Checkers or Wreckers | NASCAR Texas Playoff Race Review & Analysis 

can we talk about how chase briscoe dragged his mid car out of nowhere into a near win again?… 😭

Here's an interesting fact about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. this race. He was the only driver to not wear a cool suit during the hottest Texas race ever, being at 100⁰, and he drove it home to a Top 10 finish, in 9th place. What a legend!

I think it’s really funny how Eric mentions how unpredictable Texas is, but he also predicted the right winner

Beautiful shirt, a true man of culture

Byron is Gordon's new goldmine the 24 speaks for himself

Can we address the fact that I'm sure truex is distracted with the death of Sherry. He's a quiet and private guy and I'm sure knowing what he knew probably affected his performance the past several weeks. Rip Sherry. We love and miss you. We know she's a fighter and that has worn off on Martin. Don't count the 19 car out. He hasn't had the barest 4 races in the playoffs but that's understandable considering. He will come through the adversity and persevere. It's what Sherry did and she manage to light the fire under him before. The fire is lit now. Results just haven't shown it yet.

Eric, I know your not a big fan of Ross Chastain but you didn't even mention that he drove a car with a throttle control problem to a 2nd place finish. I think if it were one of your boys you would go on about what a great driver nursing a car to a good finish. Nothing against you, just my observation.

Biased, but I feel like Suarez made a great comeback after spinning out! Woohooo Suarez!

Finally got to see the 24 car win in person, its not Jeff Gordon but I'll take it. Now i just want to see Chase Elliott win in person as my new favorite driver after Gordon.

In his 4 starts with Legacy Motor Club Carson Hocevar has finished ahead of Martin Truex every week.

I know this isn’t important to this race in particular but Penske needs to get things together or else their gonna end up like SHR. Once again they were no shows. Cindric was 30th all race, Blaney was 20th-25th until his team used some pit strategy and despite only 26 cars finishing (2 of which having damage) Logano still finished 21st. Unbelievable how slow they have been after winning the championship last season

Bubba is way better than people give him credit for, hes no championship threat yet, but man im proud of him.

In his 4 starts with lmc this season, Carson Hocevar has not finished outside the top 20 once. 😮

Funny how you talked to William before the race. You must have given him inspiration

I think nascar needs to dump single lug wheels. It's just a matter of time before one of those tires end up in the grandstands and somebody gets hurt or worse. It adds nothing to the show, and it has no relevance to street cars; which I thought was supposed to be one of the big virtues of the next gen car.

I'm not an SHR fan, but I found it pleasant to see Briscoe run up front again during the second half of the race. It's been quite a while since he was there for an extended period of time (and finish Top-10) and not 25th through 30th like he's been most of this year. Hopefully he'll be up there a little more next year.

This race was actually… good. Solid Texas race, thought I’d never see the day

Bubba did awesome today!

The #5 should have lifted. He could have let Bubba go and passed later. He had a faster car . But the #5 doesn't know how to slow down.

Larson juked Hamlin going down pit road. It's not in the highlights, but it was pretty cool. Much as I like Hamlin, I also like it when elite drivers pull off something quiet and crazy.

Ty Gibbs and Texas pit road: a better love story than Twilight.

I was at the track and I know everyone hates bubba and loves Larson, but I don’t understand how the whole crowd was pretty much blaming bubba for the wreck. Some people were even saying bubba cut down into larson. I understand bias but NASCAR fans are getting quite excessive. There is no way you can blame bubba for causing that wreck.

Denny, Busch, and Bubba are my drivers I cheer for but only bubba gets me the emotions going like they did for jg24 in the old days. His haters are who fuel him and that's okay but too often post race he speaks from their point of view, saying what he knows they will say but hey best to get ahead of it. I really wanted him to win that one but for bubba, being made about 3rd place is a lot of progress.

I went to this race, Awesome to see Willy B win, but holy hell it was hot

Texas Motor Speedway sucks. They need to reconfigure it back to what it was before 2017. North Wilkesboro should have Texas' lone date on the schedule with Rockingham hosting the All-Star Race.

Pretty wild race as always for Texas, but congrats to William Byron for getting the 300th win for the team! Also can’t wait for Talladega next Sunday!

