BROOKLYN, Mich. — And with that, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing has added another fascinating subplot for the final 13 weeks of the NASCAR Cup Series season when there were no shortage of storylines to begin with.
A month ago, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski appearing poised to make the playoffs on championship points seemed like a quaint development, a positive development for an organization that got their teeth kicked during the spring and summer months last year.
First, there was the penalty to Keselowski and the No. 6 team for unapproved modifications of a single source supplied part and then there was the reality that neither that car nor the No. 17 driven by Chris Buescher was truly capable of consistently running up front.
So that Buescher and Keselowski have begun racing inside the top-10 with regularity over the summer felt like a nice development for a Stock Car racing legacy team. It’s suddenly no longer “quaint” nor a “nice development” as back-to-back wins for Buescher at Richmond and Michigan has completely upended how everyone should feel about their championship chances.
Like, 15 days ago, Buescher was a fringe playoff contender with just a single playoff point but now sits at 11 and sixth in the standings that matter the most approaching September and the start of the Chase for the Championship.
Buescher currently sits 11th in the championship standings but could easily pick up another playoff point if he finishes 10th in the regular season standings. He’s three points behind Ryan Blaney and 10 points behind Kyle Busch for ninth, which pays two playoff points.
It’s another two points to catch Keselowski for eighth, which pays three. In fact, positions 5-11 are separated by 40 points with each of those positions paying more playoff points the closer to the front a driver finishes.
These bonus points matter come September because the playoff standings are reseeded based on these bonus points. Furthermore, the bonus points are applied to the reset total at the start of each round in addition to any points earned during the previous round of the playoffs.
Buescher has given himself a decent cushion for at least the first two rounds, and that says a lot considering they were just barely hanging onto a playoff spot 15 days ago. The past two weeks have been a game changer for the entire field.
“I don’t know what more we could ask of him right now,” Keselowski said of Buescher. “He’s out there winning races, executing in all aspects, not tearing equipment up, not getting in trouble in the media or any of this other stuff.
“I mean, what more do you ask for out of the guy?”
NASCAR playoff battle tightens
Michigan validated some lingering expectations everyone had about the Race to the Chase for the Championship.
Specifically, it was a confirmation that Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, long expected to compete for the championship this autumn will have to win their way into the tournament over the next three ways. It is no longer a realistically viable option for either Hendrick Motorsports veteran to make the Field of 16 on championship points.
Elliott blew a tire during the first stage on Sunday and finished 36th, while Bowman hit the wall on Lap 134 to finish 33rd. Elliott is 55 points below the cutline and Bowman is 44. Simply put, the points are no longer a realistic pathway into the playoffs.
There are three races remaining in the regular season at Indianapolis Road Course, Watkins Glen and Daytona. The math has suddenly got really simple in that these two stars have to win at all costs.
But that’s not the extent of the playoff drama as Ty Gibbs has overtaken Michael McDowell for the final provisional playoff spot after Michigan. Gibbs leads McDowell by three points, with Daniel Suarez five points back and AJ Allmendinger 24 points back.
However, it’s also not entirely that straightforward because the likes of Allmendinger, Bowman or Elliott winning their way in would also move the cutline up. That would leave Bubba Wallace, currently 58 points above the cutline on the bubble.
This is going to play out over two races on unpredictable road courses, and the superspeedway in Florida where literally anyone who takes the green flag could conceivably win the race.
All of this is to say nothing of the championship rounds themselves, which seems extremely evenly matched between all the top teams approaching the final 10 weeks of the season. That point was best articulated by Keselowski after the race on Monday.
“Yeah, the next two or three weeks is going to get more and more wild,” Keselowski said. “Chase Elliott is a heck of a road course racer. I know Hendrick Motorsports is coming loaded for bear for him the next two races.
“Then you have Daytona to finish off the Playoffs. If Daytona wasn’t already a madhouse, you can only imagine it now that you have all these prestigious drivers that are just below the cut line, going to lay it all out.
“Not just the next three weeks, but the next 13 weeks are shaping up to be big for the sport. In the short-term picture, the next three weeks are going to be their own storyline. That’s one of the things that makes NASCAR special, how many storylines there are throughout the season, right? I think we’re seeing that throughout this season.”
Future for the Legacy Motor Club 42
Josh Berry crashed out of the Firekeepers Casino 400 on Lap 50 in an unplanned stint driving the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 following the suspension of Noah Gragson for a social media like that made light of the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
The team suspended Gragson on Saturday morning when the actions were made public and NASCAR quickly followed suit.
A NASCAR representative told Sportsnaut, that at a minimum, sensitivity training would be required as a term of reinstatement but that the sanctioning body and team were still working through the details of what else might be required.
It was the worst possible time for something like this to happen for Gragson because he was already suffering through an awful rookie season that saw him mired 33rd in the championship standings with an average finish of 28.2.
Part of that could be attributed to his status as a rookie but also the team’s lame duck role as it plans to leave Chevrolet for Toyota at the end of the season. And that’s where the future gets cloudy for Gragson. Even though he signed a multi-year agreement with Legacy Motor Club, Toyota is said to be keen on getting John Hunter Nemechek back in a Cup Series seat.
Martin Truex Jr. signing a one-year extension with Joe Gibbs Racing means that the No. 19 will not be available next year. Gragson’s performance already left him on unstable footing and now the No. 42 might be the best available option if Toyota really wanted to promote the second-generation racer.
Truex Brothers connection
Speaking of Truex, his extension with Joe Gibbs Racing for next season could also have a positive implication for younger brother Ryan, who is still seeking stability and a full-time future across NASCAR’s three highest levels.
At the end of the day, the elder Truex just wasn’t entirely committed to retirement when he knows he could still compete for wins and championships at the highest level of the sport. Truex also comes fully funded with the complete backing of Bass Pro Shops and Auto Owner’s Insurance, two companies that were on the fence about returning to Gibbs if Truex did not remain their driver.
And in choosing to stay at the Cup Series level, Truex might have bought his younger brother an extra year to continue proving his merits for his own future.
“Yeah, we’ve got races for Ryan again next year, hopefully more,” said the elder Truex. “We are looking for sponsorship to do a full year, if possible. That is on the table. He will be running part-time, but obviously it would be great if we could get him a full-time deal, so any out there looking for a good driver? He does a good job on social media too.”
Wouldn’t it be even better if Gibbs could replace a Truex with a Truex when the time comes? That surely isn’t a non-zero consideration in choosing to come back for a 19th full-time season.
For his part, Ryan Truex has made six Xfinity Series appearances over the past two years. He claimed his first NASCAR national touring win in May at Dover by leading 124 or the 200 overall laps. He has three top-fives in six races this season.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.