The Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte Roval was a quiet affair for the first two stages. The situation drastically changed with a caution for a piece of debris on Lap 104, which created utter chaos.
The belief after green flag pit stops was that Chase Elliott would win his eighth road course race. He had a nearly four-second lead over AJ Allmendinger, but a loose piece of signage on the track forced a restart. This bunched the field up once again and completely changed the complexion of the race.
CHAOS.
No other word for it. Cannot even begin to describe the carnage.
@chaseelliott spins from 2nd, @KevinHarvick takes the lead.
BUT, the biggest storyline… @CBellRacing is in 2nd on FRESH TIRES!
There was no word for the restart other than chaos. Allmendinger and Elliott bumped and battled their way through Turn 1 while aggressive driving from such drivers as Austin Cindric led to Noah Gragson, Michael McDowell, and others getting spun.
The incidents continued as Kevin Harvick elbowed his way past Allmendinger while Tyler Reddick sent Elliott spinning through the grass. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell simply moved his way into second place on fresh tires while sitting in a must-win situation.
Bell Delivered a Walk-Off Amid Considerable Pressure
GettyChristopher Bell delivered a stunning win at the Charlotte Roval.
The driver of the No. 20 gambled with a late pit stop when the caution flew for the piece of signage. It paid off as he was able to avoid chaos and move his way into the second position. This set him up for an overtime restart after a piece of curbing brought out another caution.
Bell and Harvick led the field to green in overtime as they pursued two separate goals. Harvick wanted another trophy while Bell needed a win to reach the Round of Eight. He could not secure his spot based on points after a disastrous start to the Round of 12 that included 34th and 17th-place finishes at Texas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, respectively.
Kyle Larson is ELIMINATED from the #NASCARPlayoffs.
Chase Briscoe made some moves on the final restart to advance.
Bell’s gamble paid off. He used his fresher tires to jump ahead of Harvick and avoid the chaos that took place behind him. He built up a lead of more than one second and crossed the finish line first to punch his ticket to the Round of Eight. He also marked the first time in his career that he won multiple Cup Series races.
“Whenever I came off pit road and I was the first car with tires, I was just trying to wait and see where I stacked up,” Bell told NBC after his win. “I saw there were 11 cars that stayed out on old tires, I was the first one on new tires. I said, ‘I guess we’re going to roll the dice here and see what happens.’
“When I got into turn one, my spotter did an amazing job. They all started wrecking. He told me to stay tight to the middle, and that kept me out of all the junk in turn one. Really proud of everyone on this DeWalt team. They deserve it, man. We’ve been trying so hard to get DeWalt in Victory Lane. We finally got this Camry here.”
Chase Briscoe Did Just Enough
GettyChase Briscoe did just enough to move on in the playoffs.
The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang entered the cutoff race in need of some big moves. He was 12 points below the cutline and in a tie with Austin Cindric. He had to either stack enough points to move ahead of Daniel Suarez or deliver a win.
Briscoe did just enough on his side, and he received some help. He scored points in Stages 1 and 2 before putting himself ahead of Cindric during the final stage. Meanwhile, Daniel Suarez lost power steering and fell several laps down while Kyle Larson hit the wall, broke a toe link, and went to the garage for repairs.
Briscoe was just above the cutline on the final run to the checkered flag, but the situation changed after the caution. He got sent after contact from both Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, which dropped him to nine points below the cutline.
SHOCKER!
Defending champion Kyle Larson is eliminated, as are Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman. #NASCARPlayoffs
Once the second caution flew, Briscoe gambled and headed down pit road for fresh tires. He then went out on the track and put it all on the line. He made aggressive moves trying to battle Dillon and Erik Jones for the one or two spots in the field that would move him back above the cutline.
The biggest move for Briscoe occurred on the final lap. He sent the No. 14 into the rear chicane and dove past Dillon while using teammate Cole Custer as an obstacle for other drivers. Briscoe was able to make up two spots and move past Larson for the final transfer spot.
“It took every bit of it there at the end,” Briscoe told NBC. “To be easily in, then that debris caution comes out. Still, I thought we had a really good shot of making it in. Get wrecked on the backstretch. Crazy at the end of these races, especially the road course race, how much can change so quickly.
“I had no idea we were even going to have a shot. Truthfully, I knew we were probably out. I saw the [Cindric] wreck, I thought maybe there’s still a chance. We had so much fresher tires than anybody. Johnny [Klausmeier] pumped them way up to qualifying pressures, let me go attack, have the ball in my hands.”
Briscoe was able to survive the carnage while four other drivers fell below the cutline. Reigning champion Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Alex Bowman all failed to move on to the Round of Eight.
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Wayward Sign Kickstarts NASCAR Playoff Chaos