Breaking news
NASCAR Cup
Bowyer, Busch and Jones face NASCAR playoff elimination
One race into the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and some drivers have already found themselves in danger of elimination.
Jim Utter
Edited: Sep 17, 2019, 2:22 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Two races remain – at Richmond, Va., this week and the following week on the Charlotte Roval – but three drivers who had high hopes for the playoffs already find themselves in a hole.
While Clint Bowyer hasn’t won this season and had to claw his way into the 16-driver playoff field, he was sitting pretty coming into the Las Vegas opener, winning the pole and leading his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates to a sweep of the first two rows in qualifying.
Read Also:
While his teammates showed plenty of speed for the most part in the race, Bowyer struggled with handling issues. He ended up 25th.
“We just weren’t very good tonight. We were just off. Off in all areas,” Bowyer said after the race. He now sits 21 points below the cutoff line.
After the Roval, the four drivers lowest in points without a win will be eliminated from further title contention.
Erik Jones, who had performed well and picked up his first win of the season just before the playoffs, ran into a major issue when his No. 20 Toyota got stuck in second gear on a restart. He was forced to the garage for extensive repairs.
Jones now sits at the bottom of the playoff standings, with a 26-point gap to have to make up over the next two weeks.
“We were dealing with a stuck throttle there the run before. I thought I was going to be OK and I could manage, but when I went to shift to third on that restart, the throttle got hung and it jammed the rails on the transmission,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate. I definitely think we could have run top-five. I don’t know. We didn’t race a whole lot of the race past that. It’s unfortunate that we’ve got a hole to dig out of 26 points (back) is not where we want to be after the first race.
“I think we could have been in a pretty good spot had we had an average night.”
Kurt Busch had also shown to have a fast car early in Sunday’s race but developed a tire rub after racing with Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. on a restart. Before he could pit, the tire let go, which sent Busch into the wall and ended his night early.
He ended up 39th and 14th in the series standings, 14 points below the cutoff line.
“We were trying to go for the same spot, in the middle,” Busch said of the restart. “We ended up four-wide, got a fender rub and the day is done. It just happens that fast.”
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Kevin Harvick: "We gave ourselves an opportunity" for a win
Next article Truex's Las Vegas win a reminder "this is what we can do"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jim Utter
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
Latest news
William Byron and Rudy Fugle really needed this one
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
1 h
William Byron and Rudy Fugle really needed this one
It's all over but the dog and pony show as Kyle Larson nears third Cup
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
2 h
It's all over but the dog and pony show as Kyle Larson nears third Cup
Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points
Alpine drivers penalised post-race, Ryo Hirakawa scores on F1 debut at Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Alpine drivers penalised post-race, Ryo Hirakawa scores on F1 debut at Mexico GP
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe