot at the title without having to bump Busch out of his way to win and grab an automatic berth.
“I don’t know that I would have done anything differently,” Truex said. “I think we can get to Homestead without making too many enemies. We’ll let everybody else fight, and we’ll try to do our own thing.”
Clint Bowyer, not eligible for the playoffs, finished third. Kevin Harvick was fifth, Ryan Blaney eighth and seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson 12th.
Hamilton F1 champ for the fourth time
MEXICO CITY — Lewis Hamilton clinched the fourth Formula One season championship of his career with a ninthplace finish at the Mexican Grand Prix in a race won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Hamilton had to overcome first-lap chaos when his Mercedes was bumped by title rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari. Hamilton got a tire puncture and Vettel had wing damage, with both stopping immediately for repairs.
That left them in a furious bid to catch up as Verstappen sped away to victory. Vettel finished fourth but had to win or finish second to push the title chase to the season’s final two races, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton’s championship makes him the most decorated British driver in series history, passing Sir Jackie Stewart. He is one of only five drivers in series history with at least four championships.