Roger Diez: Charlotte’s early boredom turns dramatic

For most of the Charlotte Roval elimination round, it was the tamest, most boring race at the combination oval/road course ever. Then all hell broke loose at the end, with wrecks, frantic repair dramas, questionable “teamwork” resulting in huge fines, a come-from-behind win, and last year’s champion out of the playoffs.

The only cautions in the first two-thirds of the race were the ends of the stages, and even commentator Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighed in on the lack of action. Late in the race, defending champion Kyle Larson went five laps down for repairs to a broken toe link, and that proved to be his undoing. He still might have squeaked in until Chase Briscoe picked up two places (and two points) on the last lap when teammate Cole Custer slowed, blocking two cars that Briscoe immediately passed.

After reviewing radio transmissions and video, NASCAR determined that it was a deliberate attempt to influence race results and fined Custer and crew chief Michael Shiplett $100,000 each plus 50 driver and owner points. Shiplett was also suspended indefinitely, and Stewart-Haas announced their intention to appeal. But the big story was Christopher Bell, who had to win the race to stay in the playoffs. And win he did, using fresher tires to pass Kevin Harvick on the second overtime restart and earning a berth in the Round of Eight. And on Saturday, A.J. Allmendinger’s fourth consecutive Roval win went into the record books; he’s the only Xfinity driver to ever win four in a row at one track.

•••

Formula 1 was at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, and the weather was abominable. The race started on full wet tires in pouring rain, but it soon became apparent that visibility was a serious issue. In fact, it led to a serious breach of safety when a tractor was dispatched to retrieve the crashed Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, nearly resulting in a replay of the fatal accident of Jules Bianchi, who hit a similar vehicle in 2014. Drivers were livid, particularly Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, who almost hit the tractor at speed. Formula 1 needs to take immediate steps to ensure such a thing never happens again.

The race was shortened to 28 laps, but full points were awarded. It appeared that Max Verstappen was still a few points short of clinching the championship until the announcement during post-race interviews of a five-second penalty for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The penalty dropped him from second to third, giving Max the 2022 World Driving Championship. The next race is at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Oct. 23.

•••

This weekend, both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series will be in Las Vegas to begin the penultimate championship round. The remaining eight playoff contenders include former Cup champions Chase Elliott and Joey Logano and six drivers vying for their first title.

Denny Hamlin is the most recent Las Vegas winner among them and is the oddsmakers’ favorite at 11-1. Logano is the only other Las Vegas winner in the playoff field. Opening odds are 8-1 on Elliott, Bell, and Larson, with Tyler Reddick at 9-1. Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. are at 10-1, while William Byron is at 12-1 odds, and Bubba Wallace is 14-1. Logano and Alex Bowman share 16-1 odds. With an almost even mix at the top of the odds chart, and we could once again see a non-playoff driver taking the win.

The Cup cars qualify at 9:30 Saturday on USA and the Xfinity race coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. on NBC. Sunday’s South Point 400 for the Cup cars airs on NBC at 11:30 a.m.