Four drivers down, 12 still with their hearts set on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship after the Apache Warrior 400 at Dover.
There was a chance there would be some drama among the bottom five drivers in the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs this weekend at Dover International Speedway. While that failed to materialize for the most part, there was serious intrigue up front.
Chase Elliott was in the lead and heading for his first Cup Series victory. Kyle Busch was running him down with a mind to grab his second straight checkered flag. In the end, Elliott saw his breakthrough win slip through his fingers.
While he was naturally distraught after the race, Elliott is still in decent shape in the playoff standings heading into the Round of 12. Though just 10th of the 12 remaining drivers, Elliott begins the next round just four points behind eighth-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
In fact the gap between Jimmie Johnson in fifth and Jamie McMurray in 12th is just 17 points, or the same deficit between Johnson and third place Kyle Larson. That will make the next race at Charlotte very interesting indeed, especially with Talladega looming right behind it with the potential to really shake things up.
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Here’s how the 12 drivers left stack up after Dover:
2017 NASCAR Playoffs standings — Beginning of Round of 12
- Martin Truex Jr.: 3059 pts.
- Kyle Busch, -18
- Kyle Larson, -25
- Brad Keselowski, -39
- Jimmie Johnson, -42
- Kevin Harvick, -44
- Denny Hamlin, -46
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., -49
- Ryan Blaney, -51
- Chase Elliott, -53
- Matt Kenseth, -54
- Jamie McMurray, -56