NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Texas Two-Step Weekend
A wild weekend in Texas gave us two NASCAR Playoff races. There was a ton of action in the Lone Star State to go over. Before we get into Talladega week officially, we’re going to go through the weekend’s biggest moments.
To start our Texas Two-Step Weekend, the Xfinity Series hit the track. There is a lot going on in that series and a ton of talented drivers. Right now, there is a heavy playoff battle with Austin Hill, John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, and Justin Allgaier.
While anything can happen between now and Phoenix, it feels like those four are the ones to beat.
So, it was fitting when Justin Allgaier started things off by winning the pole award. Then, we had Hill calling out Sam Mayer for not being a good teammate while talking about his own relationship with his teammate at RCR, Sheldon Creed.
“Love having him as a teammate, no hard feelings nothing like that. We’re good man, I promise you that,” Hill said. “We’re good. We can handle it like men… We’re not Sam Mayer by any means.”
That wasn’t the end of the drama, either.
Everything is bigger in Texas, even the wrecks
There are a lot of complaints about Texas, especially on the Cup Series side. The track tends to be a one-lane race and that goes for any series that races there. Except for IndyCar, that is.
In the Xfinity Series race, there were a few issues early. That included Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst. Both drivers went out in the first 1.5 laps and it was more or less a waste of an afternoon for the 1 and 98 teams.
While that was a bummer for those teams, it didn’t hurt too much. Later on in the NASCAR race, Brennan Poole got turned by Ryan Ellis and went for a trip in the grass. You just can’t slow down in the green stuff, so Poole went flying toward pit road.
The 6 car slammed straight on into the inside wall on pit road and took out the banner for Jeffrey Earnhardt’s No. 44 team. Thankfully, no one was on that wall ready for a pit stop and everyone was paying attention.
This was perhaps the most consequential wreck as far as playoff drivers go. Austin Hill and Josh Berry were involved in a multi-car accident that included Trevor Bayne as well.
Hill looked like he was going to have to DNF on the day. Instead, he got the body on his 21 Chevy repaired and somehow made the most of it with a P7 finish and 47 points on the day. As for Berry, he finished P27.
Hill is still in this NASCAR championship fight. Berry, on the other hand, might have to win at the Roval to move on.
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John Hunter Nemechek won this race for his seventh checkered flag of the season. He’s the clear favorite to win the championship this season. Can Joe Gibbs Racing go back-to-back from Ty Gibbs to JHN?
NASCAR Cup Series finish gets wild
On Sunday, fans wondered if this year’s Texas race would actually be worth watching. The last two races, dating back to the 2022 All-Star Race have been terrible, to be frank. The racing at this track still wasn’t great, but it gave us enough to have an okay Sunday.
Bubba Wallace started the weekend with the pole award and had a shot to win this race. More on that later.
Kyle Busch was the first victim of the day. He got into the high groove too soon, his tires got dirty and then weak. So, he hit the wall and his day was over before it could really get started.
Busch was pretty hard on himself in his interview after the wreck.
That wouldn’t stop the chaos. Really, we got to see loose wheels and some minor tire issues. Which is good. Last year, the tire issues overshadowed everything else about the race. Pit strategies were going back and forth, four tires, no tires, two tires – it didn’t really matter much in the short run.
By the time this race was winding down, we had a battle with Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace. This felt like it would be the final restart, however, it wasn’t. Larson got tight under Wallace, lost control, and went up and into the wall.
Seventh DNF on the year for Larson.
That caution, the 10th of the day, set us up for a thrilling finish. William Byron was right there on the final NASCAR restart, he was on the second row. Wallace fired off next to Chase Briscoe.
The 14 didn’t have grip, Byron saw his chance on the bottom and took it. Wallace was too late to make a block and Byron went on to win. 300 wins for Hendrick, and a spot in the Round of 8 for the 24 team.
Now, we move on to Talladega.