What an interesting story for a race. I rarely am down on competitive races, but I am down on this Kansas race. The finish resulted in fans watching Harvick almost helpless in his attempts to try to pass Joey Logano, and Logano used his master blocking skills to clinch a spot in the Championship Four. Stage one was controlled by Chase Elliott largely, and seven of the eight remaining playoff drivers scored stage points. Stage one was the best racing of the day, and it is becoming more obvious this intermediate aero package works best in cool, cloudy, and wintery weather. Stage two was won by Denny Hamlin, and it was an interesting battle in the closing laps of the stage, but it was at that point I realized passing for the lead was going to be a problem at the end of the race. It was another stage dominated by the playoff drivers, and it tightened up around the playoff cutline after stage 2. Stage three was a mess. Playoff contender Kurt Busch had an engine blow up, and Denny Hamlin made the mistake of hitting the wall late in the run. The end of the race basically came down to Joey Logano versus Kevin Harvick for the final forty laps. Logano used his mirror and spotter TJ Majors to repeatedly take the air away from Kevin Harvick. Watching Harvick try to pass Logano was interesting, but knowing Harvick had the better car, and still wasn't able to pass him was infuriating. Joey Logano's win clinches his title race spot, and he will be one of the favorites at the championship event considering his win at Phoenix earlier this year. Joey beat Kevin Harvick to the line in a close battle that day as well. As for the other contenders...Logano's win hurt everybody except Kevin Harvick. As we near the final two races of the round every driver should race like they're in a must win situation... because they are.

The Roval weekend has came and went, and it was a bit of a let down in my opinion. This year was NASCAR's third attempt at the Charlotte infield road course, and it was the most boring of the three. Based on the history of the Roval with its crazy finishes, as well as Saturday's Xfinity race, the expectations were sky high...and it flopped. Even though it didn't meet those full expectations the end resulted in a satisfying race winner for many fans...Chase Elliott. Stage 1 was the best stage of the race in my opinion. Although it wasn't raining, seeing the Cup guys starting a race on the rain tires for the first time ever was unique. Starting on the rain tires allowed for early race strategy, and when the first caution happened Ty Dillon and Matt DiBenedetto changed to "slick" tires to fly through the field, and Dillon snagged a stage win. Full-time underdog Timmy Hill also earned a career best stage finish of fifth place. Stage 2 had a return to normalcy. Ryan Blaney beat Chase Elliott to win the stage. Blaney was looking like the dominant car at that point in the race. Clint Bowyer who had lead the majority of stage 1 was caught up in an incident. The first two stages of the race featured a lot of drivers trying to position themselves for the final stage, especially those who were below the playoff cutline. Stage 3 was dominated by Chase Elliott, looking as smooth as ever driving through the field. He emphasized that he is among the best road course racers in the Cup Series in doing so. After starting in the back of the field due to an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel, the driver of the #9 Chevrolet used a few cautions, and his skills to dominate the end of the race. There was some late race drama with Kyle Busch chancing his fuel and tires to try to win, but the reigning champ came up just short. The playoff cut line was largely irrelevant during the event. Austin Dillon, and Aric Almirola were not major talking points throughout the race, and struggled to even get into the top 10. Clint Bowyer, especially early on, was very competitive throughout the day, but he finished poorly due to a loss of power steering on his #14 Ford. Kyle Busch did not have race winning speed, but put out a valiant effort especially nearing the end of the race.

