Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway was a bizarre one overall, with plenty of drivers suffering blown tires and odd mechanical failures that seriously shook the Cup Series Playoffs picture. When all was said and done, two Nascar Chevy teams were eliminated from the championship: the No. 3 Camaro ZL1 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 Camaro of Tyler Reddick no longer have a chance to race for the Cup Series title in 2022.
Dillon’s No. 3 Camaro was granted a Playoffs berth after winning a chaotic race at Daytona just a few weeks ago. However, he was collected in a 12-car pileup on Lap 277 at Bristol set off when Daniel Suarez’s No. 99 Camaro got loose and dove into the No. 47 Camaro of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The wreck also severely damaged Reddick’s No. 8 Camaro, forcing his crew to perform extensive repairs. Dillon’s No. 3 Camaro was scored 31st at the end, while Reddick’s No. 8 Camaro finished 25th.
Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Camaro, was also swept into the crash, forcing him to retire early and relegating him to a 32nd-place finish. Bowman, however, clinched a spot in the Playoffs, while Dillon and Reddick were ultimately knocked out after the first round of eliminations.
Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro has been strong all year, and he attempted to track down race leader Christopher Buescher’s No. 17 Ford Mustang on the way to the checkered flag. However, Buescher’s No. 17 Mustang outran Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro, capturing the win. Overall, Bow Tie teams accounted for five of the top 10 finishers.
Meanwhile, a series of blown tires plagued various Ford drivers, while several Toyota teams headed to the garage with mechanical failures. Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry blew an engine, forcing him out of the Playoffs, while Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang suffered a botched pit stop that also knocked him out of the championship.
The 12 drivers now eligible for the 2022 Playoffs are as follows:
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevy Camaro ZL1
- Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford Mustang
- Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevy Camaro ZL1
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevy Camaro ZL1
- William Byron, No. 24 Chevy Camaro ZL1
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford Mustang
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry
- Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford Mustang
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Camaro ZL1
- Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford Mustang
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevy Camaro ZL1
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | 17 | Christopher Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 500 | 169 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 23 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | Hooters Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 16 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Acronis Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 8 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Yahoo! Toyota | 500 | 143 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 500 | 34 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 13 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 11 | 41 | Cole Custer | Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | FedEx Ground Toyota | 500 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick (P) | Busch Light Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 18 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 500 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 19 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 499 | 109 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 2 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Magical Vacation Planner Ford | 498 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 497 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 27 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 497 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 497 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 30 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Long John Silver's Ford | 496 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 29 | 99 | Daniel Suarez (P) | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 494 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric # (P) | Freightliner Ford | 493 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 24 | 43 | Erik Jones | U.S. Air Force Chevrolet | 492 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 35 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Zeigler Auto/LoJack Chevrolet | 492 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 36 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | World Supercross Championship Ford | 491 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 33 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | Down N Dirty Ford | 491 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 17 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 469 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 34 | 42 | Ty Dillon | EG3 Technologies Chevrolet | 457 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 15 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 437 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford BlueOval City Ford | 418 | 36 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 14 | 45 | Bubba Wallace (P) | MoneyLion Toyota | 408 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 30 | 6 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Pennzoil Ford | 338 | 9 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon (P) | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet | 279 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 3 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 277 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 26 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Thomas' Chevrolet | 276 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 21 | 18 | Kyle Busch (P) | M&M's Toyota | 269 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 35 | 25 | 23 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 265 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 22 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 198 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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Comments
These new cars seem like trouble. Blown tires and broken parts that can’t be fixed in 10 minutes. Plus too many wheels falling off. NASCAR fixed things that didn’t need fixing.