In case you didn’t see the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, it did not fare well for some in the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs. With Talladega and the Charlotte ROVAL, the second and third races in the opening round, the strategy for Talladega will vary for some entering Saturday’s Sparks 300.
TALLADEGA MATTERS, BUT IT DOESN’T
The “duh” paragraph in this column is that Noah Gragson doesn’t have to worry about Talladega because he won the opening race of the playoffs at Texas, securing a ticket to the Round of 8. All Talladega can award Gragson is additional playoff points for the Round of 8 to help him advance to the Championship 4.
Seven playoff points are up for grabs for all 12 playoff drivers, and Gragson already has 48, but seven more gives him even more of a cushion to the cutline.
He’ll likely go all out at Talladega, and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. probably would like him to hang back in the back of the pack through the first two stages, but Gragson will be upfront. Hanging back and staying safe isn’t his style.
JUST FINISH
A.J. Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs are 47 and 46 above the cutoff line, respectively. Their main objectives will be to finish and maybe come away with top 10 at the end of the day – top 20s at the minimum. Maintaining a cushion of 40-plus points is ideal for Allmendinger and Gibbs.
Today’s understatement will be that Allmendinger and Gibbs are strong contenders on road courses. Allmendinger is the all-time Xfinity Series road course winner with nine victories, and Gibbs has secured three wins so far out of his nine career wins. If both arrive at The ROVAL with a 40-point spread to the cutoff, that will allow them to be less reliant on stage points to boost their chances of a points advancement into the Round of 8.
Talladega is simply a stay out of trouble and finish the race scenario for them.
STAGE POINTS WOULD BE NICE
The following three drivers in the standings are Austin Hill, Josh Berry, and Justin Allgaier. They are fourth, fifth, and sixth in the points and are 30, 24, and 20 points above the playoff cutoff, respectively.
Despite the horrible finish due to crashing out, Justin Allgaier only lost eight points to the cutoff, entering the race 28 points ahead of ninth. Josh Berry extended his lead from 17 points to 24, as did Austin Hill, who jumped from 11 to 30 points ahead of the cutline.
Still, 30 points aren’t enough to be…
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