Christopher Bell locks up championship spot with Homestead win

Here are some takeaways from the playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A thin line between success and failure

There is a reason why the teams compete until the checkered flag waves. The situation can always change — for better or worse.

Just look at the final stage of Sunday’s playoff race. Kyle Larson had won the opening stage, finished third in stage 2 and had led 96 laps. He was running in second behind Ryan Blaney as they headed to pit road for their final green flag pit stops.

Larson hit the barrels of sand that sit at the entrance of pit road. This damaged his Chevrolet to the point that he could not continue in the race. He finished 34th.

A mere 23 laps after Larson hit the barrels, Denny Hamlin slammed into the outside wall while fighting Ryan Blaney for third. He went from being in contention for a top-five finish and the potential win to finishing 30th.

One lap after Hamlin hit the wall, Martin Truex Jr. headed to pit road with an engine issue. He finished 29th and joined Hamlin below the cutline heading to elimination race at Martinsville.

Larson already has a spot in the Championship 4, so the crash will not impact his title hopes. Hamlin and Truex, for comparison, both went from above the cutline to below it. They are both behind Tyler Reddick.

A championship mindset

As Commander Peter Quincy Taggart from the movie “Galaxy Quest” once said, “never give up, never surrender.”

This is a message that rang true on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Christopher Bell was out of contention for the win — or even a top-10 finish — during stage 2 and for a portion of the final stage. He was battling an ill-handling car while running outside of the top 15.

As Bell said during his post-race interview with NBC Sports, he was ready to throw in the towel while dealing with frustrating circumstances. If he had done so, he would have fallen into must-win territory heading to next weekend’s elimination race at Martinsville.

Bell’s team did not give up, nor did they surrender. They continued to make adjustments and ultimately put Bell back in the top five on Lap 221. Once he was there, he took advantage.

Bell went out, took the lead from William Byron and then he held off Blaney. He scored his first win at Homestead and punched his ticket to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season.

Non-playoff drivers continue performing at Homestead

The battle for spots in the Championship 4 was the dominant storyline on Sunday as expected. However, it covered up some strong performances by two non-playoff drivers.

Austin Dillon, who has struggled all season long, was very consistent on Sunday. He qualified sixth and then scored points in the first two stages. Dillon went on to finish 10th.

This was Dillon’s second top 10 at Homestead of the Next Gen era. It was his ninth straight finish of 14th or better at the 1.5-mile oval. Dillon has finished all 10 races he has started at Homestead and 100% of the possible laps while securing an average finish of 11.4.

AJ Allmendinger was not in the conversation during the first two stages at Homestead but he worked his way into the top five on the final run to the checkered flag. He finished fifth in what was his second straight top-five finish at Homestead.

Allmendinger has made 12 starts at Homestead in his Cup career. He has only failed to finish one while posting an average finish of 15.5. Allmendinger has five top-10 finishes and three top fives.

Two Round of 8 races are complete. Only Martinsville remains before four drivers are eliminated.

Kyle Larson has a spot in the Championship 4 after winning at Las Vegas. Christopher Bell has a spot after winning at Homestead.

There are two drivers currently in a position to advance on points. William Byron is 30 points above the first driver outside of a transfer spot after finishing fourth at Homestead.

Ryan Blaney, who entered the race 17 points below the cutline, is 10 points to the good. He finished second after scoring 18 stage points.

Updated driver points | Updated owner points

The situation has completely changed for Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. They entered the Homestead race in a tie at two points above the first driver outside of a transfer spot. Both left Florida below the cutline.

Hamlin’s day was disrupted by hard contact with the outside wall as he was battling Blaney for third. He headed to the garage and ended the day 30th. Now he is 17 points behind Blaney.

Truex scored 11 stage points early but also ended the day in the garage. His engine expired while under caution. He finished 29th and also fell to 17 points behind Blaney.