Imma disagree with you on Chastain, he started top ten, drove up to second, had a throttle issue dropped back to 30th and came back, he didn't have the speed to win but top 3 or top 5 car for sure

Funny how not to long ago people wrote the 24 off once Jeff left.

Great to see the 1 running up front, especially after a really rough second stage.

As a Wallace fan this hurt man , and tbh if that final caution didn’t come out I think he had that race won but P3 is a good tho

I'm feel bad for Busch and Larson, these cars are fragile in a slide impact and easily broke the "independent" suspension and I think it was a bad decision to implement the same in these cars, also the issue of tires with the single lug nut, should return to the rigid suspension with axle and the 5 nuts, those would be the two aspects that should change in these cars.

Bubba always puts way too much pressure on himself.. He's either way up on himself or way down on himself. He's been better than years past and is growing. But there's still some of that still there. He's showing out and I'm enjoying this run from him. If he can string together a solid performance at 'Dega and the Roval and make the top 8... it'd be like playing with house money going forward.

I guess I like chaos because I thought this race was exciting. So happy for William Byron ! 🏁🏁🏁

300TH WIN FOR BIG HAT BYRON HAHA 😂 WOOHOO 🎉

Really impressed with Bubba so far. I think he has a good chance of moving on.

Of the 3 restarts in question, Bubba had the 14 behind him for the first 2, giving him a great push. On the final restart, Bubba had the 14 beside him and the 14 got a hard push from the 24. That's the difference maker. I don't have a particular driver that I root for these days but I was pulling for Bubba to finish that thing off.

I have Kyle Busch winning the championship in my playoff bracket I might be a little biased because he is my favorite driver but I say he gets a couple more wins at Talladega to make the round of 8 and then another win at Las Vegas to make the championship 4 and then win at Phoenix to win the championship.

I keep thinking that Hamlin will find a way to choke himself out of the Championship. I was sure Larson was going to win. He had .3 seconds on everyone else. Then I about had heart failure when he crashed out in the battle with Bubba.

I was out there just past T4. To say it was hot is sssuuccchhhh an understatement. It was brutal. As a Chastain fan I sure was impressed to see him come back from the dead in this race. Wife is a Byron fan so this race couldn't have been better for us.

The 1 was running up in the top 10 right up till they had trouble with the Throttle position sensor. He stalled coming off pit road. Ended up in 25th. Upbtill that point he was having a good race.

As a Larson fan, I’m gutted. No other way to say it.

😮its not the track,its the set up and the driver. Not everyone wrecked just the ones with bad set ups. Come on man.

What a recovery by Ross!

It's very suspenseful being a Larson fan. He has the ability to drive up through the field on any track and at the same time, can wreck anytime anywhere.

Feel very bad for Larson he probably would have won the race if bubba wouldn't have taken the air off of the side of Larson's car

If Bubba Wallace choked, what exactly would you say Lyle Larson did?

I was there and I got to see my guy william byron win !! But man it was hot !! Super hot !!

i'm unbelievably impressed with bubba wallace, driving his heart out week in and week out from start to finish of every race. really starting to love his driving style, i know he's polarizing but he's gonna be a champion someday if he keeps this pace.

I thought this was actually a good race and for Texas standards that’s actually a positive

feel bad for jones

What if I told Eric both McLarens was on the podium 👀

About the 300 hat, let's be honest, it's Hendrick Motorsports. They probably had hats ready for all 4 drivers, should they win. Kind of like how - I know the NFL does this, and I'm pretty sure the NHL does, too - Championship merch is made for both teams, and the loser get's theirs shipped off/thrown out. As I said, it's HMS. I'm sure they can afford it.

Spot on about Bubba. I think they’re having a great season, especially since Denny said it’ll take 5 years for 23XI to be championship contenders. Bubba just wants to win, so it’s gonna bug him but as long as he leaves his emotions off the track when he races, he’ll easily continue to put himself into the position over especially the next couple years.

I sure hope they fix this racetrack or just demolish it. The racing here is so bad and dangerous.

Byron is looking like a driver that when you dont expect for him to win he ends up wining Edit: truex and busch are leaving the door open for a someone to pull a newman 2014

As a Elliott/Hendrick fan I’m so glad Byron won that race and got that milestone victory for Hendrick Motorsports

Absolutely hate chaos. I was so satisfied with the way the race was playing out and what the top 10 looked like with about 30 to go. Then a caution came out and I was like, "Watch William Byron find a way to win this and everyone I'm rooting for to take themselves out."

