The round of 16 of the NASCAR Cup playoffs just ended and we have our top 12! What a race it was! Although clean, it was one of the most dominating performances by Kyle Larson. Leading 462 laps, he set an all-new record as a Hendrick driver. While he’s locked in the round of 12, some other veterans and championship holders did not have the best day.

Martin Truex Jr and Brad Keselowski are among the first four to be eliminated, along with Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton. For the 2012 Cup series champion, the playoffs hadn’t been ideal. Post the race, Keselowski was disappointed with his performance and hopes to do better in the next season.

Brad Keselowski’s second championship hopes come to an end

The playoffs kicked off in Atlanta. Keselowski needed a good start to his playoff campaign but finished the race in the 19th position. He then hoped for a comeback in Watkins Glen, but a horrific crash with William Byron had him finish 26th. The #6 driver entered the final race of the round of 16, -12 points behind the cutoff line and needed a good finish.

However, in the Bristol race, he started 23rd and quickly dropped to 27th, lacking pace. By the end of the race, he could only gain one position and finished the race in the 26th position. Naturally, he was disappointed after the race, where he said, “Just didn’t have the pace. We wanna run better. We wanna run races and make deep runs in playoffs and be in the final four all those things. Obviously, anything short of that is disappointing. We’ll come back and charge up more for next year.”

Brad Keselowski‘s disappointing Bristol run came as a surprise to many since the track has been good to him in the past. Even in the first Bristol race of this season, he finished 3rd after starting 17th. In his entire NASCAR career, he has thrice won on the track and has finished 7 times in the top 5 and eleven times in the top 10. The #6 team was hopeful for a repeat of his past performances but failed to do so. Eventually, he ended up 37 points out of a spot in the Round of 12.

Entering the Bristol Motor Speedway race, there were three veterans in the elimination zone (Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Turex Jr). However, after finishing the race, one made it out! Hamlin, after a consistent run, managed a P4 finish and is +7 points above the cutoff line in 6th place. Hamlin hoped for a third consecutive win but was satisfied with 4th place.

In the post-race interview, he said, “It’s just like, finally a decent run, right? I mean, we’re either in the 30s or top five, right? Just, I want to get back on track of contending for wins, and I think tonight’s a good step for that, and then we go to Kansas, where I really feel confident. So certainly I feel like this is a reset.” While the night was satisfactory for Hamlin, it wasn’t the same for his Joe Gibbs teammates who were knocked out of the playoffs.

Ty Gibbs and MTJ are eliminated

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Initially, the JGR drivers were in contention for advancing to the next round. However, coincidently, both Gibbs and MTJ were penalized for speeding on the pit road and were sent to the back of the pack. Gibbs faced the penalty after he finished 8th in stage one, however he could not gain back the track positions. The 21-year-old entered the race +6 points above the cutoff line, however, his playoff campaign ended with -11 points below.

After finishing the race in the 15th position, Gibbs took all the blame for ending the playoff campaign of his team. In the post-race interview, he said, “The speeding penalty is on me. Just we run under the (tachometer) lights so close, and I just got a little bit too much, I guess. My fault. Unfortunate. Proud of these guys and all the effort that they’ve given me and we’ll keep hammering down.” 

It’s much sadder for MTJ, who’s in his last season after he previously announced his retirement. While Truex Jr entered the race -14 points behind the cutoff line, the speeding issue had him exit the race with 21 points below as he finished 24th. The 2017 Cup Series champion was disappointed to end his second championship hopes.

He said, “Just really frustrated, upset. Hate it for my guys. You know, they worked so hard and we had a shot at it tonight. It wasn’t going to be easy. I know there was no guarantee. I think they said we had to run second or third to make it through, so it was going to be tough. I don’t know if we were quite good enough, but it would have been nice to find out at least, and just hate it that I screwed it up for everybody.”

Hopefully, Truex Jr in the remaining seven races can end his winless streak of the season and end his Cup Series career on a high note. What do you think? Can he bag a win and be the upset driver in the playoff races to come? Let us know in the comments below.