We all knew going into this week’s final race of the round of twelve wasn’t going to end smoothly. After all, we were going roval racing and road course races have been chaotic. However, I don’t know if anyone saw what was coming until that caution flag was waved with five laps to go Sunday. It was honestly kind of a boring race. Maybe even should’ve finished that way but let’s wrap up this playoff round.
Broken Parts While Roval Racing
The biggest question besides safety in relation to the next-gen car has been durability. We’ve had tire issues from suspension setups. Power steering issues for some manufacturers even at Darlington, as well as a few different cars bursting into fires. Once again we saw some durability issues, affecting drivers on Sunday. Playoff driver Daniel Suarez had issues with his power steering which ultimately led to this man destroying his upper body just to keep himself in the race in case any other playoff driver had issues.
The next playoff driver we saw had some issues while Roval racing was coincidentally enough, Daniel Suarez’s teammate Ross Chastain. Ross was pushing the car a bit too hard and clipped a wall on the infield portion of the rival. Which destroyed the suspension component on the right rear of the car causing him to have to go to the garage. A little later on we would see a similar situation with defending champion Kyle Larson. Things had been so lackluster to this point in the race, Kyle’s crew chief told him they were good on points. No one saw what was coming, but I will say this I feel like we need to strengthen these components.
I heard Steve Letarte many times on Sunday’s broadcast saying the bumps were dangerous for these cars. You don’t need mechanical components failing after some aggressive driving puts a car in the wall. I know a safety meeting was called before the race and a lot of those questions were answered. Now going into the offseason I hope the durability of some of these components is looked at as well.
A Sign of Things to Come
So around the five-to-go mark in Sunday’s race, the TV broadcast cut to an advertisement sign laying in the track. Up to that point, it had been a little bit of a boring and chaotic free race. Pit strategy had been the biggest talk beside the issues with the few playoff drivers. That sign though was one thing and one thing only. Chaos and nothing less were coming and if you didn’t see it well then you are blind. I mean come on the track’s social media page even called it for you.
Y’all asked for chaos. You got it.
— Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy) October 9, 2022
Immediately after the green flag dropped we saw Chase Elliott’s chances undone because Aj Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick, and Tyler Reddick were not planning on giving even an inch. No one was; we saw drivers in and even out of the playoffs alike just with no regard. Austin Dillon spun Austin Cindric on the next restart effectively eliminating him, and Chase Briscoe sailed his card into the back stretch chicane just doing whatever he could do to get points.
Chaos was brought, and all because of a sign. Now I get it the sign was in the track you have to throw the flag at that point, but why not immediately? Because reportedly it was loose for around twenty laps. The better question is why NASCAR let a sign be the reason for cars being destroyed on a restart. Also, where does the driving ability of these drivers go at road courses late? Or at least the “manufactured” road course racing. A few months back we saw the exact same scenario happen on the Indianapolis Road Course. It seriously bordered on unbelievable.
On more than one occasion in the last two restarts of the race. We saw these drivers just lost all sense of skill or craft. It’s kind of sad to watch and leaves you thinking should these “manufactured” road course races even be on the schedule anymore? Much less a part of the playoffs and deciding a champion ultimately.
Onto Vegas
Congratulations to Christopher Bell and his team on winning their way into the round of eight. In doing so the conclusion of this race resulted in four more playoff drivers losing their shot at a championship. Three of those driving for Team Chevrolet. Alex Bowman didn’t have a chance after missing the last two races due to concussion symptoms but the other three did. Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Daniel Suarez all are eliminated going forward.
So, we are headed to the first race of the round of eight. Las Vegas is a mile-and-a-half track where I feel like aero, and maybe even tire durability comes back into play. So, is the shit show over? Well, not far from it actually. Because after this we head to Homestead, another super aero-based track. So let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope this new car isn’t the deciding factor in a championship because I for one want to see driving skill, determine this championship.
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