Cup Series Championship 4 is set after drama-filled day at Martinsville
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — NASCAR designs its playoff system for the thrill of victory and agony of defeat, and the final elimination race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season saw much more agony than celebration.
Alex Bowman slid into Denny Hamlin with seven laps remaining Sunday at Martinsville Speedway to take the lead and capture the Xfinity 500. Bowman was eliminated from championship contention earlier in the playoffs, and while Hamlin advanced to be one of four drivers eligible for the title next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, he was irate with Bowman afterward.
Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. will join Kyle Larson, who has dominated the season with nine victories, as the four title contenders at Phoenix. Truex advanced by just three positions over Kyle Busch.
Busch, Brad Keselowski (who missed by eight points), Ryan Blaney (-20) and Joey Logano (-42) were eliminated from title contention.
Here are three takeaways from Martinsville:
Hamlin, Truex advancing and angry
After the race, Hamlin drove to where Bowman was celebrating his win, ran into his car and flipped him off.
Hamlin said afterward that he gave Bowman extra room because he didn’t think he had the talent to make the pass clean — and he still got taken out.
"He's just a hack," Hamlin said. "Just an absolute hack. He gets his ass kicked by his teammates every week. He's terrible. He's just terrible. ... I moved up as high as I could on the racetrack to give him all the room I could. He still can't drive."
Bowman said it was unintentional and also said he didn’t want to partake in any of the extracurriculars after the race.
"I understand why he's mad," Bowman said. "I'd be mad, too. I drove off into the corner, got loose, spun him out. At the same time, I didn't do it on purpose.
"If I did, I'd tell you."
Another driver who advanced was also angry, as Truex had a car capable of challenging for the win, and he got run into by Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola on laps following a restart, forcing Truex to rally in the final laps.
"It’s kind of stupid, if you ask me," he said. "I wouldn’t do that if I was in that position. It is what it is. I swear every year it gets crazier, and guys could care less about other competitors and driving dirtier and hitting them more."
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Kyle Busch ends frustrating playoffs
Busch thought this semifinal round would be one of his best, but instead, he ended it with finishes of eighth, 28th and second. The second-place finish wasn’t enough for him to advance after he managed just seven points in the first two stages, and Truex earned 15 to put Busch in a position to either win to advance or finish four spots ahead of Truex, who wound up fourth.
Busch told reporters afterward that he should "beat the s---" out of Keselowski for trying to dump him on the final lap in order to gain another spot (which still wouldn’t have mattered for Keselowski).
"You listen to the fan base, and you wonder, ‘Man, if I wreck somebody, do I get cheered?’" said Busch, one of the most polarizing drivers in the sport. "No. They’re condoning it, but it’s all in who you are."
It appeared afterward that Busch tried to swipe into Keselowski’s car but just ended up spinning.
"I don’t know what he was thinking," Keselowski said. "I don’t know if he’s mad at himself [or] mad at me."
Chase Elliott to defend title
Elliott, the 2020 Cup champion, will get to defend his title, as he clinched his spot after the second stage. Contact with Keselowski ended his hopes for a win on a day when he led a race-high 289 of 501 laps.
Afterward, Elliott, who won at Martinsville a year ago to launch himself into championship contention, was trying to quickly put that Keselowski incident and any frustration behind him.
"I wasn't super surprised that he made a mistake," Elliott said of Keselowski. "As hard as he hit me, I knew he just didn't clean me out on purpose.
"I figure he wheel-hopped or something. ... Really, moving on was all that mattered."
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
