Bowman Wins as the Duels in the Desert Are Set

All three of NASCAR’s top series arrived at Martinsville as dreams of running for a championship would either remain alive for Phoenix or diminish after this weekend. After this weekend, it’s safe to say that NASCAR made a good decision making Martinsville the ultimate cutoff for the championship four. 

For the Camping World Truck Series, there was quite a lot of mayhem at the end of the race, when on the final restart, Todd Gilliland was leading and was holding off two drivers that needed to win to advance. Those are Stewart Friesen and Zane Smith. Gilliland slipped up into Friesen, allowing Zane Smith to make it a three-wide battle for the lead. All three cars bounced into each other, causing Friesen to turn Gilliland as Zane Smith came to the white flag. Right after that as the caution came out, Friesen cut a tire and went for a spin in turn one. Zane Smith would go on to win and punch his ticket to the Championship Four in Phoenix. Smith, who doesn’t have a ride lined up for 2022, was the runner-up in the standings last season, losing the championship to teammate Sheldon Creed. As for Creed, he battled through issues but would end up losing out on making it. He, Friesen, Carson Hocevar, and Chandler Smith would be eliminated. Next weekend, it will come down to Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, and John Hunter Nemechek for the title. In terms of who would be my favorite to win the truck series championship, I think John Hunter Nemechek is the one to go with. He’s had one mentality this season, as that is to win. He’s won a lot of races this season and now looks to get the most important one of them all.

With the NASCAR Xfinity Series, no one had come into this race safe, as no one had won to lock into the championship four. Austin Cindric was the first driver to lock himself in by gaining enough points in the stages to advance. For one driver, Noah Gragson said before the race that he would do anything to win this race at all costs, knowing he was in a must-win situation to advance. Gragson had shown he had the strongest car all race long, however in the closing laps, Daniel Hemric had gotten around him to take the lead. He looked to run away with it and finally gain his first win in NASCAR, that was until seven laps to go when Justin Haley went spinning. This gave Noah Gragson the chance he needed to get the lead back on the outside. After another green-white-checkered attempt, Austin Cindric got to Gragson’s inside coming to the checkered flag, but Gragson held him off to win and advance to the Championship Four. The Xfinity Series Championship Four will be Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, and Noah Gragson. For my pick of winning this one, I feel like it could be destiny for AJ Allmendinger. He has had an amazing resurgence in his racing career, especially with the cup win at Indy earlier this year, and I think AJ getting this title would be the icing on the cake. I can’t help but ask, what if Daniel Hemric wins the championship, but doesn’t win the race to do it?

In a wild cutoff Cup race at Martinsville, Chase Elliott became the second driver to advance to the Championship Four after winning stage two. Now it was coming down to the wire, especially for Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski. Despite Larson being hit with speeding penalties on pit road, Hendrick was looking like the team to beat with Elliott winning stages, Larson running strong and Alex Bowman creeping into the picture. In the closing laps, Denny Hamlin had the lead and his championship four hopes were looking fantastic. With 46 to go, Chase Elliott was turned by Brad Keselowski to bring out a caution, as Keselowski needed to work his way through the field to get that last spot. With 29 to go, Martin Truex Jr had a poor restart that even resulted in him hitting the wall, now putting him in a situation to be eliminated. Right after that, Ryan Preece brought out the next caution. Now there was a tiebreaker between Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. Alex Bowman took the lead from Hamlin with 23 laps to go, but Hamlin would fight back on the inside. After a late caution where Bowman turned Denny Hamlin from the lead, we would once again be set up for a green-white-checkered finish. Bowman led the field to the restart as Kyle Busch got into second, trying to chase Bowman down so he can compete for his third championship. But it would be Alex Bowman, getting his fourth win of the season at Martinsville as Brad Keselowski turned Kyle Busch after the checkered flag. Tempers flared even more as Denny Hamlin drove up to Bowman on his burnout and did an “angry burnout” as both cars locked noses. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr will go on to compete for the championship. After the race, an upset Hamlin called Bowman a ‘hack,’ showing his frustrations. Hamlin now seems all dialed in on winning this championship. However, I think Kyle Larson will top off what has been a career year for him, giving Mr. Hendrick his second-straight title. 

My Championship Picks for Phoenix:

Trucks: John Hunter Nemechek

Xfinity: AJ Allmendinger

Cup: Kyle Larson