This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Ryan Blaney was one of the fastest cars early in Sunday's 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway but then made a major mistake by spinning on his way to pit road during the first stage break. His mistake didn't have the negative impact it otherwise would have once rain postponed the remaining race until Monday, however. By pitting to replace all four tires after the spin, he was left in position to make a two-tire stop and get back to the front Monday afternoon when the action resumed. He continued to race toward the front of the pack in the remaining two stages, avoiding the crashes that took out most of the top contenders, and then drafting in a neck-and-neck battle with Ryan Newman in one of the closest finishes in series history. Blaney's first victory of 2019 came at the perfect time as he faced a near must-win situation to advance one round further in the playoffs. He now joins Kyle Larson as the only two drivers secure in the round of eight.
This week features the round of 12 cutoff race at Kansas Speedway where the final eight championship contenders will be moving on. Brad Keselowski won there earlier this season and could use a victory to rekindle his championship spark and sail into the round of eight. William Byron, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer and Alex Bowman all sit below the cutoff line after Talladega.
UPGRADE
Ryan Blaney – Blaney pulled off the clutch victory he needed
Ryan Blaney was one of the fastest cars early in Sunday's 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway but then made a major mistake by spinning on his way to pit road during the first stage break. His mistake didn't have the negative impact it otherwise would have once rain postponed the remaining race until Monday, however. By pitting to replace all four tires after the spin, he was left in position to make a two-tire stop and get back to the front Monday afternoon when the action resumed. He continued to race toward the front of the pack in the remaining two stages, avoiding the crashes that took out most of the top contenders, and then drafting in a neck-and-neck battle with Ryan Newman in one of the closest finishes in series history. Blaney's first victory of 2019 came at the perfect time as he faced a near must-win situation to advance one round further in the playoffs. He now joins Kyle Larson as the only two drivers secure in the round of eight.
This week features the round of 12 cutoff race at Kansas Speedway where the final eight championship contenders will be moving on. Brad Keselowski won there earlier this season and could use a victory to rekindle his championship spark and sail into the round of eight. William Byron, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer and Alex Bowman all sit below the cutoff line after Talladega.
UPGRADE
Ryan Blaney – Blaney pulled off the clutch victory he needed to advance into the next round of the championship playoffs with a photo finish over Ryan Newman. The Penske Racing driver had a perfect restart with just two laps remaining in the race and then held off a wild charge from Denny Hamlin pushing Newman the line. It was the sixth-closest finish in series history and propels Blaney to his first win of 2019 and keeps his championship hopes alive. He doesn't have to worry about getting a top finish next week in Kansas but does have three top-five finishes at the track from nine career starts. He started fourth and finished seventh in this race last season.
William Byron – Byron out dueled Joey Logano in the final laps of the first stage Sunday just before rain came and postponed the remainder of the race to Monday. That top effort didn't last until the finish, though. The No. 24 was caught in a wreck in the final stage that left him trying to salvage as many points as possible before facing this week's elimination round in Kansas. By the finish, he had only come as high as 33rd position, which is a hard pill to swallow after being so quick all weekend. To advance he will need a win this week. Byron has a best Kansas finish of 20th but did start third there earlier this season.
Clint Bowyer – Bowyer connected with Joey Logano late in the second stage at Talladega and then battled to remain at the front for the stage victory. While he fell back before the segment ended, he did enough to avoid the stage ending crash to come out with the lead to capture valuable championship points. His luck didn't last, however. A failed tire and spin left him stranded on the banking as he went off the lead lap and into catch-up mode. He recovered and advanced past others who were caught in crashes to finish 23rd. It wasn't what he wanted, however, and leaves him in a must-win situation this week in Kansas. Bowyer was fifth there earlier this season, leading 12 laps after starting on the front row.
Ryan Newman – While Newman's championship hopes were extinguished some time ago, he demonstrated at Talladega that he still has every bit of passion to continue pushing Roush Fenway Racing forward. His second-place finish (by inches) to Blaney was his third top-10 finish in the last five races and his best result of the season. Newman has pulled this underperforming team forward since joining and showed the spark this weekend that this team used to have. Newman has been outperforming expectations much of this season and likely will continue to do so in the remaining races, too. He won at Kansas in 2003 but started 19th and finished 23rd there earlier this season. He seems likely to improve on that this week.
DOWNGRADE
Alex Bowman – Bowman was fighting at the front of the field for the victory in the second stage before a mistimed block on Logano saw him lose control and spin into the path of the oncoming field. Bowman's damage was severe enough to knock him out of the race and end his two-race run of top-three finishes. His 37th-place finish was his worst of the season and leaves him in a very precarious position in the round of 12's final race to shape the final eight championship contenders. Bowman has been forcing his own luck recently, and he will need to do that again this week in Kansas. Earlier this season he led 63 laps at the circuit on his way to one of his runner-up finishes.
Martin Truex Jr. – Truex was one of the many drivers caught in the stage two crash. The damage to his Toyota wasn't severe enough to knock him out of the race, but the team had its work cut out for it to keep him at speed and competitive. Ultimately, his right-front tire also failed and worsened the crash damage inflicted earlier. He ended the disappointing weekend with a 26th-place finish, which will force him to rely a little more on previous points earned from wins and stages earlier this season. Truex swept the two races at Kansas in the 2017 season but started 31st and finished 19th there in the visit earlier this season. Still, he has four top-five finishes (including those 2017 wins) in his last five races at the track.
Chase Elliott – After finishing last at Dover, Elliott needed some things to fall his way at Talladega. That didn't happen, unfortunately, as teammate Alex Bowman triggered a multicar crash late in the second stage that caused damage to the No. 9 machine. Elliott was on the backfoot from there. He recovered well to grab a top-10 finish, but his playoff hopes are in a precarious position with just one race remaining to secure a spot in the final eight championship contenders. Elliott is the defending winner of this week's race and finished fourth at the track earlier this season. He'll need a bit of luck, speed and a top finish to keep those hopes alive this coming week at Kansas.
Joey Logano – Logano was doing everything he needed to be in position to battle for the Talladega win when Byron was turned and smashed into the No. 22. The crash was another Talladega multicar wreck, which is exactly why no playoff contender wanted to come into the race needing a top finish to advance their playoff hopes. The team worked to put the car back together, which was enough to give Logano an 11th-place finish in a situation where every single point matters. Those extra points could be just what he needs to advance to the round of eight after next week's visit to Kansas. Logano has two wins at that track and started from pole to lead 100 laps before finishing eighth in this race last season.
Kyle Busch – Once again, Busch had a weekend that produced less than expected results. Busch is finding it terribly difficult to climb his way back into Victory Lane and now hasn't won a race since Pocono in June, more than four months ago. Busch was in position to take advantage of a duel to the finish in Talladega's postponed race but was caught in a crash at the front of the field with less than 10 laps remaining in the race. His wins and stage points will assist him, but with his lack of results, he cannot continue to rely upon that. He will have to get the job done sooner rather than later. He was 30th at Kansas earlier this season, too.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Michael McDowell – From time to time McDowell is able to make something out of nothing. That is exactly what he did for fantasy owners who selected him last week in Talladega. The Front Row Motorsports driver picked up his second fifth-place finish of the season. At Daytona, the first race of the season, he grabbed his first top-five of 2019 and then only managed a best result of 12th a few weeks ago on the road course at Charlotte. At Talladega, he matched his best finish of the year in an impressive effort to avoid the wrecks and draft forward in the final miles. McDowell is a driver fantasy owners need to consider going forward on all superspeedway visits.
