“I\u2019m not overjoyed, I tell you that,” Blaney said. “We\u2019ll have to come from behind like we did last year.\u00a0 Hopefully, we can win one of the next two weeks.\u00a0 We just can\u2019t have a smooth day it seems like.”<\/p>\n
Blaney has won at Talladega in 2019, 2021 and 2023. Blaney won the Martinsville playoff race in 2023 and 2024. He has to win one of these two now, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u00a0No doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that’s also a tall, tall task.<\/p>\n
“You\u2019ve got to be optimistic,” Blaney said. “I\u2019m not very happy right now, but tomorrow morning I\u2019ll be optimistic to go to the next race.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had good success at the next two events, so hopefully we can come and bring the speed and try to overcome the hole we put ourselves in today.”<\/p>\n
Read Also:<\/p>\n
Joey Logano finished sixth with three stage points which didn\u2019t matter because everyone else around him scored more stage points or also finished in the top-10.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closer we get, the more we\u2019ve got to win,\u201d Logano said.\u00a0\u201cI think we closed the gap a little bit today.\u00a0I heard we were 21 points out.\u00a0I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s right or not but I haven\u2019t really looked at all the spots yet.\u00a0It\u2019s still possible to point in but one of the spots are obviously taken up now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has three wins at Talladega and two at Martinsville.<\/p>\n
Chase Elliott scored six stage points in the first stage but a pitting outside the box penalty trapped him a lap down and he could only make it back up to 18th.<\/p>\n
\u2018Yeah, I feel fine,\u201d Elliott said when asked about his Talladega and Martinsville chances.<\/p>\n
Even William Byron, the winner of the first stage and someone who scored 18 stage points, fell below the cutline when he collided into Ty Dillon as he slowed to pit without waving inside of 30 laps to go.<\/p>\n
Read Also:<\/p>\n
Byron trails Briscoe by 15 points so that\u2019s a realistic race for now but Talladega could change everything drastically.<\/p>\n
And remember, last year saw Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell all enter the Round of 8 above the cutline but eliminated simply because they didn\u2019t win of the three races while those below the cutline did.<\/p>\n
Chase Briscoe nearly continued that trend with a gutsy two tire pit stop that kept him ahead of Hamlin until five laps to go. As it stands, he still gained on the cutline and is now on the right side of it, but also at risk of falling below it if someone below him wins at Talladega.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to go there, race, see what happens,\u201d Briscoe said. \u201cObviously, that’s where the biggest points swing is probably going to come for all of us. Luckily for us, we didn’t use our one mulligan today, I guess. Go there, see what we can do, hopefully come out there on the plus side, maybe even win it, go on to Martinsville and see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Watch: Chase Briscoe falls short at Vegas: ‘That one will sting’<\/p>\n
Now, a positive for everyone currently in is that both Penske cars are out as Logano wasn\u2019t good enough this weekend and Blaney had his issues. They have swept Next-Gen championships at Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Larson is aware.<\/p>\n
Larson and Bell have the most security given that they aren’t on the bubble but Larson especially has points to give up if something bad happens. On the other hand, if he can get some top 10 stage points by the halfway point next weekend, he’s in a strong spot to advance on points too.<\/p>\n
“The 12 had a bad day,” Larson said. “The 22 didn’t win. Right now, as long as a Team Penske car doesn’t win one of the next two races … well, they aren\u2019t must win but we don’t want them in because they will be crazy fast.<\/p>\n
If they don’t make it, I do think this is suddenly wide open. The 11 is the only one in right now so I think Denny would be the favorite. Hopefully we can join him in there because I do think that’s an area where we’ve made improvement and maybe surpassed (Gibbs) on our flat track program.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Watch: Larson settles for second: ‘That’s racing … it gets crazy’<\/p>\n
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