Ross Chastain was 100% a top-5 car today. He just kept doing the wrong pit strategy all day. He finished ahead of Wallace pretty much every time it mattered besides Stage 1 when Wallace was one spot ahead of him. Top 5 in speed were probably .. Larson Hamlin Chastain Wallace Jones

Larson is the best overall wheel man in nascar, But he needs just a little more patience, He shoiu;ld have just let BUBBA go and then ran him down he certainly had the fastest car no one can keep these things from getting sideways in the corner when the air is taking off of them.

As a Hendrick fan, this win was very special!!

Larson fan here. I'm so sick of a random cat in the back wrecking and essentially ruining who should have won the race. Yes, it happened with Hamlin earlier. Bubba did absolutely nothing wrong on that restart by crowding Larson. Honestly I think that's some of the best racing I've seen from him. He was doing what you want your driver to do. Truth is Larson is horrible on restarts. Idk why but there are so many times he won't get a good jump. The restart he crashed on, he was the control car and Bubba was almost ahead by the start/finish line. In terms of Bubba "failing", I don't think he had the car to win if he didn't get clear air and a good little lead. Byron was faster near the end but clean air was so valuable. Bubba also saved himself a few spots at the end. I think he blocked Elliott and held him off. This is what i hate about the playoffs though. Talladega and the roval back to back. I don't think they should be in a round together. I don't think the roval should even be around in general. I would rather go back to the chase style if we have to have some type of points reset. It's crazy to see how bad MTJ has been and still is far up in points. My prediction at Dega is most drivers will try to play it safe the first 2 stages. Everyone acts like Bubba is the best of all time at Dega (realistically it's almost all on luck where you finish. Aside from one win, he has no other good finishes), but I think Bubba will get caught up in something. Kyle Busch needs a huge break though. That poor guy has had no good luck. Ross Chastain needed a good run and got it. I expect lots of team work next week. If I started on the pole next week and teammate behind me, I'd hug the bottom lane all race. I'd never leave it. I wouldn't focus much on blocking.

Wrecks and cautions are awesome. They are what set nascar apart.. But I'll be honest.. It's getting to be so bad it's starting to look like we got a field with a bunch of bad drivers.. Watch a race from the 90s or early 2000s.. There was not so many BS wrecks. I'm about over it.

Amazing how fast Hamlin's yota was with that big hole in the door 🤔

Glad Hendrick got the 300th win such a huge accomplishment but man I wish it was Larson it was looking to be another dominant Hendrick win and now he’s just above the cut line!

My take. I can very well snap with both hands. Even at the same time.........I would be fine with bubba winning if he didn't host the charades with the garage door pull cord, but he didn't win and that's good enough if a Ford doesn't win. 🤣🤣🤣

Kyle said in his interview, after the race, that these new cars are not known, for pulling the car around,there something up with the Toyota s,,Nascar still not checking the cars. Hate it for kyle,he had the winning car,glad Byron won the race. Also if you,ll notice on the restart ,before Kyle wrecked,chase would not push kyle,Also that's the first time this year I've seen chase in victory lane congratulation one of his team mates. Go Kyle go

Some of these guys race bubbe there life depended on it😅 larson ruined himself doing it. Briscoe was driving like he had a championship on the line. Ratings probably bad kuz bubba haters turned it off

Just going exclusively off of how team Penske has ran over the past couple years minus the fact that Joey logano did win the championship last year. Even if RFK has not made the advancements they have. I feel objectively Brad leaving Penske was still the right call!

Typical Larson luck. The guy is the unluckiest guy in Cup since Mark Martin. The only reason the guy has accomplished anything is his raw talent.

That's one of the things that annoys me, and I'm sure a lot of other people, about Bubba, is that he gets out of the car after about as perfect of a day as he could've had, and acts as if he is the worst driver ever. Kyle Busch used to get out of his car after a day like that, and do the same thing and that would annoy me also I understand that he puts a lot of pressure on himself to win, but instead of getting out of the car and praising his crew for having a great day, by most accounts, he gets out as if he's going to cry, and puts himself down like it's all about him. I'm glad that Ross has learned to get what he can out of the car instead of pushing it over the edge every time. I thought for sure that he was going to finish outside the top 25, but that little bit of chaos at the end helped propel them back into the top five and he was able to capitalize on that. All of that to almost got run over by Bubba's pit crew when they were pushing the car back during Ross' interview.

