Winners and losers from a busy weekend of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway.
WINNERS
Kyle Larson
Took advantage of Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick getting into a tangle to slip by and score win number six of the season. Larson re-established himself as a championship favorite again with yet another trip to Victory Lane.
William Byron
Scored his first career top-five at Bristol and it came at the right time. Byron entered the race 18 points below the cutline and now moves on to the next round of the Cup Series Playoffs.
AJ Allmendinger
Friday night’s epic Xfinity Series finish went to Allmendinger who slid across the start-finish line after contact with Austin Cindric. It was as wide a finish in NASCAR as we’ve seen in some time.
Chandler Smith
The Camping World Truck Series race winner on Thursday night, Smith was in a must-win situation to stay alive in the Playoffs. He came through with his first career series victory.
Bristol Motor Speedway
All three nights of racing at the iconic Tennessee short track delivered incredible racing, intensity, drama and memorable moments. We get the best of both worlds — dirt and no dirt — at Bristol again next year, but it’s going to be hard to wait a whole year for another concrete Bristol race.
BLACK FLAGS
Chase Elliott
He was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. A cut tire battling for position with Kevin Harvick put Elliott a lap down and out of contention to win. But Elliott and Harvick got together again in the closing laps to trigger controversy but ultimately handing the Hendrick Motorsports driver a disappointing 25th-place finish.
Tyler Reddick
He came into Saturday night just five points below the cutline. But a 12th-place finish was not good enough for Reddick to stay alive and he was eliminated from the championship picture.
Kurt Busch
A similar fate for the veteran Busch who just was not competitive all night long and after finishing 19th in the opening two stages, a 21st-place overall performance knocked the Chip Ganassi Racing driver from the Playoff hunt.
Aric Almirola
Another driver eliminated from the Cup Series Playoffs. Almirola was only three points out of the final transfer spot entering Bristol but could not make up the difference and failed to make the Round of 12.
Michael Annett
He wasn’t able to race in Friday night’s Xfinity Series race as Annett continues to deal with the aftermath of a leg injury he sustained earlier this year. Josh Berry jumped into the JR Motorsports Chevrolet could only finish 35th.