The other two drivers below the cutline are Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher, who had significantly different races. Reddick scored eight stage points and then finished third. He left Florida 10 points behind Blaney.

Buescher, for comparison, started 17th and then spent the entire race outside of the top 25. He missed out on stage points and finished 21st after finally getting back on the lead lap.

Buescher is now in a must-win situation after the race at Homestead. He is 43 points out of the final transfer spot to the Championship 4.

Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson are the two drivers with spots in the Championship 4.

Click here to see where everyone finished at Homestead.

Click here for the penalty report.

Click here for the cumulative race report.

Christopher Bell has won at Homestead-Miami Speedway and punched his ticket to the Championship 4.

Bell struggled with handling during the second stage of Sunday’s playoff race, but his team continued to make adjustments as the laps counted down. He was able to work his way back into the top 10 and then he continued to move through the field.

Once the caution flew for Denny Hamlin hitting the wall on Lap 236, Bell took advantage of position. He passed both Ryan Blaney and William Byron on the final run to the checkered flag and then built up a lead of more than 1.5 seconds.

Blaney tried to chase down Bell but ran out of time. He had to settle for second. Tyler Reddick finished third. Behind him was Byron, AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon.

Martin Truex Jr.'s day at Homestead-Miami Speedway took a turn for the worse.

Shortly after the caution for Denny Hamlin slamming onto the wall, Truex headed toward pit road with smoke coming from his Toyota. His team ultimately pushed the 19 behind the wall, which ended Truex’s day.

“Truex said over the radio that it was down on power and that “it might be blowing up.”

Like Hamlin, Truex entered the Homestead race two points above the first driver outside a transfer spot. He scored 11 points in the first two stages but fell below the cutline as teammate Christopher Bell took the lead.

The caution has come back out at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This time, it was for a playoff contender.

Denny Hamlin slammed into the wall while battling Ryan Blaney for third. He said over the radio that something had broken in the steering.

Hamlin made his way back to pit road and climbed out of the car. This ended his day and put him below the cutline heading to the elimination race at Martinsville Speedway.

Prior to the crash, Hamlin had locked up 12 stage points.

The caution has flown at Homestead-Miami Speedway for a multi-car crash on Lap 221.

The incident occurred after the restart with 47 laps to go. Denny Hamlin took the lead from Ryan Blaney while other drivers battled for position behind them.

JJ Yeley suddenly spun to the inside wall and made hard contact. John Hunter Nemechek was right behind him. Ross Chastain and Brad Keselowski also sustained damage in the crash.

Replay showed that the field was three-wide. Contact between Keselowski and Nemechek started a chain reaction that sent Chastain into the outside wall and Yeley into the inside wall.

This incident ended the day for Chastain, Nemechek and Yeley. Keselowski was able to make his way back to pit road.

Martin Truex Jr. also headed down pit road after the crash. He put on a fresh set of sticker tires and set himself up to potentially make some moves late.

The caution has flown at Homestead-Miami Speedway after Kyle Larson slammed into the sand barrels at the entrance of pit road.

The incident occurred as Ryan Blaney and Larson headed to pit road for their final green flag stops of the day. Blaney slowed down to meet pit road speed as Larson chased him down.

Larson was much faster and had to steer to the right to avoid hitting Blaney. He slammed into the sand barrels and caused significant damage to the front of his Chevrolet. This damage ended Larson’s day.

Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. had made their way down pit road on Lap 211 to start the wave of green flag stops. They completed their stops but fell a lap down.

With the caution coming out for Larson, Keselowski received the free pass. This was significant for Truex, who had fallen out of contention for the win as the race progressed. He had to take the wave around.

Two stages are complete at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ryan Blaney has used them both to score points.

Blaney finished third in stage 1 and then he won stage 2. This locked up 18 points and put him in a tie with Kyle Larson for the most on the day.

These points mattered more to Blaney considering that he entered the day 17 below the cutline. Larson has a spot in the Championship 4 after winning at Las Vegas.

