WINNERS
Chase Elliott — He won both stages and the race, leading 80 of 90 laps. He led the final 28 laps with Martin Truex Jr. pressuring him most of that time. Elliott had the fastest car all weekend and took advantage of it to score his second victory of the season.
Drama — Where to begin? There was Kyle Busch vs. William Byron and then Busch vs. Bubba Wallace, who was blunt on what he thought of his former Truck Series owner’s actions on the track. You had Jimmie Johnson upset at Ryan Blaney and getting personal afterward, saying: “I couldn’t hear what (Blaney) was saying, his lips were quivering so bad.” In the Xfinity Series, Justin Allgaier dumped Ross Chastain after Chastain had wrecked him. There are a lot of angry drivers out there.
Matt DiBenedetto — His sixth-place finish was his fourth top-10 in the last seven races for Leavine Family Racing. DiBenedetto is unsure where he’ll be racing next season and admits that “I’m just fighting for my life, my career.”
Parity — Chase Elliott became the ninth different winner in the last nine races. The other winners in the stretch have been Kyle Busch (Pocono I), Joey Logano (Michigan), Martin Truex Jr. (Sonoma), Alex Bowman (Chicagoland), Justin Haley (Daytona), Kurt Busch (Kentucky), Kevin Harvick (New Hampshire), Denny Hamlin (Pocono II) and Elliott.
Austin Cindric and Brian Wilson — Wilson made the gusty call to pit Cindric from the lead with 10 laps to go and then Cindric charged through the field to challenge and pass AJ Allmendinger to score his first series win. Asked about possibly making his move too soon, Cindric said: “If you have that opportunity right in front of you to pass that guy for the win, you take it every single time.”
LOSERS
Chad Knaus — All but commanding William Byron on the radio to retaliate against Kyle Busch - “If I see that 18 come back around here without you knocking the (expletive) out of him, we’re going to have a problem” - led to Byron’s downfall. Byron’s car slammed into the back of Busch’s car and suffered nose damage. Instead of having a car to contend for the top 10 — the Hendrick cars were fast all weekend — Byron finished 21st.
Kyle Busch — Had the best car by far in Saturday’s Xfinity race until a mechanical issue ended his day. Then in the Cup race he got into it with Millennials William Byron and Bubba Wallace. The result is that instead of contending for a win, Busch’s battered car finished 11th and was never a factor. Asked to explain what happened, Busch said only “you saw what happened” before the golf cart he was on left.
Austin Dillon — His 31st-place finish marked the fourth time in the last five races he’s placed 30th or worse. He has finished 30th or worse in more than a quarter of the races this season (six of 22).