Four Drivers Eliminated From Cup Playoffs At Bristol

Harrison Burton (21) and Brad Keselowski (6) were two of the four drivers eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – It was a night to forget for four unfortunate souls in Thunder Valley, as championship hopefuls Harrison Burton, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex, Jr., and Ty Gibbs all saw their NASCAR Cup Series title hopes vanish following Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

The quartet was eliminated from playoff eligibility as the lowest four in points at the end of the cutoff race for the Round of 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Burton’s fate was the first to be sealed, as his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse suffered a power steering failure in the waning laps of the second stage.

He lost 78 laps in the garage area while his crew made repairs and ultimately finished 35th, ending 54 points behind the elimination line after a first round to forget.

“Earlier in the race [the wheel] started to get heavier, and then by the last 60 laps I ran it had just zero power steering. It just got to where I couldn’t make corrections, and my arms were just so tired that I couldn’t do anymore,” Burton explained after the race. “I knew it was starting to slowly go and they normally don’t get better when they’re starting to get worse. I just didn’t say anything on my radio because I didn’t want it to be true.

“After about 180 laps of it you just can’t do it anymore, so it’s very frustrating and very sad. Even when we got back out there, I was just letting guys go when they would get somewhat close to me, but when I was along and just running, we were fast. It just sucks to go out that way. You want to at least go down swinging.”

The Huntersville, N.C., native clinched his first playoff berth with the feel-good win of the year during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in August, but unfortunately, it didn’t translate to good vibes in his postseason performance.

“It’s a really sad way to end it, but really proud of our guys,” Burton said. “It was a good year nevertheless.

“We gained a couple spots just from guys wiping themselves out. We didn’t quit, but obviously it’s a frustrating way to go. I’m happy to have been a part of it. I’m proud of our guys for ending our relationship the right way, and just hope to end the rest of the playoffs strong because we still have a lot to gain total points-wise if we can just get some good races together.

“We’re not quitting yet. We’ll be back and ready to go.”

Truex was the next to go under, as a lap-333 speeding penalty deep in the third stage buried him in the field after he’d run in the top three most of the night.

His No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry eventually went down a lap to the leader with 85 to go, effectively removing him from contention and giving him no real hope to rebound.

The Mayetta, N.J., native won the Cup Series championship in 2017 and looked to claim the hardware for a second time before calling it quits from full-time competition after this season.

It just wasn’t to be, however.

“We had a good Bass Pro Shops Camry. We did good in the first two stages – got a lot of points – but I guess we would have had to run second or third to make it through,” a dejected Truex said. “Who knows if we would have been able to, but I wish we could have seen if we could have done that.

“I’m just gutted for my team. We worked so hard this week. We all put in a lot – all season long – and in the last three weeks we were just snake bitten. Couldn’t do anything right,” he continued. “Point-zero nine mph hurts really bad to take the chance away to know if we even could have done it. I don’t know if we could have run second – we were close to it all day – but in the end, it doesn’t matter.

“I feel terrible for my guys.”

Ty Gibbs sped on pit road in the first half of Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. (Danny Hansen/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

Ty Gibbs, making his playoff debut, suffered a fate similar to that of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Truex, as a speeding penalty of his own at lap 130 put the No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry behind the 8- ball for the rest of the night.

Gibbs won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship as a rookie in 2022 and jumped to the Cup Series last year. After falling just short of the postseason then, the 21-year-old made it in the 16-car field on points this time around.

He just couldn’t replicate the same kind of magic that led him to his Xfinity Series title two years ago.

“That was just unfortunate there. I felt like we were really good in practice and qualifying. Just a little too loose tonight and fired off too tight,” Gibbs said. “Unfortunate. Speeding penalty is on me. You run the lights so close – it’s my fault. Unfortunate.

“I’m proud of the He Gets Us Toyota guys and all of the effort they put in.”

Brad Keselowski was the final driver eliminated following Saturday’s event. The 2012 Cup Series champion made his second consecutive postseason appearance – and 12th overall – on the strength of his first win as an owner-driver at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway back in May.

That same strength wasn’t evident over the first three races of the playoffs, bouncing Keselowski from a chance to become a multi-time Cup Series champion.

“Didn't have the pace we needed out of our Castrol Ford,” Keselowski said. “We ran as hard as we could, but there wasn’t anything there. Executed what we had to execute with on pit road and took the chances we needed to take. Just have to be faster.

“We don’t want to just make the playoffs, we want to go deep in the playoffs, and obviously we didn’t do that this year, so we’ve got to keep working and find more pace going forward.”

For the 12 drivers moving on to round two, their next challenge awaits in America’s Heartland with the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN Bet from Kansas Speedway. Broadcast coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.