NASCAR Barometer: Elliott Wins Second Playoff Race

Chase Elliott took advantage of his speed and the mistakes of his competition to grab his second win in the round of 12 and third of the season on Sunday in Kansas. Elliott's pace on Sunday was enough to hold off late charges from Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson to maintain momentum and maximize his position heading into the round of eight. The next three races, starting this week in Martinsville, represent the final elimination round of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series before the winner-take-all championship finale at Homestead. Elliott's recent wins give him the momentum once reserved for rivals Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch earlier this season and that could prove to be a pivotal advantage as the season enters its final four races.

UPGRADE

Chase Elliott – Elliott took advantage of his uptick in performance by scoring his second win in the playoffs and his third this season. Elliott overcame the odds on Sunday to top the Ford-powered teams and remain mistake-free to come out on top for his first win at Kansas Speedway. In six Martinsville starts Elliott has one top-five and two top-10s. Many fantasy players will remember that he was nearly a winner at the track before contact with Denny Hamlin put him out of contention. We may be able to point to that moment as the turning point in Elliott's career that pushed him from contender to winner. He is beginning to look like a serious championship contender.

Joey Logano – Logano has become one of the most consistent top finishers in recent weeks, and he was quick from the start in Kansas. The Penske Racing driver started his first race of the season from pole and jumped out early to dominate and win the first stage of the race. The final stage of the race didn't play out as the team expected, but Logano walked away with a top-10 finish, and becomes the only remaining Penske driver to remain alive in the championship battle. His quest for the title continues again this week at Martinsville with the start of the round of eight. Despite four pole positions in Martinsville, he has yet to win at the track. He finished sixth after starting third there earlier this season.

Kevin Harvick – Harvick has had a great history at Kansas Speedway, and he extended that run on Sunday. He was fast in practice and started from the front row before taking over the lead and winning the second stage of the afternoon. However, the only person who seems capable of beating Harvick is himself. That was the case in Kansas as he picked up a speeding penalty on his final stop, which gifted his position at the front of the field to his competitors. It was a terrible disappointment for the driver who appeared destined to visit Victory Lane on Sunday. Harvick's only Martinsville victory came in 2011, but he finished fifth in each of the last two visits to the flat oval. He and his team will have to eliminate future mistakes, though.

Erik Jones – Despite already being eliminated from the championship battle, Jones continues to persevere and fight until the end of the season. He showed pace in practice at Kansas and backed up that initial speed with a fourth-place finish. His best Martinsville finish in three Cup visits was the 12th-place finish he grabbed in his very first visit. He started 13th and finished 17th there earlier this season, but could be on an upswing in momentum this time around. His top finish in Kansas was his third top-10 and second top-five in the last three races. His championship elimination seems to have spurred him on to achieving even better results. He has eight top-fives and 17 top-10s so far this season with four races remaining.

DOWNGRADE

Daniel Suarez – Suarez lost grip and slid up the track into the wall early in Sunday's race, which sent him to the pits and behind the competition. That move proved disastrous to his day, as he was never able to recover and finished outside of the top 20. He continues his efforts to impress future employers but hasn't yet produced the type of finish that would make team managers sit up and take notice. Inconsistency seems to be his biggest problem, with random top-10s interspersed with multiple finishes outside of the top 20. Predicting his finishes is a huge challenge for fantasy players. Suarez has three Cup starts at Martinsville with a best finish of 15th. His average start at the track is 19th with an average finish of 21.7.

William Byron – A rare blown engine put end to Byron's efforts at Kansas last week. Byron hasn't shared in the successes of his teammates this season, and a rare mechanical failure made for another depressing end to a race on Sunday. He was classified 38th of the 40 runners on Sunday and has to be hopeful that the season ends peacefully so he can fully turn his attention to getting better in 2019. He must weather a few more races this season, though. Byron started and finished 20th in his only visit to Martinsville Speedway in the Cup series. With just one top-15 finish since Darlington, it might be hard to expect more than top-20s from him in the last four races of the season.

Brad Keselowski – Despite scoring a top-10 finish last week, Keselowski was unable to advance in the championship hunt. The crash in Dover and the miscalculation on fuel in Talladega dug too deep of a hole for him and the team to dig out of in the final race of the latest championship round. Keselowski had a season to be proud of, but the championship will not return to his trophy case this season. In 17 Martinsville starts, Keselowski has one win and is on a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes at the track. His focus for these next three races will be to try to gain the most for himself while also helping out teammate Logano's championship hunt when possible.

Alex Bowman – Alex Bowman became the latest of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers to move to the sidelines of the championship battle after coming up short of the win in Kansas on Sunday. His ninth-place finish would have been one to be proud of earlier this season, but considering his position in points heading into Sunday's race, it was not enough to see his championship fight survive. Bowman's career has been given a significant boost by his arrival at Hendrick, and he proved that he's capable of taking advantage of that opportunity in his first season with the organization. Four races remain to learn as much as possible before starting anew in 2019 to hopefully last even longer in the championship fight.

Ryan Blaney – Blaney joined teammate Keselowski in exiting the championship fight in Kansas. Blaney faced a difficult situation starting Sunday's race outside of the top eight in points, and circumstances meant his seventh-place finish wasn't enough to lift him out of the danger zone. His focus for the remaining races of 2018 will be on achieving the maximum for himself while helping teammate Logano where possible, just like Keselowski. However, his sights will truly be focused on achieving more in 2019. Blaney's five Martinsville starts have produced two top-10 finishes, which have come in his last two starts there. He has a win with three top-10s in the last six races, but now fantasy owners will be focused on how he reacts to championship elimination.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Kyle Larson – While fantasy owners would likely have selected Larson for Sunday's race given his potential for adding finish differential points, few would have expected him to run all the way to third place. He was assessed a severe penalty earlier in the week and then crashed in the first practice at Kansas. That contact forced him to a back-up car in what had already become a must-win situation after the penalty. It looked like his goose was cooked before the green flag even waved on Sunday, but Larson's never-say-die attitude saw him climb all the way to be within striking distance of the win in the final laps. It was an impressive recovery that could signal that he should remain a championship contender for years to come.