William Byron has the third-most points on the day at 16. Denny Hamlin has 12 points. Martin Truex Jr. has 11 after only scoring six last weekend.

Tyler Reddick has scored eight points. Christopher Bell has scored two after scoring 17 last week. Chris Buescher is the only driver to miss out on stage points after spending the first two stages outside of the top 25.

Kyle Larson won the opening stage at Homestead and dominated the majority of stage 2. He did not win stage 2.

Ryan Blaney passed Larson with three laps left in stage 2 after Larson slid up the track and nearly collided with Daniel Suarez. Blaney had chased Larson down over the final 10 laps of the stage and erased a multi-second deficit.

William Byron finished the stage second after passing Larson, who finished third. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano all scored stage points.

Christopher Bell ended the stage 22nd after struggling with handling. He also voiced concerns about a possible tire coming apart. He has scored only two points today after scoring 17 last week.

Chris Buescher finished the stage 26th and one lap down as he continued to struggle at Homestead. He was the only driver to miss out on points in the first two stages.

There have been no cautions during stage 2 of the Cup race at Homestead, so teams are taking part in green flag pit stops once again.

Ty Gibbs was the first to stop. He headed down pit road on Lap 114. Several other drivers followed, including Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger and Christopher Bell.

This round of pit stops provided an opportunity for Bell’s team to make adjustments. He said early in stage 2 that he was “tight, tight, tight, tight, tight, tight.” Bell also said that he was “plowing” while working his way around the track. The result is that he fell to 18th before heading to pit road.

Just as in stage 1, Denny Hamlin stayed out on track to split the stage and save some of his tire life. Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Austin Cindric and Kyle Busch all followed the same strategy.

The first caution for incident has flown at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the cause for the yellow. He spun from 18th on Lap 76 after making contact with the outside wall multiple times.

NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte expressed the belief that the contact had broken the toe link, which sent Stenhouse spinning.

The caution flew with fewer than five laps remaining in stage 1. This meant that the stage would end under yellow.

Kyle Larson locked up 10 points and one playoff point. Brad Keselowski followed in second. Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs all scored stage points.

Chris Buescher in 27th was the only playoff driver to miss out on stage points.

Hamlin took an alternate approach to the opening round of pit stops. The majority of drivers made their first stop of the day on Lap 32. He waited until the halfway point of the stage, Lap 40.

Hamlin blended back onto the track in 14th. He was able to use fresher tires to reach sixth before the end of the stage.

Chris Buescher is experiencing early struggles at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Buescher started Sunday’s playoff race 17th. He was the furthest back of the playoff drivers. He has only fallen further back after struggling with fire-off speed and handling issues.

Buescher has spent the first stage running outside of the top 25. Leader Kyle Larson then lapped him on Lap 66.

According to NBC Sports’ Kim Coon, Buescher’s team “missed it” on the setup for the weekend. This led to him losing the rear end on corner exit when he throttled up.

Buescher entered the race weekend 23 points out of a transfer spot to the Championship 4. Falling a lap behind the leaders ensured that he would not score stage points early while other playoff drivers capitalized.

The first round of green flag pit stops have taken place at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kyle Busch was the first to stop. He got four tires and fuel before heading back onto the track. The majority of lead-lap cars followed in the next two laps. This included Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and numerous others.

Keselowski was able to use his pit stop to overtake Byron. He put himself in position to inherit the lead when the other cars that had stayed out made their pit stops.

Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon all stayed out on the track in an effort to reach the halfway point of the first stage — Lap 40.

John Hunter Nemechek, driving for Legacy Motor Club, experienced an early issue. He was caught speeding on his first stop of the day.

Martin Truex Jr. started Sunday’s race from pole but lost the lead to Bubba Wallace early. He took it back on Lap 12 but did not hold on for long.

William Byron began challenging Truex for the lead on Lap 18. He used the bottom on Lap 21 to clear the 19 car. Byron took the lead and put half of a second between himself and Truex, who then lost spots to Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson.

