The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 did not begin well for Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Tyler Reddick. All three drivers find themselves in significant deficits in the Playoff standings following the race in Las Vegas.
Three NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders had their promising beginnings in the Round of 8 dashed on Lap 90 of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
During a strange event, Tyler Reddick, the regular season champion and winner of Stage 1 on Sunday, flipped through the infield grass at Las Vegas after contact between Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott.
The flip caused damage to Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE suspension, leading to his retirement from the race, while Elliott and Ryan Blaney had heavily damaged cars after being hit by Keselowski.
At the conclusion of the race, Blaney ended up being the top performer out of the three, although it didn’t provide much comfort since he ultimately finished in 32nd place. Elliott completed 230 laps in the 267-lap event before finishing in 33rd place by retiring in the garage for good. Reddick was officially acknowledged for finishing in 35th place.
The challenging Sunday, along with Joey Logano’s unexpected win, has left all three drivers in a tough spot as they approach the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Reddick fell to sixth place in the Playoff rankings, trailing the cutline by 30 points, with Blaney in seventh, 47 points behind, and Elliott bringing up the rear at 53 points off the cutline.
Here is the post-race reaction from each driver after their disappointing performances at Las Vegas, along with their stats at the upcoming tracks in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs – Homestead and Martinsville.
Tyler Reddick
Reddick must have experienced a wide variety of emotions after winning Stage 1, as he was establishing a strong base for a successful journey through the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Afterwards, everything fell apart.
Reddick explained that he was just attempting to gain some positions during the Stage 2 restart by maneuvering his car to the outside of Elliott’s No. 9 car. Reddick stated that when he realized something negative was going to occur, he had already reached the irreversible stage.
“I witnessed them both sharing a moment, and I quickly had to make a decision in a split second,” Reddick clarified. Being assertive during the restart is necessary. It becomes difficult to overtake over time. I found myself in a difficult situation after being aggressive at a mile and a half. I was caught off guard when car 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) started sliding and car 9 (Chase Elliott) was approaching, leaving me with no room to maneuver.
Reddick mentions that if he had been more cautious, he might have avoided the crash, but he and his team have a preference for being aggressive. He states that they will need to maintain this approach for the upcoming two weekends in order to secure a win and advance to the Championship 4.
Statistics of Reddick’s performance while playing at his home field
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top10 | Best Finish | DNFs |
| 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2nd | 1 |
Statistics for Reddick’s performances at Martinsville
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Best Finish | DNFs |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7th | 1 |
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney had a challenging weekend in general. The current champion of the NASCAR Cup Series experienced a severe collision during practice on Saturday, leading to him using a backup car for the race on Sunday. Blaney’s backup car performed well in Sunday’s race, allowing him to quickly move up to the top-15 before being eliminated in the incident.
Blaney was unintentionally caught up in the crash while trying to navigate around the chaotic situation, when Keselowski’s car unexpectedly spun out onto the track, causing Blaney to not see the No. 6 car until it was too late.
Brad was not visible to me even in my A-post. Blaney explained that the A-post was extremely large, making it difficult for him to see where he was in the grass. Timmy Fedewa, the spotter, warned me that he was coming up, and I only saw him at the last moment. I was too late to avoid being left, so I tried to pass on the outside and ended up getting hit and damaging both rear toe links. It was worthless following that.
Thus, extended weekend. One of those lousy weekends, dude. You feel as though you can’t do anything correctly, nothing seems to be going in your favor, but hopefully we will have a chance in the upcoming weeks. That is the extent of what we are able to accomplish. Attempt to come out victorious in competitions.
The weekend was definitely challenging, but Blaney demonstrated a lot of determination throughout. Although not the best scenario, Blaney secured a victory at Martinsville Speedway last year, propelling him to the Championship 4 and eventually winning his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Maybe he can ignite that spark again?
Blaney’s Career Statistics at Home
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Best Finish | DNFs |
| 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2nd | 0 |
Statistics related to Blaney’s performances at Martinsville Speedway.
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Best Finish | DNFs |
| 17 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 1st | 0 |
Chase Elliott is Chase Elliott.
Apart from Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott had the lowest starting position (18th) among Playoff contenders in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, the Hendrick Motorsports driver didn’t allow this to hinder his progress as he promptly moved into the top-10 and appeared to have a relatively fast No. 9 car before the incident on Lap 90. Elliott mentioned that he had no other option when he witnessed Reddick making a three-wide move.
“Yeah, I think [Reddick] was making a strong comeback and Martin [Truex Jr.] seemed unaware of that,” Elliott commented. He was sort of sprinting as if we were side by side, and when I realized there wasn’t enough space, I tried to escape, but there was nowhere to go. It was already too tardy.
During the race, Elliott believes Reddick’s move was overly aggressive, but he acknowledges the need for aggression in a championship battle.
“I’m saying, there wasn’t much space available.” I do understand, but there wasn’t much space in that particular corner at that moment in the race,” Elliott clarified. It was a risky move [by Reddick] for him to count on me to notice it and for Martin to see that he had a strong run on the high side. I witnessed it, but Martin most likely couldn’t see it at that hour. It was definitely intense, but I can’t judge, we’re aiming to win a championship.
Elliott understands that he probably has to win to advance to the Championship 4 after Las Vegas, but he had already anticipated this scenario at the beginning of the Round of 8 so his strategy remains the same.
Elliott said, “Yes, yes, we must win for sure, but honestly that was also my mindset today, so nothing is different for me.”
Elliott’s Professional Records at Homestead
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Best Finish | DNFs |
| 8 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2nd | 0 |
Elliott’s Performance Record at Martinsville
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Best Finish | DNFs |
| 18 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1st | 0 |
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