Kyle Larson finally broke through to Victory Lane, winning Sunday at Dover International Speedway to advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Larson ended a winless streak of 75 races, a stretch that included nine runner-up finishes to win for the first time at the Monster Mile during Dover’s 50th anniversary celebration and its 100th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
Larson’s advancement to the Round of 8 marks the furthest for Chip Ganassi Racing, it was the sixth career win for Larson and his first victory of the playoffs in the No. 42 Chevrolet. Larson had to hold off Dover stalwart Martin Truex Jr., who came in second in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 1.578 seconds behind, to finish the job. Larson last won in 2017 at Richmond Raceway.
On a day when several playoff drivers had trouble, Larson will not have to worry as the series heads to the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway for the second event in the Round of 12. Alex Bowman, in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, came in third with Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, fourth and Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, fifth.
As for other playoff drivers, Clint Bowyer was 10th, Brad Keselowski 11th and William Byron 13th. Meanwhile, Joey Logano (34th, rear axle), Ryan Blaney (35th, brakes) and Chase Elliott (38th, engine) all experienced mechanical issues that led to subpar days.
THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF THE GO FAST
This week Snoopy Dawn was tucked away neatly into the copilot’s seat of Easy Money’s hot rod. Because Snoopy was a stowaway with Kyle Larson all race she racked up a cool 57 points, which tool her all the way to the top of the scoring leaderboard!
THE MOVERS AND THE SHAKERS
The second highest scorer for the week is Linda R. The Lemonade Lefty. The Lemonade Lefty was all in for Martin Truex, Jr, and received 54 points for his second place finish at Dover.
Ranking third on the scoring list this week is Jim, aka Chiefy. Ol Chiefy pulled out his Denny Hamlin card this week at The Monster Mile. With The Delivernator finishing in 5th place, the reward for Chiefy was 50 big points!
Meanwhile, Kathy The Church Forecloser added 46 points to her bucket this week. The Church Forecloser was running with Freaky Fast Kevin Harvick during the weekend at The Monster Mile.
Lastly, Carlton The Doorman racked in 34 points for the weekend via Kyle Busch’s 6th place finish.
Despite being halfway through this segment we had massive movement in the standings. In fact, the only two players who remained in their previous places were Dan The Numbers Cruncher and Linda B. The Cookie Mom!
The biggest movers this week is a duo that moved six (6) places as the Sun was setting at Dover. Linda R. The Lemonade Lefty rocketed up the totem pole six spots to rest in 2nd place. However, David The Mudslinging Throttle Jockey was not nearly as fortunate! The Throttle Jockey dropped like a prom dress, falling six places to land in 12th place.
Following suit with The Throttle Jockey was Amber The Extremely Unlucky Cheddar Head, who plummeted five (5) positions to reside in 10th place.
Meanwhile, Jim, aka Chiefy, steeped up his game and his position this week by moving up the leaderboard four (4) places to sit in 9th place.
The trio that includes Snoopy Dawn, Leon Your Most Humble Sheriff, and Carlton The Doorman moved three (3) places this week. Snoopy and The Doorman each climbed up the scoring ladder to sit in 1st and 7th positions, respectively. Whereas Your Most Humble Sheriff fell three spots to own 6th place this week.
Lastly there is a quartet, Bernie The Bay Area Bandit, Edie The Las Vegas Super Star, Kathy The Church Forecloser, as well as Carole, aka Rudy that moved two (2) places when the checkered flag fell at Dover. The Bay Area Bandit, The Las Vegas Super Star, and Carole, aka Rudy, all moved down two places to control 3rd, 4th, and 16th places, respectively. Conversely, Jeremy The Coach moved up two positions to sit in 5th place.
STRAIGHT FROM THE CRAPPER
This week we have two players who are sharing The Crappiest Pick of The Week award. Both Leon Your Most Humble Sheriff and Carole, aka Rudy, were only able to muster up one (1) single microscopic point for the race!
With the single microscopic point that Rudy scored was enough to land her squarely in The Outhouse this week!
Many of the Round of Twelve drivers going out of the track via the tunnel this evening, could be heard humming this “good vibes” didy!
Next week the Cup boys will make their second and last visit to the Talladega Superspeedway.
Check out the results of the Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway.
TIL NEXT TIME, PULL YOUR BELTS TIGHT AND LET’S GO RACIN”!