All three of NASCAR's National Touring series came into the weekend on a level playing field. All three series were entering their Round of 8. All three series had the same 4 tracks left in front of them. Finally, all three series presented an opportunity to 8 drivers to go out and clinch their shot at a championship in Phoenix. For the Truck series, that's exactly what the 8 remaining playoff drivers set out to do. Ultimately, only one could lock up a spot in the Championship 4. However, the playoff battle was not the only story, perhaps not even the biggest story of the day. This was because rising star Hailie Deegan was set to make her first ever NASCAR Touring series start. Deegan was driving the #17 Ford F150 for DGR Crosley Racing, a ride which was announced later in the race that she would be driving in the Truck Series in 2021. The round of 8 was set to begin. Sheldon Creed continued his dominant performance as he took the lead from Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith on lap 1 of the race. That's a lead that Creed wouldn't give up for quite awhile. Creed went on to lead every lap in Stage 1. Creed went on to win Stage 1 with C. Smith, Hill, Z. Smith, Crafton, Eckes, Enfinger, Sauter, Moffitt, and Gilliland all receiving stage points. The calm nature of the first stage did not last into the second stage. On lap 38, there was a massive wreck on the front stretch which involved Talladega winner, Raphael Lessard, and playoff contender, Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum was the first and only playoff driver to be out of the race. Austin Hill and Zane Smith led the field to green after the mess was cleaned up. It wasn't long until Sheldon Creed found his way back to the front. Creed went on to win Stage 2 and collect another 10 stage points. Z. Smith, C. Smith, Eckes, Hill, Crafton, Gilliland, Sauter, Moffitt, and Enfinger all collected stage points in Stage 2. Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum were the only two playoff drivers to not collect any stage points. In the final stage of the race, Sheldon Creed appeared to be pulling away with the win. That was until his GMS teammate, Zane Smith, got into the mix and actually passed Creed for the lead on lap 82. A couple laps later, Creed lost another spot to Brett Moffitt, another GMS teammate. Creed slipped back all the way to 8th which was enough to bring him down pit road in an attempt to short pit the guys in front of him. Todd Gilliland and Hailie Deegan tried a different pit strategy as they attempted to stretch the cycle out as far as they could. This, ultimately, didn't work and both drivers had to give up the lead which cycled Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith back to the lead. The two GMS teammates battled hard for the lead. They battled so hard that Smith ended up spinning after contact with Moffitt with 3 laps to go in the race. Smith was able to save the truck but the caution came out leading to an overtime finish. Brett Moffitt was able to pull away in the last couple laps and secure his first win of the season. The win couldn't come at a more perfect time for Moffitt as the win locked up his spot in the Championship 4. Moffitt will contend for a championship in Phoenix. Creed, Hill, Enfinger, C. Smith, Eckes, Peters, Crafton, Kraus, and Bayne all finished in the Top 10 behind Moffitt. Z. Smith (11th), Rhodes (20th), and Ankrum (34th) were the only playoff drivers to finish outside the Top 10. After Kansas, the playoff grid looks like this: 1. Brett Moffitt - Advanced 2. Sheldon Creed - +26 Points 3. Austin Hill - +19 Points 4. Zane Smith - +7 Points 5. Grant Enfinger - -7 Points 6. Matt Crafton - -15 Points 7. Ben Rhodes - -33 Points 8. Tyler Ankrum - -56 Points GMS racing could very well pull off what Joe Gibbs Racing did last year in the Cup Series, placing three drivers in the Championship 4. One of their drivers, Brett Moffitt, has already clinched his spot. Sheldon Creed has looked extremely good this season, and throughout the playoffs. Zane Smith is young, but not to be counted out in the playoffs. Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum, while not mathematically out on points, look to have a must win situation on their hands. With two races left to decide the Championship 4, who will punch their ticket to Phoenix and have a shot to fight for the championship?

It was reported this morning by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass that Stewart-Haas Racing has signed driver Chase Briscoe to replace Clint Bowyer in their #14 Ford Mustang beginning in 2021. Bowyer announced his retirement from NASCAR Cup Series competition last week and will assume a role with Fox Sports form the commentating booth in 2021. Briscoe, the 25 year old from Mitchell, Indiana is currently qualified for the round of 4 championship event in NASCAR's Xfinity Series at Phoenix next month and has a record of 9 wins this season. He has yet to make his Cup Series debut. The primary funding on this agreement will come form his current Xfinity sponsor Highpoint. Terms of the deal have not been announced as of the time of this post.