Wallace, who had led nine laps early, began to fall through the field after losing the lead to Truex. He dropped to seventh by Lap 20 and then fell to eighth on Lap 22.

Wallace was not the only driver that fell through the field. Chris Buescher, one of the eight remaining playoff drivers, dropped to 27th with issues regarding his “fire-off speed” and maneuverability.

A pivotal playoff race has begun.

Martin Truex Jr. led the field to the green flag Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He had Bubba Wallace on his left. Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski were behind them.

Once Mike Helton waved the green flag, Wallace dove to the bottom of the track and cleared Truex for the lead. William Byron put the field three-wide from the third row and used his momentum to pass Kyle Larson.

Wallace gained the lead but did not pull away. Truex charged back on the bottom and began battling once again. The two Toyota drivers continued racing side-by-side while pulling away from Brad Keselowski in third.

Wallace ultimately cleared for the lead on Lap 4. Truex settled into second with Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney behind him.

The NBC pre-race show featured a special guest at Homestead-Miami Speedway — Pitbull.

The Trackhouse Racing co-owner/multi-platinum-selling artist took part in an interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton. Pitbull took time to explain why he named his latest album “Trackhouse” and why he has embraced NASCAR.

Pitbull said that the NASCAR fans are passionate and loyal. He said they are fighters and that he feels like he is surrounded by a bunch of underdogs.

One prominent theme of the interview was the concept of bringing people together. Pitbull said that Trackhouse Racing and NASCAR are doing this together, as is his latest album.

Martin Truex Jr. was running fifth at the end of stage 1 last week at Las Vegas. Instead of pitting during the stage break, he stayed out on older tires. This gamble did not pay off as he spent stage 2 outside of the top 10 and missed out on crucial points. He ultimately finished ninth.

Truex is only two points above the first driver outside of a transfer spot heading into Sunday’s race. He will have an early opportunity to gain points after starting from pole at a track where he has five top-10 finishes and one win in the past six races. This includes last season’s playoff race when he started 12th, scored 17 stage points and finished sixth.

Other storylines to watch:

--Homestead forces NASCAR drivers to make a difficult choice over the course of a race. Will they run inches from the outside wall, or will they put their left tires on line at the bottom of the track?

Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick have both ridden the wall to great success at Homestead in multiple series. Other drivers have kept some distance between their cars and the wall.

They haven’t been willing to risk as much as Larson and Reddick due to the potential contact with the wall. Though that mindset can change as the laps count down.

“When you’re going down to the end of the race and need some spots, you’re willing to push it a little bit more,” Denny Hamlin said on Saturday. “I just manage risk a little differently. I’m not willing to fight for that little extra inch there to gain a small bit more lap time. If I can gain that somewhere else, I’ll do that.”

--Ryan Blaney finished sixth last weekend at Las Vegas. NASCAR disqualified him after the No. 12 failed post-race inspection. NASCAR rescinded the penalty on Monday, citing an issue with the damper template used for inspection.

This was a whirlwind 24 hours for Blaney. Ultimately, it didn’t change his mindset. He still headed to Homestead with the belief that he needs to win one of the two remaining races, which take place at Homestead and Martinsville.

Blaney is 17 points back of the final transfer spot to the Championship 4. Erasing this deficit with point-heavy performances is possible. Winning will automatically send Blaney to Phoenix with the opportunity to battle for a title for the first time.

Blaney had speed last season at Homestead. He scored points in the first two stages but finished 17th after spinning as he headed back onto the track after a pit stop. If Blaney can avoid similar mistakes this season, he could set himself up for a major career moment.

“Probably got to win one of these things even being 17 (points) out unless some guys have problems, you just never know,” Blaney said Saturday morning at Homestead. “Here you can have problems running right by the wall, you can break some stuff pretty easy, so you just go race. You do the best you can.”