NASCAR Playoff watch: Jimmie Johnson spins, still gains in the points standings
Jimmie Johnson got wrecked and still made a move in the points standings.
Johnson got turned into the carousel corner tire barriers on lap 62 by Ryan Blaney and still wound up with a top-20 finish. That, along with points from finishing in the top 10 in the first two stages, allowed Johnson to jump into a tie with Ryan Newman for 16th in the standings.
In with a win
Kyle Busch (4 wins)
Martin Truex Jr. (4)
Brad Keselowski (3)
Denny Hamlin (3)
Joey Logano (2)
Chase Elliott (2)
Kevin Harvick (1)
Kurt Busch (1)
Alex Bowman (1)
Nothing changes here as Elliott gets five more bonus points with his domination at Watkins Glen. Elliott may not be a favorite for the title but he’s someone who should be a contender in the third round of the playoffs at the very least.
Should make it without a win
Aric Almirola, 640 points
Ryan Blaney, 633
William Byron, 604
Erik Jones, 598
Kyle Larson, 590
We’ve got two new entries into this category. Jones continued his surge of excellence on Sunday with a fourth-place finish while Larson was eighth after some good pit strategy by crew chief Chad Johnston.
This is a group that shouldn’t seem too worried about making the playoffs, barring some serious misfortune over the next four races. Byron is still comfortably in the playoff picture after a bad day and a conflict with Kyle Busch, and Blaney was fifth on Sunday.
In, for now
Clint Bowyer, 556
Jimmie Johnson, 544
Did Johnson get lucky that Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace got into a confrontation? That video above of Johnson going into the tire barrier off Blaney’s bumper came before Busch and Wallace exchanged contact on the frontstretch on the same lap and a caution came out.
The official reasoning for the caution on Racing Reference, a site owned by NASCAR, is for Busch and Wallace. But NBC’s telecast of the race shows that the caution was out before Busch went spinning off Wallace’s bumper into turn one. Look at the illuminated yellow NBC logo here.
If the caution wasn’t for Johnson, his playoff fortunes could be attributed to Busch and Wallace being mad at each other. He ended up finishing 19th and moved up 12 points in the standings.
Outside looking in
Ryan Newman, 544
Daniel Suarez, 521
Paul Menard, 483
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 466
Newman had a flat tire during the race and was simply off all weekend. He finished 25th and is now tied with Johnson in the standings. But Johnson has the tiebreaker because he has better finishes than Newman.
Suarez is 23 points behind Newman after he finished 17th. He too had a tire rub after contact in turn one during the race.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
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