Well some times these stories can just write themselves and these we’re one of those races. With story lines all from the drop of the green flag till the end of the race, we won’t break down every single lap, but rather break down the big moments of the race, big stories, and how it all went wrong for the bubble drivers who did everything they possibly can but ultimately got walked off by a Chase Briscoe win.

First off, hats off to Kyle Larson, who ran a exceptional race, he ended the night with 263 laps led and since the drop off the green flag, it seemed like his race to lose. He did everything right tonight but ultimately got passed by Briscoe for the win and lost the regular season title to Tyler Reddick by a singular point. If Larson would have finished one position ahead and Reddick would have lost a position, Larson would be your regular season champion right now. You have to wonder that the race he missed in Charlotte would have been the points he needed to clinch the regular season title. I know there was a huge storm that stopped those chances, but either way, Allgaier would have gotten the points for the race. So the question now is, was it worth a Indy 500 start and losing the regular season championship by a single point? I guess time will tell as the playoffs start to ramp up and we get to that second round. But either way, Larson ran a incredible race today and has had a incredible season. He will definitely be one to look out for once the playoffs are in full effect.

Chase Briscoe, who pretty much ran Top 5 all day, secured the win following a beautiful pass for the lead following a 4 car battle for the lead, then later holding off Kyle Busch in dramatic fashion, in a win that looked identical to the final lap at Darlington when Briscoe held off Busch in 2020 during the Xfinity race. I said in my bubble driver story that Briscoe’s best chances at a win would either be Richmond or Darlington, and he went out and did exactly that. Staying in the Top 5 practically since the drop of the green flag, passing Kyle Larson and also holding off a fast charging Kyle Busch who had 3 laps newer tires then the other 8 drivers that didn’t pit ahead of him. In less then 5 laps, Busch was able to charge from 9th, to 2nd. Busch who looked like if he got to Briscoe, he’d put the bumper to him and lock himself into the playoffs but Busch didn’t do that. Busch raced super clean just like he did with Briscoe in 2020, and gave himself and Briscoe a chance at securing the win. Busch needed a win today to secure a playoff spot but ultimately it didn’t happen. Kyle Busch still has 10 more races to keep his streak going of 19 straight race season with a win, will this be the season that the streak is finally broken?

A second lap wreck took out Blaney and Truex Jr. Martin was ultimately able to clinch the playoffs in the first stage following Chris Buescher’s 10th place finish in the 1st stage. After the wreck, it appeared that Blaney’s hand or wrist was injured after the crash but following his release from the infield care center, Blaney assured reporters and fans that he will be fine and is okay. Great news for all Ryan Blaney fans. Truex is still looking for his first win this season, Truex who is retiring at the end of the season from full time racing, wants very badly to bring that 19 team one more victory before he walks away from the team.

Other then that final stage, that lap 2 incident and the stage breaks. This was a relatively quiet race with the first stage going all the way green from that Lap 2 incident and Stage 2 was no different. Stage 3 is when the cautions started to fall but it proved that Larson’s car was far better on the long runs then on the short runs and that proved with Larson finishing 4th today.

Tyler Reddick who said once the green flag dropped that he was shitting and throwing up on himself. After the race and in the post race conference, Reddick said that he didn’t shit and throw up on himself but rather had a huge stomach bug and is the worse he has felt inside on a race car. Luckily despite all that, Reddick was able to clinch the regular season title over Larson by a singular point.

Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace did everything right tonight, all they had to do was keep their noses clean and have some good finishes in the stages, and they almost did all that. Buescher was forced into the wall by Todd Gilliand and Wallace was involved in a multi car wreck. At the time it seemed like either Buescher or Wallace would be the final playoff driver until Briscoe walked off the night and clinches the playoffs at the last possible second. Both Buescher and Wallace miss the playoffs this season. Buescher will obviously have heavy on his mind, his finish that he lost out on the victory by 0.001, then also got put into the wall by Tyler Reddick when Reddick was already locked into the playoffs. Two huge moments that Buescher and the 17 team will watch over and over again.

This race only saw two retirements, Blaney and Truex.

This is the end of the story

It’s a bit quicker then other stories but instead of breaking down the race that you probably watched lap by lap. I wanna start breaking down the big stories that came from this race. Later on in the week, i will be releasing a playoff profile on all 16 cup drivers, with their best chances at wins in the next 10 weeks, and my picks for the championship grid. Please let me know if you enjoy this style of stories more or if you enjoy the lap-by-lap’s more.