Dillon’s win narrows playoff path for rivals
Another Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff berth was locked up in unexpected fashion as Austin Dillon became the second driver to get his first career Cup victory in 2017.
Dillon secured one of 16 playoff spots after making a fuel gamble pay off in the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Richard Childress Racing driver skipped a green flag pit cycle with 30 laps left in NASCAR’s longest race and was able to hold off hardcharging Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., who had a dominant car, to put the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet, formerly driven by Dale Earnhardt Sr., back in victory lane.
Dillon’s playoff qualification is not incredibly surprising, given that he did so on points last season, but he was well outside the playoff boundary in points before the win.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s first career Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway on May 7 represented a leap in performance. And although Ryan Newman has made the playoffs on points before — finishing second although winless in 2014 — the veteran’s March 19 win at Phoenix Raceway on a tire gambit secured another automatic spot that some hopefuls might have considered in play.
Nine drivers have won races, although Joey Logano’s April 30 victory at Richmond International Raceway cannot be counted for playoff qualification because of a postrace penalty. Logano figures to nab another victory somewhere, given Team Penske’s consistency. With 13 races left in the regular season, there’s plenty of mystery and a likelihood of anxiety over the automatic berths.
Kevin Harvick (fourth in points) and Kyle Busch (fifth) are securely inside the playoff zone but are winless. If both collect wins their statistics suggest are coming, two more spots will be gone. Expect a first Cup win for Chase Elliott — that’s 12. Joe Gibbs Racing ’s Denny Hamlin (11th) and Matt Kenseth (15th) are also winless, but Hamlin has won in each off his 11 full-time seasons and Kenseth has won in five of his last six. That’s 14.
That leaves little margin for error for Jamie McMurray, who is sixth in points but winless since 2013; Clint Bowyer (ninth in points, last win 2012); promising Ryan Blaney (no Cup wins, 12th in points); and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his final Cup season and 23rd in points.
Three other things we learned at the Coca-Cola 600.
Sticky situation:
Cars able to burst out alone in undisturbed air controlled play in the 600, as usual. Generally, that car belonged to Truex, who led seven times for 233 of 400 laps but finished third. Truex said the VHT resin applied to attempt to open a top groove helped the situation at Charlotte.
That might have been more apparent to competitors than observers and paying customers, but Truex called it a good addition after a staid All- Star event at Charlotte.
“I think last weekend the middle groove, middle to high middle, was non-existent. It was the slickest part of the racetrack,” Truex said. “Tonight, for 375 laps of the 400, it was the main groove. Where typically there is the least grip on this racetrack, it was the most tonight. It definitely played a factor. It changed the race quite a bit.”
Ganassi motors on:
Kyle Larson had two encounters with the wall and lost the points lead with a season-low 33rd-place finish, but he had a fast car again. Chip Ganassi Racing teammate McMurray also had a fast car, using his to finish 12th. It was a rare weekend in that neither driver parlayed a consistently good car into results, though the trend line continues strong for the organization. JGR is getting closer: Joe Gibbs Racing is collectively winless but had arguably its best performance. Busch led 63 laps and finished second, Kenseth fourth, Hamlin fifth and rookie Daniel Suarez 11th. That’s not up to their combined pace of 2016 — when JGR drivers had seven wins by this point — but the team finally found some speed in its Toyotas.
“I still can’t run with the 78 (Truex) and the 18 (Busch) if they’re out in front of me; they’re still better than us,” Kenseth said. “We still have some work to do, but we do have more speed, and that’s encouraging.”