Round of 8 elimination line tightens up as playoff drivers falter at Kansas

Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano all sit below the elimination line with one race to go in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8.

Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway was another upheaval to the postseason, with multiple playoff drivers finding issues throughout the day, including Blaney, Truex, Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

What was looking like a top-10 day went sour for Blaney. Following a restart on Lap 224, Blaney was running the higher line in Turn 2 when Austin Dillon lost control of his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and slid into Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Blaney’s effort to save his machine resulted in him pounding the outside wall and heavy damage to his car. His crew were unable to make repairs and he was forced to retire from the race.

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“We got run into from two lanes below me,‘‘ Blaney told NBC Sports. “I have no idea (why). Obviously it hurts. Finishing 37th is not fun. We didn‘t have a great day but we did a good job of fighting back and getting back into the top 10 but then just got wiped out when we had plenty of room.

“It sucks. That was very unfortunate.‘‘

Going into Kansas, Blaney was second in the playoff standings and 17 points to the good, but a 37th-place result moved him back to fifth, just one point below the elimination line. One spot ahead of him is Kyle Busch, who sits one point to the good. But Kansas wasn’t good to him, either, as the 2019 champion earned a 28th-place finish following two brushes with the wall resulting in a pair of flat right-rear tires.