It will be announced today that Erik Jones and Richard Petty Motorsports have come to terms on a deal that will put the Byron, Michigan driver in the #43 Chevrolet beginning in 2021. Sources familiar to the dela indicate that specifics on contract lengths and sponsors are not yet announced. Jones has driven for Toyota for his entire career in NASCAR and will depart Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the 2020 season. He has 2 wins in 144 career starts in NASCAR'S Cup Series and was the 2015 Nascar Truck Series Champion.

Race car driver Kyle Larson has been approved by NASCAR to return to sanctioned events beginning on January 1st, 2021. It was reported last week that Larson had applied for reinstatement after completing a mandatory sensitivity training in response to the usage of a racial slur in a virtual event earlier this year. Larson was serving an indefinite suspension from NASCAR and termination from his then employer Chip Ganassi Racing. There is much speculation as to which team Larson will race for in 2021, with most rumours pointing at Hendrick Motorsports. This news was first announced by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. NASCAR provided the below comment earlier today.

(Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR_Trucks)

It was elimination Saturday for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. As if that pressure wasn't high enough, drivers had to take on the Charlotte Roval, a track that had only seen Xfinity competition twice prior to this event. With all the playoff drama, one would assume it would be the primary story of the afternoon. However, mother nature proved to be the driving factor of Saturday's race. It was a race full of twists, turns, slipping, and sliding. At the end of the day, eight drivers move on with hope that they will hoist the championship trophy in Phoenix. For four others, their championship hopes were dashed. The race at the Roval started as calmly as it possibly could've, given the circumstances. Prior to the race, NASCAR had stated that the track was in "dry" conditions. However, NASCAR could deem the track "wet" at any point in the race if they felt led to do so. Teams had 2 sets of rain tires, but it was the crew chief's call when to put them on their team's car. Noah Gragson and Justin Haley led the field to green. Gragson quickly proved that he had a fast car as he pulled away to a solid lead in the leading laps. With rain looming in the area, teams were already beginning to strategize when to put on rain tires. This call would become clear for most, as the caution came out on lap 3 when something broke underneath Brett Moffitt. Many teams used this as an opportunity to come get rain tires. Gragson led the field to green again. At this point, rain was coming down steadily across the track. Justin Haley, along with others, had issues early on with the windshield wiper on the car. This made visibility go from bad to worse for the drivers dealing with it. Cars were spinning all over the track. The caution was thrown on Lap 14 when a group of drivers all got into the wall one after another. Playoff contenders Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, and Ross Chastain were among those who had spun at multiple places across the track. Differing pit strategies would cycle Justin Haley and Harrison Burton to the lead. The two battled for awhile, but Harrison would miss two chicanes which would lose him multiple positions. Kaz Grala, who was complaining about power steering issues a few laps before, was able to grab the lead and win stage 