Who didn't make NASCAR's Final Four just as big as who did

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who-didn't-make-nascar's-final-four-just-as-big-as-who-did — Who didn't make NASCAR's Final Four just as big as who did

“This is anyone’s race now.”

Jeff Gordon said it
Kyle Larson said it

We all know it.

With William Byron outdueling Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano ultimately being a non-factor in the finish on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, there is not a single Team Penske driver in the Cup Series Final Four.

And given that they have swept the championships in the NextGen era, and in pretty commanding fashion, this group of championship finalists like their chances in not having to go through them.

William Byron
Kyle Larson
Chase Briscoe
Denny Hamlin

“I mean, you saw what they did today,” Jeff Gordon said of Blaney and Logano. “You saw what they did today. We saw what they did at New Hampshire. You saw what they did today. I mean, where did Blaney start, 30th?”

31st.

“Honestly, I thought it was impossible to win this race from 31st,” Gordon said. “He drove up the field. He didn’t do it immediately. It took long runs, it took pit stops, it took some gambles on some strategy. They put themselves in position.”

Blaney commanded the second half of the race, taking advantage of a jumped stage break, but got trapped behind Ty Dillon, which allowed Byron to force them three-wide and move to the lead, albeit with a little bit of contact.

Blaney just misses out

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“I just kind of lost rear drive on exit, and his car held on pretty good,” Blaney said. “And it made it tougher for me to kind of work through lapped cars as I was losing the rear. I couldn’t really fade up and come down across, and he could do that pretty well. That’s kind of how I lost the lead, I slipped, kind of got caught behind a lapper, and he took an opportunity to get underneath me.”

Blaney said the contact was ‘hard racing’ and that ‘I would have done it too,’ if he found the roles reversed.

For his part, Byron didn’t mean to get into Blaney.

Watch: Blaney after contact with Byron: ‘I would’ve done the same thing’

“I hate that we made contact,” Byron said. “I think he was probably leaving just enough space, as well. I was going into the corner committed. That’s kind of fighting for space.

“Yeah, it’s hard racing. We both want to make the Championship 4. It’s a race win. It’s no ill will. It’s just kind of hard racing, racing for the win.”

Gordon thought Logano ‘showed some early magic,’ that him thinking we were all about to see a re-run.

“Bummed,” Logano said. “I don’t know if there’s another word for it. I’m just bummed that one of us didn’t make it. Everyone works hard enough to deserve to be there. We just couldn’t get the job done today, or really the last three races. That’s what it comes down to.”

Gordon said Blaney or Logano winning this race wouldn’t have meant nothing next week.

“They’ve carried that on into Phoenix, right, and have won championships last few years,” Gordon added. “I think it is wide-open. With our improvements that we’ve made on the shorter tracks, I feel like it gives us even more confidence next week.”

To his point, it’s the Hendrick duo that have all the momentum, while the Joe Gibbs Racing duo have concerns. Chase Briscoe suffered an engine failure on Sunday while Denny Hamlin lost power on the same weekend he had a starter issue and following a summer full of all kinds of mechanical woes.

Denny Hamlin engine failure, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“I’m obviously concerned, but there obviously nothing I can do about it,” Hamlin said. “We’ll live with it and hopefully we’ll get back next week and we are just going to have to see how it goes. I’m confident in the speed that we’ll have next week. I’m really confident in what this team is going to bring next week and we’ll bring our best, hopefully it lasts.”

So, that’s the overall state of play, with Gordon feeling like Byron ran the best race of his entire career and Larson’s bonafides as one of the best race car drivers who has already done this before.

“To me, William, I believe, had the race of his career today,” Gordon said. “I know it wasn’t a Daytona 500, but to me the way he handled himself, the way he approached it and raced today, it was just unbelievable.

“That last restart, I would put right in there with that. I mean, he nailed that restart. Not only did he get the jump in the restart area, but then he drove that thing deep down into one, went up wide, turned it, drove off and cleared the 12.

“We saw how strong the 12 was on some of those restarts. I was anticipating the 12 giving him a heck of a battle, but I was also expecting him to give him the bumper. William didn’t give him a chance to do that.”

For his part, Byron hopes the best race of his career comes next week.

“Yeah, I do think from start to finish, it’s the best I’ve ever felt in the race car,” Byron said. “That’s a damn good feeling. Yeah, I think it’s been a lot of work, a lot of heartbreak this year. The 600, different races. You just channel those things, learn from ’em. If you can learn from ’em, they become positives. They become things you lean on in the moment.

“For some people they become scars and things you can’t get past. For me, I found a way to flip that script either this week or sometime during these Playoffs. It went the other way.”

Watch: Larson after advancing to Champ 4: ‘Happy for Hendrick Motorsports’

Larson said ‘wide open’ too.

“Denny was good at Phoenix earlier this year,” Larson said. “The No. 19 has gotten better as they’ve gotten comfortable with each other, so I’m sure he’ll be really strong. He’s tough. He can figure out how to get to the front. William, after a performance like that tonight, he’s going to carry a lot of confidence into next weekend.

“We have confidence in ourselves. I feel like the No. 5 team was decent there earlier this season, and I think our short-track package has gotten way better. I feel like at Gateway, we were really strong. And then at New Hampshire, we were probably a little bit better than the Gibb’s cars and maybe my teammates for a lot of the race. We’ll see. I’m just glad we have an opportunity to go out there and race for a championship.”

Christopher Bell was outdueled by Larson on points after Byron moved the cutline up with his victory. It’s the second year in a row that he’s been bumped out in this fashion but he carried no ill will towards the format in this regard.

“Ultimately, the format has a lot of positives,” Bell said. “This year, four of the right guys ended up making it and whoever wins the championship will be a deserving champion.

“This year, the format worked out and I am content with the results.”

And next year, with all the talk about what the format could be?

“We need to worry about next year after Phoenix. This year, there’s four great drivers and all have had championship seasons. Whoever the champion is going to be well deserving, I think the format worked out this year.”