The 2024 NASCAR playoffs heads into the Round of 12 this weekend with the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Kyle Larson dominated the field last time out at Bristol by leading 462 of the 500 laps to secure victory as he searches for his second NASCAR Cup Series title.
The win at Bristol marks the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver’s fifth victory of the season; the most of any other driver this season so far. Larson heads into the next round of the playoffs as the leader of the standings, having picked up an impressive 47 bonus points, despite Tyler Reddick topping the standings after the 26-race regular season.
Larson’s dominance at Bristol led to many people feeling the event was a bit dull. Kenny Wallace criticised NASCAR fans for calling the race ‘boring’, slamming the older generation as he believed it was a great race.
As the first round of the 2024 NASCAR playoffs comes to a close, four drivers have been eliminated, with two coming from the same team.
Kevin Harvick says Ty Gibbs’ ‘self-inflicted’ mistakes and not winning races cost his NASCAR playoff spot
Joe Gibbs Racing saw all four of their drivers qualify for the NASCAR playoffs this season, but after the race at Bristol, two have fallen at the first hurdle.
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Martin Truex Jr and Ty Gibbs struggled for results in the Round of 16, with the latter being the only driver of the four that were eliminated – the two JGR drivers, Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton – to finish in the top 15 of a race; that coming at Bristol with 15th.
Gibbs, the grandson of JGR’s owner Joe Gibbs, reached the playoffs for the first time in his career at just 21 years old, in what is only his second full season in the Cup Series, but despite showing some promise, Gibbs has not registered a win thus far in 2024 and a speeding penalty at Bristol ultimately cost him a place in the Round of 12.
Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast, Harvick put Gibbs’ elimination down to the ‘exact same thing’, as the No. 54 JGR driver was plagued with penalties throughout the season and just could not reach the top step.
“The No. 54 has had the speed all year to win races and it comes down to the exact same thing that happened this weekend; a mistake.
“Speeding penalty on pit road, you don’t want it to happen but it happened. You look back at a lot of the other races, it’s been a speeding penalty or a pit road penalty or something on pit road for the most part, engine problems with Toyota.
“No. 54 kind of self-inflicted their wound in their exit of the playoffs the same exact way that they have the whole year, in not winning races.”
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Ty Gibbs is enjoying his best Cup Series season to date
Gibbs has proven at such a young age that is capable of producing great results, as evidenced by winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2022 with seven victories across the season.
Moving over to his grandfather’s team in 2023 in the Cup Series for a full-time assault – having competed part-time with 23XI Racing the year prior – Gibbs scored 10 top 10 finishes, including four in a row from Ambetter Health 400 to the Food City Dirt Race and finished 18th overall.
The 21-year-old has gone better in 2024 with 11 top 10 finishes and five in a row from the second to the sixth race of the year. Despite not winning a race – and is still yet to win one in the Cup Series – Gibbs just scrapped into the playoffs as the 16th driver with four stage wins giving him four bonus points.
Gibbs finished the regular season in ninth with 702 points, 158 before the table topper Tyler Reddick. After the race at Bristol, Gibbs sits 13th in the standings as he is set for his career-best finish in the Cup Series.