1. Gragson, Labbe, Haley, Allgaier, Chastain, Hemric, Williams, Pardus, and Brown all collected stage points behind them. More playoff drama occurred as NASCAR deemed that Harrison Burton did not come to a complete stop after missing the front stretch chicane. This meant that Burton would have to start at the tail end of the field. Stage 2 proved to be just as wild as the first, and even more so. Kaz Grala and Noah Gragson led the field to green. The two battled for the lead for a lap, but Gragson assumed control after Grala missed the front stretch chicane. Noah led for a few laps until Riley Herbst got to his back bumper. Herbst ended up spinning Gragson in turn 4 and the caution came out with Herbst in the lead. During this caution, NASCAR opted to throw out the red flag to attempt to dry out the standing water in certain areas of the track. After a nearly 40 minute delay, Riley Herbst led the field back to green. His lead was short lived as he and Justin Allgaier would spin as they fought for the lead. This brought out the caution with just a few laps left in the stage. AJ Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe led the field back to green with just a 1 lap shootout for the stage win. Briscoe would get the best of Allmendinger as AJ had some trouble on that last lap of the stage. Briscoe captured the stage 2 win and Chastain, Labbe, Cindric, Gragson, Hemric, Brown, Allgaier, Gaulding, Buford all got stage points. After the conclusion of Stage 2, both Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson locked up spots in the Round of 8. The final stage of the race kept the dramatic pace going as mother nature threw yet another curveball. The rain was still coming down over the track, but due to the 40 minute red flag earlier in the race, nightfall began to encompass the track. The oval portion of the track had the means to combat this, but the infield grew darker and darker. This decreased the already slim visibility of the drivers. The battle for the lead proved to be down to Chase Briscoe and AJ Allmendinger as the laps winded down. Briscoe clearly had the better car on the long run, but a series of cautions allowed AJ to stay in the mix. On the final restart of the race, Briscoe and AJ fought for the lead one more time. Unfortunately for Briscoe, he spun on the exit of turn 1 and thus ending his chances of winning the race. Allmendinger would hold on against a hard charging Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric to secure the victory. To many's disbelief, this was actually AJ's first road course win of the year. Gragson, Hemric, Labbe, Chastain, Cindric, Ware, Buford, Annett, and Jones all grabbed a Top 10 finish out of the Roval. Seven of the 12 playoff drivers finished outside the Top 10. Those drivers were Herbst (12th), Briscoe (18th), Sieg (21st), Allgaier (23rd), Brown (26th), Burton (33rd), and Haley (35th). For Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown, Riley Herbst, and Michael Annett, their chance at a championship came to an end at the Roval. After the points reset the playoff grid looks like this: 1. Chase Briscoe - +37 Points 2. Austin Cindric - +27 Points 3. Justin Allgaier - +10 Points 4. Noah Gragson - +2 Points 5. Justin Haley - -2 Points 6. Brandon Jones - -5 Points 7. Ross Chastain - -15 Points 8. Ryan Sieg - -23 Points The round of 8 starts this weekend and will be the first opportunity for these 8 drivers to punch their ticket to Phoenix. The battle will get tighter each and every week. Soon we will crown a new NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion.

