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CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – OCTOBER 05: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Leidos Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 05, 2025 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The NASCAR playoffs got wild in Vegas. Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Busch fought hard to stay in the game. The race was messy, with crashes, smoke, and the bright sun made it tough to see. But they made it through. Now, with Talladega up next, the pressure\u2019s about to get even crazier.<\/p>\n
Christopher Bell: \u201cIt Feels Like Last Year\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell, who drives the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for Rheem, finished third. For him, the race felt familiar.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu as last year,\u201d Bell said<\/a>. \u201cAt the beginning, we were all off a bit, but in the second half, I had what I needed to win. I just didn\u2019t do a good job on the restarts.\u201d<\/p>\n Bell had a close call when William Byron and Ty Dillon crashed late in the race. \u201cThat\u2019s just being blessed,\u201d he said. \u201cThe sun was right there, tire smoke everywhere. I couldn\u2019t see anything. I hit the brake and went left, hoping to miss it. Somehow, I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though he didn\u2019t win, Bell stayed positive<\/a>. \u201cWe didn\u2019t get a Rheem win this year, but we came really close,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we\u2019ll roll the dice at Talladega.\u201d<\/p>\n Bell\u2019s third-place run keeps him in the playoff fight. He knows execution will matter most in the next two races.<\/p>\n Chase Briscoe: \u201cI Was Hanging On.\u201d<\/p>\n Chase Briscoe<\/a> fought hard, too. Driving the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, he brought home a strong fourth-place finish. But it wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hanging on,\u201d Briscoe said. \u201cFor a few laps after the restart, the car felt good. But as the run went on, I was absolutely sideways.\u201d<\/p>\n Briscoe came close to stealing a win while others battled ahead. \u201cFor a bit, I thought I might sneak one,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I was just too loose at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n When Tyler Reddick<\/a> took the win for Joe Gibbs Racing, Briscoe looked at the bigger picture. \u201cNow we go to Talladega,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the biggest points swing can happen. We didn\u2019t use our mulligan today, so hopefully we\u2019ll come out on the plus side. Maybe even win it and move on to Martinsville.\u201d<\/p>\n Kyle Busch: From 32nd to 8th<\/p>\n Kyle Busch<\/a> had to climb. He started way back in 32nd but finished eighth in his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. It was a solid comeback.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of the No. 8 Chevrolet team,\u201d Busch said. \u201cWe worked hard to fix rear grip issues and a loose car. By the end, we had a good pace. Now it\u2019s about being consistent and finishing strong.\u201d<\/p>\n Busch\u2019s steady drive showed the power of teamwork and patience. With the playoffs so tight, every finish matters.<\/p>\n Next NASCAR playoffs stop: Talladega<\/p>\n Reddick\u2019s win in Las Vegas shook up the playoff picture once again. Now, everyone\u2019s looking ahead to Talladega, the track where anything can happen and usually does.<\/p>\n For Bell, Briscoe, and Busch, the mission\u2019s simple: survive the madness and stay in the fight. In these playoffs, one strong run can flip everything upside down.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Image CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – OCTOBER 05: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Leidos Toyota, drives during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-212560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}