Kyle Larson<\/a> +35
Christopher Bell<\/a> +20
Chase Briscoe<\/a> +15
–
William Byron<\/a> -15
Chase Elliott<\/a> -23
Joey Logano<\/a> -24
Ryan Blaney<\/a> -31<\/p>\n
At least, that\u2019s how Joey Logano is looking at his 24 point deficit ahead of a race at a track where everyone he is chasing could theoretically be wiped out in a first lap crash that could change the entire calculus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t Talladega, maybe I would say it\u2019s a must-win but I still think there\u2019s two avenues to get there,\u201d Logano said on Saturday morning. \u201cThe (simplest) way would be winning. But considering what Talladega is and how this race can play out, I still think we can point our way in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to completely cut that off yet. I still think there\u2019s a chance. Now, if you\u2019re 24 points out going into Martinsville, you probably must win at that point but there\u2019s still two races and one of them is at Talladega.\u201d<\/p>\n
Logano simply got outscored on points in the first race of a Round in which he was the lowest seeded contender. Blaney crashed in the first stage as a result of a flat tire.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI try to go into every weekend with optimism and thinking we can go compete no matter where we go,\u201d Blaney said during a mid-week press conference. \u201cBut looking at Talladega, a lot of things can happen that can benefit or hurt you or benefit your competitors or hurt them. Why I say it\u2019s not a must-win yet is \u2026 a couple of guys get torn up early who are in the playoffs, and you can go have a big day. Big point swings can happen at these types of racetracks.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford<\/p>\n Photo by: Logan Riely \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n It also helps that both Penske contenders have eliminated teammates in Josh Berry<\/a> and Austin Cindric<\/a>, who in all honesty, will be solely responsible for pushing them to stage points and a chance to win on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s always very situational but from a team standpoint, obviously I have to be an asset to those guys throughout the course of the next two weeks \u2026,\u201d Cindric said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in that position before and I understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n Cindric says the same dynamic applies to William Byron and Chase Elliott, who are also below the cutline, in terms of having eliminated teammates who can help.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, there\u2019s a wingman for each of those, like (Alex Bowman<\/a>) is in the same position as me, (Ty Gibbs<\/a>) as well and (Denny) Hamlin is able to do the same thing for his teammates if he chooses to.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you go down the list it\u2019s pretty even as far as the opportunity to help your company if the opportunity presents itself. This is the type of racetrack where that would happen more than anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n Byron on ‘freak deal’ at Vegas Ty Dillon and William Byron crash<\/p>\n Photo by: Marc Sanchez LVMS Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n Byron\u2019s potential elimination, while not as dire, is the most surprising given his status as the regular season champion. But he was dealt a heavy blow last week when Ty Dillon<\/a> slowed in front of him to pit, without waving in addition to some kind of spotter miscommunication, leading to a collision that cost him a spot above the cutline.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was such a freak deal that it\u2019s hard to go back and be like \u2018how does this not happen again,\u2019 but Monday morning quarterback, had I known the situation of what was happening, you could say, would I react different or whatever but in the moment, there were no signs this was happening.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you go back and know that it\u2019s going to happen, it\u2019s different, so you have to be no so critical of yourself because (I) didn\u2019t have any expectations it was going to happen \u2026 which is why it was such a violent crash because there was no sign, no wave or a line, just looking at the closing rate, maybe I could have slowed down sooner, but that\u2019s all Monday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n For his part, Byron is just pursuing one race at a time to get into a transfer.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no better time to embrace \u2018one week at a time\u2019 than now and try to dive into the details of how to be better in the draft,\u201d Byron said. \u201cSo far, I feel good about my preparation and feel like the spring here was a good race for us.<\/p>\n \u201cI did spend a couple of days stewing on it but I\u2019ve moved past it and ready to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kyle Larson is in a point of advantage in that just getting stage points early and\/or simply avoiding the big crash leaves him in a good place at Martinsville. Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe have some work to do even above the cutline but it\u2019s always better to be above than below.<\/p>\n But, it\u2019s also tough because aggressively pursuing stage points could lead to crashes or being too conservative could lead to everyone below the cutline getting all the stage points.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know — we haven\u2019t talked about anything about those scenarios,\u201d Larson said. \u201cThe seven of us are all going to try to get stage points. You say +35, but if anyone below the cutline wins both stages, that\u2019s 20 points and that\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is risk that comes with that. Hopefully we have executed well enough that we\u2019re near the front but it is hard weighing those options and it is hard to win from outside the top-10 to 15. Hopefully we\u2019re just in that group all day.\u201d<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n We want your opinion!<\/p>\n What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760812809_693_ryan-blaney-team-penske-ford.jpg\")
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