The opening race of the Cup playoffs shuffled the standings in ways few might have expected.
Kyle Larson entered the playoffs as the points leader but fell to 10th in the standings after his crash at Atlanta.
Joey Logano had finished 19th or worse in seven of the last 11 races of the regular season … and won at Atlanta to advance to the second round.
Here are key takeaways after the opening Cup playoff race:
Drafting tracks are Team Penske’s domain
Not only did Joey Logano win, but teammate Ryan Blaney, who finished third, scored the most points (53) and teammate Austin Cindric, who placed 10th, scored the fourth-most points (46) Sunday.
Blaney moved atop the points heading into Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen (3 p.m. ET on USA Network). Blaney is 45 points ahead of Brad Keselowski, the first driver out of a transfer spot. Cindric entered the playoffs two points above the cutline and is now 27 points ahead of Keselowski.
While many viewed Atlanta as a wildcard race, Team Penske saw it as an opportunity.
“I expected a performance like today,” Cindric said after his 10th-place finish. “I expected a qualifying effort (fifth) like we had (Saturday). I think the expectation is high within the industry or within our organization and, honestly, within myself, so I felt like a win was very possible (Sunday).”
Team Penske led 134 of the 266 laps at Atlanta — including a race-high 92 laps by Cindric.
Team Penske has led the most laps in all five drafting style races this season— both Daytonas, both Atlantas and the spring Talladega race. Team Penske also led the most laps in last year’s Talladega playoff race.
Team Penske drivers also have combined to win seven of the 10 stages at drafting style races this season.
At the end Sunday, it was Blaney pushing Logano into the lead on the overtime restart.
“Blaney has been a fantastic teammate,” Logano said. “We’ve worked together for years now. It’s nice, for so many years we’ve talked about a lot of scenarios. We’ve been through a lot of different scenarios at the end of these races. Some we’ve done really well, like today, sometimes we’ve messed up, both of us.
“The good thing is we were able to talk about it all the time and be able to get better. That’s just really what you want in a teammate out there. It goes back and forth. Sometimes you’re the one in Victory Lane, sometimes you’re not. Luckily today we were in the right spot.”
A step forward for Alex Bowman but more work remains
Alex Bowman’s week started with him fending off rumors that he would be replaced if he did not advance out of the first round of the playoffs.
Bowman finished fifth Sunday. He went from holding the last transfer spot entering Atlanta to sixth in the points. He’s 27 points ahead of the first driver outside a transfer position.
It’s his third top-five finish in five drafting style races this season, including a runner-up result in the Daytona 500.
But the biggest challenge comes this weekend at Watkins Glen. Although Hendrick Motorsports has won the last five races at the historic road course, Bowman has never finished better than 14th in seven Cup starts there.
“Watkins Glen, yeah, we’ve been pretty terrible,” Bowman said.
He has been focused on that track this season.
“I’ve spent a month in the simulator at this point just trying to be better,” said Bowman, who has scored the most points on road courses this season in the series. “I feel like I’m good at the rest of the road courses, (but) the Glen just hasn’t been a place that’s really clicked for me. Trying to figure that out and be better.”
Should Joe Gibbs Racing be worried?
Three of its four drivers are either below the cutline or just above it after Atlanta.
This past weekend was an awful weekend for most of the organization.
Plug wire issues cost Denny Hamlin power in qualifying and he was the slowest car. Teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs also started at the rear after the plug wires were replaced before the race Sunday after seeing similar issues to Hamlin’s woes.
The race wasn’t much better. Martin Truex Jr. had a pit road speeding penalty and his car was damaged in a crash before finishing 35th. Hamlin ran at the back much of the race and was involved in the last-lap crash and finished 24th. Ty Gibbs led late but said he missed a block and that sent him backward, finishing 17th.
The result is that Truex is 19 points below the cutline. Gibbs holds the final transfer spot with two races left in the opening round. Hamlin is two points above the first driver outside a playoff spot.
One thing for all of them is that last year Joe Gibbs Racing placed all of its cars in the top six at Watkins Glen. Hamlin was second, Christopher Bell was third, Gibbs was fifth and Truex was sixth a year ago.
Back atop the pit box
Adam Stevens made his return to the track for the first time since July at Indianapolis. Stevens ruptured the patellar tendon in both knees diving in a swimming pool while with family members during the Olympic break. He needed surgery on both knees.
Stevens said he’ll be back at the track the rest of the season.
Bell finished fourth at Atlanta. He is second in the standing, 40 points above the first driver outside a playoff spot.
“The key is, there’s 16 of of us (in the playoffs) and 12 are getting through,” Stevens said of the next round. “That’s a lot. So you don’t have to hit a home run. To come here and have a super solid day and be competitive after we got it tightened up is encouraging and it is a bit of a relief. But the next two races are a bit of a wild card, too. So what happened to some of the guys (Sunday) could easily happen to us next week.”
