By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Speeding penalties, handling issues, and mechanical problems. The four drivers that saw their NASCAR Cup Series Playoff hopes dashed Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway had it all.
Ty Gibbs was the first driver to end the night on the outside looking in, having watched his six-point advantage that he came into the weekend with erased early on with a pit road speeding penalty on Lap 133.
The penalty dropped him to the tail end of the field and with track position being so important throughout the night, the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was just never able to overcome the deficit and ultimately finished the night 11 points out.
To his credit, Gibbs took the blame for the penalty that set them back and was their ultimate demise in the Playoffs.
“I feel like we were really good in practice and qualifying, just a little bit too loose tonight and fired off too tight. Just unfortunate,” Gibbs said.
“The speeding penalty is on me. Just we run under the lights so close, and I just got a little bit too much, I guess. My fault. Unfortunate. Proud of these guys and all the effort that they’ve given me and we’ll keep hammering down.”
Truex: “Just hate I screwed it up for everybody.”
The pit road speed police also nabbed his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr., who entered the night needing to make up a 14-point deficit to stay alive in the Playoffs in his final full-time season in the Cup Series.
For most of the night, he was in prime position to do so, running inside the top-five for the majority of the night to keep himself on the positive side of the cut-off line.
However, when Lap 333 rolled around, Truex was nailed for speeding on pit road and dropped to the tail end of the field as a result. Much like Gibbs, he could never make up the lost track position and finished the night in 24th, 21 points out of being able to transfer.
Truex explained that he didn’t do much different on that run down pit road than any other time, but he found himself agonizingly over the speed limit by a miniscule amount – just enough to earn him the penalty.
“I was just trying to do the same thing every time, you know? And I guess it was 0.09 miles per hour, so just really frustrated, upset. Hate it for my guys,” Truex said.
“They worked so hard and we had a shot at it tonight. It wasn’t gonna be easy and there’s no guarantee. They…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsports Tribune…