Contenders want traffic to pull aside
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS » Daniel Suarez refused to get out of Martin Truex Jr.’s way and it ultimately ruined Truex’s race. Tyler Reddick did the same to William Byron, and Chase Briscoe held firm to his right to race hard when battling with Denny Hamlin.
A conversation on driver code and on-track etiquette is raging right now in NASCAR, and with it comes a heated debate on the expectations of non-playoff drivers. If a title contender is trying to gain track position, should another driver clear the lane for an easy pass?
It’s been a touchy topic since the playoff format was introduced in 2004. NASCAR permits everyone to race in the postseason. It puts slow cars and mediocre drivers on the same track as the superstars racing for the final trophy.
With two races remaining to lock in the championship field, conversation has turned to how non-playoff drivers should be expected to race Sunday at Kansas Speedway. It’s the middle race of the third round of the playoffs and only Kyle Larson has earned a slot in the Nov. 7 winner-take-all finale at Phoenix.
Seven others are vying for the remaining three berths — at minimum Truex and Joey Logano are in must-win situations — and there’s a high probability of desperate racing come Sunday.
“There’s cars racing for a championship,” Hamlin wrote to Briscoe on Instagram. “Perhaps when you learn give and take you will start to finish better.”
But Briscoe, a rookie driving for StewartHaas Racing, held his ground. “I get paid to race, just because you guys are racing in the playoffs doesn’t mean I’m just gonna wave you by,” Briscoe wrote back to Hamlin.
Gibbs win leaves Xfinity race open
KANSAS CITY, KAN. » Ty Gibbs upset the field again, racing to his fourth Xfinity Series victory of the season Saturday and stopping title contenders AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric from advancing to the championship round.
Gibbs passed reigning champion Cindric with 10 laps remaining at Kansas Speedway and the 19-year-old cruised to yet another victory in his part-time Joe Gibbs Racing ride. The grandson of the Hall of Fame team owner needed only to start the ARCA Series race later Saturday to clinch that championship.
He’ll be full-time in the Xfinity Series next season, but for now, he’s a roadblock for the championship contenders.
Cindric finished second and Allmendinger was third. A playoff driver has yet to win in this round of the playoffs, so all four spots in the championship finale are wide open.