Yahoo Autos Wallace, Chastain at opposite ends of playoff momentum swings
Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain continue to trend in opposite directions on the NASCAR Cup Series playoff grid.
Wallace earned a fifth-place finish Sunday at Indianapolis to further cut into the bubble spot. With four races to go in the regular season, the 23XI Racing driver is seven points out of a spot in the postseason.
Unfortunately for Chastain, he’s the guy with the slim seven-point advantage. Chastain has fallen to the bubble spot due to four finishes of 15th or worse in the last six races. Before the slide began, Chastain was comfortably above the cut line, sitting 12th on the grid leaving Iowa Speedway with a 71-point advantage.
Here is how it’s all played out since:
• Joey Logano went from below the cutline by six points to above the cutline by 13 on Wallace after New Hampshire. Chastain, still 12th on the grid, increased his gap to the cutline from 71 to 93 points.
• Logano won a week later at Nashville Superspeedway, pushing below the cutline by 51 points to Alex Bowman. Chastain, meanwhile, fell to 14th on the grid with a 66-point advantage.
• Another shake-up came in Chicago where Bowman went from the cutline to locked in with a victory. Wallace, still below the cutline, knocked a few points off his deficit to be 45 points behind Chris Buescher. Chastain fell another spot to 15th on the grid with a 53-point advantage.
• Wallace took a big chunk out of the gap at Pocono Raceway thanks to a top-10 finish while Chastain crashed out. Chastain fell to the cutline with a 27-point gap on Wallace.
• Wallace finished fifth at Indianapolis while Chastain finished 15th. The gap narrows to seven points.
“We were fifth — what a day,” Wallace said. “I just did not do a good job on Friday and Saturday and set us behind for track position. I really didn’t know what our car had, but I knew the people we had on it and that is what matters the most. I appreciate Bootie (Barker, crew chief) and the gang for just giving me a car to work with. The No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry was really, really fast. It felt really good.
“After a few laps, I was like, ‘I don’t know what we have but it is good to be back on the oval.’ The finish is making my mood better, but it was really difficult to pass. All-in-all, a good day. A good points day.”
Here is the playoff grid heading to Richmond Raceway (Aug. 11):
1. Kyle Larson: 4 wins, 28 playoff points
2. Christopher Bell: 3 wins, 24 playoff points
3. Denny Hamlin: 3 wins, 21 playoff points
4. William Byron: 3 wins, 16 playoff points
5. Ryan Blaney: 2 wins, 12 playoff points
6. Tyler Reddick: 1 win, 8 playoff points
7. Austin Cindric: 1 win, 7 playoff points
8. Chase Elliott: 1 win, 6 playoff points
9. Joey Logano: 1 win, 6 playoff points
10. Brad Keselowski: 1 win, 5 playoff points
11. Alex Bowman: 1 win, 5 playoff points
12. Daniel Suarez: 1 win, 5 playoff points
13. Martin Truex Jr.: +108 to the cutline
14. Ty Gibbs: +42 to the cutline
15. Chris Buescher: +17 to the cutline
16. Ross Chastain: +7 to the cutline
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17. Bubba Wallace: -7
18. Chase Briscoe: -83
19. Kyle Busch: -112
20. Todd Gilliland: -118
Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and Darlington will complete the regular season.
