Xfinity Playoffs opener did not fully follow the script

NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs are running and some expected fringe contender Bristol Motor Speedway has immediately fallen below the cutline due to its various misfortune on Friday.

For one, Richard Children Racing It was a terrible night with both Austin Hill And Jessie love Non-perfect speed and later a loose wheel requires a pit. During this time, JR motorsports Contestant Sammy Smith The race almost immediately faced the engine failure and joined Nick Sanchez As all behind the elimination cutline.

Hill and Love finished 19th and 25th.

“Yes, obviously it was a terrible night in one of our best tracks, I think as a team with the number 2 car,” Love told Motorsport.com after the race. “I don’t know why. I think we tried to do everything we have done in spring, but nothing happened literally.

“It can always be worse, but tonight was very bad, clearly, we are under the cut, but nothing that we cannot dig.

For the hill, it is worse because he has already entered the playoffs, which has no playoff points, as a deliberate arms due to his suspension. Eric almarola In July on Indianapolis Motor Speedway. No one leaves the bristle, which should win the obstacles, but the hill needs a large scale in two weeks in Kansas.

And love remembers off-wheel to clean his head.

“No, I’m ready for a little break,” said Love. “Just to prepare for Kansas, reset and shake the time, tonight. It is not that we are going to Bristol again in two weeks. It’s a completely different race track and our intermediate accessories have been really good. … But yes, it’s a bad night.”

Updated playoff grid

Connor Zilisk +85
Justin Ongier +53
Sam mayor +35
Carson Quapil +16
Harrison Burton +9
Brandon jones +8
Sheldon Creed +7
Taylor gray +3
Nick Sanchez -3
Jessie Love -3
Austin Hill -16
Sammy Smith -24

Off to a good start

At the other end of the spectrum, the Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayor of the Has Factory Team were in part -time second and third place. Joe Gibbs Racing Driver Arik Almarola on Friday night.

Both Mayor and Creed have enjoyed a nominal successful weather, but they have not been in a regular mix with JR motorcysts aces in summer.

“Yes, I knew that I was not going there, but I thought I would send it there and see how close I could meet,” Creed said. “I had to raise at the very end not to hit him. It would not have felt right if I made him very happy to go to another place for the 15th time, at the end of a week, and go to one of his favorite in Kansas.”

Apart from this, there is an underxposed-eish positive playoff opener who was Harrison Burton, who was in Resource Limited AM racing Car – which is a satellite program for the Haas Factory Team.

Burton finished third in the first phase and 10th in the second phase, earning nine overall stage points before closing with the result of the seventh place.

“I think we just have to live aggressive, honestly, and it is very difficult, this series is so difficult,” Burton said. “The moment you allow your leg to get away from the gas, you are going to beat, and I would love to get the same marks as soon as possible and if we are fasting in Kansas, I intend to be aggressive.

“I think it’s a do or dye race for us.”

House money

Meanwhile, the Championships Favorite 1A and 1B in the championships in Coner Zilisk and Justin Angier were playing with home money that they are already closed in the second round. But in this period there is a degree of results that their profit increases in each win or stage win.

Both struggled to win and when they were in the pit, but again, it is largely inconsistent in the big picture.

His team partner, Carson Quapil, is still demanding the first win of his career, but placed himself in a really good place to move forward with his fourth -ranked finish and stage points.

“It’s not definitely what we wanted,” Quapil said. “We were last second in spring Kyle LarsenThis is basically a win, right? You come back and he is not racing and you expect a kind, but as I said, we had something different and it was not quite good, but I mean it was still quite good to go from 25th to 5th or 6th in the previous stage, so it was really a good piece, just burnt itself. ,

And now, he is a good a bit above the cutline.

“We just need to knock on good finish and these people keep us fast cars and do their work and everyone else needs to do their work.”

Another championship

Once again, Eric Almarola won a race and opened the exfinity series playoffs, which placed a spotlight on the owner’s championship.

For the second consecutive season, Almarola placed Gibbs Racing No. 19 in the owner championship with a win. In the last season, he finished running the entire playoffs and upgraded all the way to the last four by creating two separate championships to follow all autumn.

He is not going into the car in every race in this decline, but it sounds like Almarola can once again bend to try to give that title a home to Gibs.

“Stay,” he said. “We need to work through it. We clearly made a complete effort in it last year. I run all the playoff races. The way we worked this year, we were uncertain in such a way how the schedule was going out (because) there were some other opportunities where people were bringing money.

“I was only going to run a handful of running and then some of them fell through deals and our schedule continued to extend. I am not running all the playoff races. Justin Bonsinor is running Canasus, but I don’t know how it is going to work.

“But I know how important it is to coach and everyone in gibs racing.”

And yes, as the man who plays the circumstances when the man plays to drive and win the race, which is ‘equally good’ for the cup series veteran. It is especially rewarded to be able to win several races to share it with a young family.

“If you ask” is it better than this, “then the answer is not ‘, and I told you in Phoenix that even last year,” Almarola said. “I am loved what I am doing. I love it. I am away from the next two weeks.

“I am not going to loudin. I can go to Kansas to hang out with my cups, but I am not and I am in love with life right now.”