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66 Minutes Encapsulates The Chaos Of The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

  66 minutes is all it took for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs to change entirely.  Martin Truex and Denny Hamlin? Mechanical Failures.  Ryan Blaney? 15 point swing in his favor with a P2 finish. Christopher Bell? Locked into the Championship 4.  66 minutes is all it took.  Blaney and Bell battled for the win late, after Kyle Larson, the dominant car of the day, decided to create a manmade beach on the front straightaway, crashing into the sand barrels coming onto pit road.  From there, it was anybody’s race, and Christopher Bell, who at one point ran 18th with a car that was extremely loose, was in the catbird’s seat, watching as the laps ticked down.  He did enough to hold off Ryan Blaney and lock himself into the Championship 4 for the 2nd year in a row.  It’s the 4th clutch win in the last 2 years for Bell, who is proving to be the present and future for Joe Gibbs Racing, who desperately needs a long term plan with the eventual retirement of the aforementioned Truex & Hamlin. 
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For Round Of 12 Field, Talladega Has The Chance To Throw A Monkey Wrench Into Playoff Aspirations

 When Bill France set out to build a racetrack that was both just a little bit wider & longer than Daytona, did he expect it to become what it is? Did he expect Talladega Superspeedway, which put on arguably the worst debut in a NASCAR track's history, to be one of the most beloved(and hated) tracks by fans around the world? Did he expect Talladega to become the party & pop culture capital for NASCAR, with movies, songs, & questionable activities all being tied into what is now known as NASCAR's biggest, baddest track? Probably not. But it's all of those things and more, and this weekend, it plays host to the 5th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.  If you're looking for stats for this weekend's race to give you a head start on picking or betting, here's one for you: William Byron is the only driver in the garage area, that, come Sunday, won't be putting down anxiety medication by the bottleful. Following Sunday's win at Texas, he
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Kyle Larson's Long Awaited Darlington Victory Proves That The 5 Is Still One Of The Teams To Beat

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 We've seen this movie before.  Kyle Larson in contention for the win late at Darlington in the #5 car.  In 2021, he finished runner up in both races, both times finishing behind a Joe Gibbs Racing car, despite a video game move in the Southern 500 to try and best Denny Hamlin.  In 2022, an engine issue took him out of contention early in the spring, while in the fall, he surprisingly finished 12th based solely off of speed.  In the spring of this year, it looked like it was finally going to go his way. The dominant car of the day, Martin Truex, had spun on the final lap of Stage 2. Larson's first Darlington victory was right there for the taking on a late restart - until Ross Chastain happened, not lifting into Turn 2 and taking out 2 fast race cars.  Fast forward to last night, September 3rd - and the script had a chance to play out exactly as it did in the spring. A dominant Joe Gibbs Racing Car - this time, Denny Hamlin, taken out by a self inflicted mistake. A late restart
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The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Are Bound To Be Interesting

 13 months ago, everyone waited with baited breath to see what Martin Truex would do.  In a season where the 2017 Cup Series champion was winless - and would eventually miss the playoffs, the prospect of a return looked grim.  But the 43 year old from New Jersey came back - and he might've made the best decision of his career.  Fast forward to September of 2023, and with 3 wins, a Regular Season Championship, and a win in the LA Clash, Truex is viewed as one of the championship favorites.  That just goes to show how wild the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season has been.  While William Byron has been solid for Hendrick Motorsports since joining the team in 2018, nobody could've predicted a 5 win Regular Season and #1 Playoff Seed, including 2 wins in a row at Las Vegas & Phoenix.  Speaking of Hendrick, who would've predicted that Chase Elliott, the 2020 champ and 5 time winner in 2023, would have missed the postseason, along with HMS teammate Alex Bowman? Injuries set both bac
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