Happy Labor Day to all! And Happy NASCAR Playoffs to all who celebrate, too. 

Sure, everyone was busy watching Catholics vs. Convicts Sunday night to remember there was an automobile race over at Darlington, but whatever. You know what they say? Smart sports save their playoffs for the least-watched time of year! And if I know NASCAR, they are full of smart people!

Anyway, thanks to YouTube TV’s multiview, I watched both. Race in the top right corner, Miami-Notre Dame in the bottom left. Bonus? I got to listen to Sean McDonough the whole time instead of Leigh Diffey! 

I got two emails before I went to bed last night complaining about Leigh. Two! 

What else? I’ve got Kyle Busch being just miserable but also being #ForThe People! Chase Elliott might be in big trouble, thanks to Carson Hocevar (and his terrible crew chief). A driver nobody had ever heard of went up in flames and was nearly sautéed in the tri-oval.  

Oh yeah! Sam Busch might check in, too, in a pair of shiny cowboys boots that should have the fellas FIRED UP on this Labor Day Monday. Whatever that means. 

Four tires, enough fuel to get us from Darlington to Gateway, which is inexplicably a playoff race this year, and maybe more Sean McDonough calling NASCAR races? Monday Morning Pit-Stop – the ‘It Took Nearly 300 Words For Us To Finally Mention Chase Briscoe’s Name’ edition – is LIVE!

Dominant effort from one Chase, bad one from another

There. Happy! I talked about the winner. Showed him, too. What else do you want from me?!

Look, I’ve got no problem with Chase Briscoe winning. He dominated. He absolutely should have won. He led over 300 laps, and held off Tiny Ty at the end to punch his Round of 12 ticket. 

It was a Martin Truex Jr. performance … in a Martin Truex Jr. car. Chase Briscoe is essentially MTJ, if you haven’t noticed. Really good, but doesn’t move the needle at all. And he’s good with it, by the way. Hell, it could very well win him a title this season. 

But if y’all think I’m gonna sit there on Labor Day Monday when 90% of the staff are sleeping right now and write about Chase Briscoe before I have my morning eggs, you are NUTS. Congrats, Chase. Good work. See you next week. 

NOW, let’s get to the Chase people actually want to talk about … 

What in the hell was THAT last night from not only Chase Elliott, but all of Hendrick Motorsports? What an impressively bad playoff opener from that crew. 

Chase finished 17th. Kyle Larson finished 19th. William Byron finished 21. Alex Bowman finished 31st. Rick Hendrick (Jeff Gordon) should be smashing skulls on this Labor Day Monday. I’d call ‘em all to the shop and just make them sit there all day. Don’t even bother showing up. Just make them show up and waste their holidays. 

Byron was just painfully slow. Bowman and Larson were never really factors, and Kyle Larson hasn’t been in months. What happened to that dude? 

Elliott, meanwhile, felt the wrath of Carson Hocevar early on and never really recovered:

Great night for Rowdy!

Yep, that pretty much sums up the night for the four Hendrick guys. Larson sucked you-know-what all night, and some believe he does it during his spare time. 

Chase could only muster a “top … last” when the dust settled. 

William Byron’s team is ready to retire. 

Nobody gives a shit about Bowman.

Not good! Especially for Chase and Bowman:

Larson and Byron should be fine, barring a pair of early exits this week. Bowman is nearing “must-win” territory, but I don’t think he’s there yet. Chase is teetering. 

Kyle Busch, meanwhile, ain’t even on the list! Can’t imagine why:

Sam on fire, TV talk & fan mail for Leigh!

Kyle, somehow, managed to finish 8th. Don’t know how, but I respect the hell outta that. I’m still surprised every week when he comes back. I really am. I would’ve taken my ball and gone home MONTHS AGO. Maybe years. What a fall from grace. 

Luckily, he’s got Sam Busch at home to keep his chin UP!

Yeah, I’d definitely have quit by now. That’s why professional athletes are built differently, I reckon. They do it for the love of the game. God bless. 

OK, couple quickies on the way out. It’s a holiday, after all. First up? Let’s ask the readers how they felt after last night’s race!

From Alex in NC:

Zach

I have always loved NASCAR but this race is more of a snooze than F1 after the first lap (though today was a good one). And I don’t mean to be mean, but the Brit on this crew drives me nuts. I just want to hear a redneck call NASCAR. I want to hear a Brit at 9am with my coffee and F1. 

Same as I don’t want to see Danica on the F1 grid. At least this Miami game is pretty good. Happy Labor Day!

Thanks for the great content!

Careful, Alex! The NASCAR #MOB will come after you if you dare speak bad about Leigh Diffey. They’ll call you a racist xenophobe! I won’t, of course, because I’m sane and don’t virtue-signal. But they will. 

Next? John in Lexington!

Leigh,

Don’t tell me how exciting that race was. I’ve seen exciting races and exciting finishes at Darlington. This wasn’t it. This race wasn’t horrible, but it had the same amount of passing up front as the F1 cars did this morning. Zero. Nil. Nada. None.

They’ve got to give us a better car. Otherwise, you’ll have the same ratings as the Indycar race did.

Thanks, John! I didn’t think the race was awful last night. The finish was solid. But you’re right – nobody could pass the leader, which is usually the case in these woke cars. Sad. 

OK, that’s it for today. A short class, but it’s also the final day of summer (yes, it is, don’t kid yourselves), and I’d like to get out and enjoy it. 

Here’s Derek Kraus going up in flames to end the day, and start the week!

See you in St. Louis.