Road course racing has been a part of NASCAR for decades, but the upcoming 2021 season, it is more important than ever to be a good road course racer. There a a few drivers who stand out among the rest as the true road course ringers of NASCAR. Here's the Top 5 for Racing Refresh writers Justin Seger and Zachary Bell. Honorable Mention Justin - Clint Bowyer: Bowyer is never a bad pick for a road course event. He has a win at Sonoma and has a solid average finish at both Watkins Glen and Sonoma. He barely misses the cut this time around. Zach - Chase Briscoe: A guy that ford has significantly invested in, especially with his road racing. Combining that with his natural talent, Briscoe has won two road course racing in the Xfinity Series including the inaugural races at both the Charlotte Roval, and Indy Road Course. Briscoe having not competed in the Cup Series yet is what makes him my honorable mention, but were we to make this list again in a year or two I bet he'd jump to the top 5. Fifth Justin - Denny Hamlin: I must admit a few years ago Hamlin might not have been on my list at all. He doesn’t have as many wins as some on this list or even some off of this list, but Hamlin has proven that he can adapt well to situations. With the new tracks coming in 2021, I think Hamlin could be a favorite on many of the road courses. Zach - Austin Cindric: Arguably the best road course racer in the Xfinity Series Cindric has dominated in his two years at this level. He has won four road course races in the Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen, Road America, Mid Ohio, and the inaugural Daytona Road Course. He has shown his road course prowess routinely, and whenever he reaches the Cup Series I expect that he will compete with the best every time. Fourth Justin - Austin Cindric: This driver is a little more intriguing and somewhat controversial as Cindric has not proven himself at the highest level of NASCAR, the Cup Series. However, Cindric has proven himself to be a top talent when it comes to road courses in the Xfinity Series. I believe this talent will translate to future Cup success for Cindric and I expect big things from him. Zach - AJ Allmendinger: The Dinger a road course specialist through and through. Although Allmendinger is not a full time Xfinity Series competitor, but he does run all the road course races. Allmendinger has won Xfinity races at Mid Ohio, Road America, and the Charlotte Roval. What made me rank Allmendinger above Briscoe and Cindric is his Cup Series win at Watkins Glen. Third Justin - AJ Allmendinger: The Dinger is always a threat on road courses. He may not be racing full time in any of the NASCAR national series, but his deal with Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series makes sure that he’s a threat for all the road courses. He has a cup series victory at Watkins Glen to back up his Xfinity success as well. If you’re looking for a solid road racer, look no further than AJ Allmendinger. Zach - Kyle Busch: The younger Busch brother is locked into third place for me. His four Cup Series, and one Xfinity Series win shows how good he is. He has won two cup races at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen. His detractors are his performances at the Charlotte Roval, and the Daytona Road Course races he does not have a single top 10 at either track. I know those tracks have limited stats, but it is alarmingly bad. Second Justin - Chase Elliott: Sorry to disappoint the Chase Elliott fans out there, but I feel that currently, Chase is second best when it comes to road course. His performances at the Charlotte Roval in 2019 and Daytona Road Course earlier this year are definitely reasons to pick him. Add 2 back to back wins at the Glen and he is proven to be a road course talent. Zach - Martin Truex Jr.: This is where the real debate starts. Truex versus the number one guy Chase Elliott. Truex has been dominant at the road courses ever since he joined Furniture Row Racing, and Toyota. He has won four road course races in his career; three at Sonoma, and one at Watkins Glen. We all remember the finish to the 2018 Charlotte Roval, and Truex probably would've won, so he could have five. Truex's recent dominance at Sonoma is the most impressive to me. First Justin - Martin Truex Jr.: In my opinion, just slightly edges out Chase Elliott for this spot. Martin has 4 road course wins of his own, and nearly had the Daytona road course and 2018 Charlotte Roval victories. He and Chase have proven to be a class of their own in recent years, but due to the lengthy tenure of Martin’s road course success, I put him over Chase as the best current Road Course racer. Zach - Chase Elliott: It's hard to say he's best right now, but it's even harder to say he isn't the best. Chase's meteoric rise in his road course racing performance is impressive. He has won four Cup races on road courses including two at Watkins Glen, one at the Charlotte Roval, and the inaugural race at the Daytona Road Course. Chase's road course performance is silky smooth to watch. He has struggled a bit at Sonoma, but it has largely been mechanical related struggles. AJ - I had to sneak in on this great debate. Some great drivers come to mind in regards to the 'all-time' greatest on road courses. Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff or Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, so many great names. In regards to who the best is that is active, look no farther than AJ Allmendinger. I think he belongs significantly higher on these lists. If we made a schedule of 36 points races ALL on road courses, I guarantee you he would be the first drivers teams wanted to sign.

Perhaps NASCAR's funniest man, Clint Bowyer announced yesterday in a gratuitous letter to the motorsports industry his intentions to formally retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing at the end of the 2020 season. In the letter, Bowyer mentioned every car owner and major sponsor that he has raced for in the Cup Series, and mentioned his unique relationship with all three major car manufacturers. Clint's season in the #14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing will be fulfilled before the seat becomes vacant for the 2021 season. Most industry rumours are saying that Chase Briscoe's relationship with both Ford and Strewart-Haas Racing make him the most likely candidate for that seat. Bowyer, the 41-year-old from Emporia Kansas won the 2008 Xfinity Series Championship with Richard Childress racing and has won 10 career cup races in 536 starts. He has a total of 21 wins in NASCAR's three national tours. Bowyer did not mention if he would return behind the wheel on an as-needed or part-time basis in the future, but emphasized that a new chapter of his life begins with Fox Sports Television. Bowyer has had experience working in the booth in the past, and will become a part of their weekend racing coverage in 2021. Details on his role on their weekly coverages has not been announced, but he did say he would be covering the cup events on Sundays.