As a Gordon fan and a Liberty alum, happy to see Byron performing well. Hope he gets his first championship!

IMO Wallace is gonna have to have a great day at Talladega. Don’t trust him much at the roval where Larson has a bit of a advantage

I hate your Kyle Busch perdition. But I have to admit you were correct. But I won't give up on Kyle Busch turning this around.

How appropriate that Eric Estepp was wearing a Bucee's shirt knowing very well of where today's race is located. That track should be torn down if we get another terrible race.

Hey, Bubba wasn't the guy who spun out and wrecked himself from the inside. That was all Larson. Bubba did a great job. Texas eats cars.

Shoutout to BJ McLeod for finishing on the lead lap in 22nd while his cool suit broke on like lap five!

Stage 1 was slow, but stage 2 and 3 rocked. Enjoyed Texas...yeehaw

A decent race at Texas? 1.5mis being the best races on the schedule? The 24 back in championship form? What year is this, 2014?

Even though he didn’t get the win, yesterday was easily one of Bubba’s best races in his career. It shows how much growth he has had this season. Hopefully he and the team can take this momentum into Talladega and build up a solid points cushion for the Roval (or maybe a win to make up for the Spring race). With how wacky these playoffs have been so far, he could make the Round of 8 and keep the Cinderella run going.

I also love it when the 24 car wins because growing up as a Jeff Gordon fan and now my first name is on the 24 car

the huge crowd cheers when byron got past blubba tells you all you need to know

A 24 win always makes my Sundays better 🤙

So I was in the stands for this race, and I will say that it felt like the best race at Texas in a while. There was some long runs that allowed for strategy, several short caution filled moments both beginning and end of the race. Then add in how it all ended, I think I was on my feet for the last 20 laps. A super fun entry in this playoff run

I think this entire race was everything Eric could hate in a single race: A boring race with not much passing and can only be entertaining through C H A O S capped off with a big hat win. 😂

I’m going to be honest, Larson is kinda screwed. He sucks at superspeedways and you can’t rely on the ROVAL to win

Its these new tires .not the track.

Getting pretty used to these races where Byron just gets lucky at the end cause of circumstances on a restart/OT cause this sure ain't the first lol And once again, a subpar car given to Truex. Same song, different verse, unable to take advantage. When will his luck turn around?? Hasn't truly had it on his side since Loudon

I didn't see any of the race because of the freaking cable. I will though watch the race this upcoming Sunday on NBC.

Bubba did not choke at all he took a calculated risk and went from -14 to -2

I was out there today and the crowd size did impress me.

Byron to hamilin "Hey Denny !!... I just beat ur favourite driver"!!!!😂😂😂

Hasn't carson hocevar finished in the top 20 in ever race he's been in the 42?

As a Larson fan, I don’t think I’ve felt this awful since the roval last season. Somehow today was worse. As a Hendrick fan, I’m happy about the 300th win. As a Nascar fan, I’m confused on why I enjoyed a Texas race. Weird day.

Wallace and Larson were good all day until Larson crashed out and Wallace losing the lead late to Byron. Byron wasn't a factor until late in the race to win to move on to the Round of 8. This round will be wild and crazy with Talladega and Charlotte Roval coming up. The round of 12 will be jumble up. Congrats to Rick Hendrick on his 300th win as a cup owner and many more wins to come. Truex is a major concern because of another so so run and using 7 of the 9 lives. 7.1 out of 10.

Why is it always the slow guys that wreck with 10 to go?? 🤣🤣

Kenny Wallace called this He said This was gonna Be William Byrons Breakout Year and He Claimed 6-9 Wins this season.

Bubba could be above the cut line if he stayyed out to win stage 1.

Gotta say when the 5 crashed I was shocked due to how fast that car hit the wall and just very vulnerable that he’s okay

Can we all appreciate how well Kyle Busch backed up all the way down the back stretch, 3 & 4, down pit road, and almost nailed getting in his pit stall perfectly. Doing so in reverse with a torn up car and without causing further damage. I give a round of applause that one 👏 👏👏

I don’t think it being unpredictable is a good thing….