Kyle Larson cruised to an easy win at the Charlotte Roval as Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe were eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs before Alex Bowman was disqualified.
Bowman, who finished 18th, was given a DQ rating because his car did not meet the minimum weight during the post-race inspection. The disqualification puts Logano in the playoffs, although Hendrick Motorsports will have a chance to appeal the DQ this week.
Larson led the final 33 laps as he beat Christopher Bell to the finish. The final caution in the 109-lap race came on lap 80 due to debris, as the only drama came in the closing stages as Tyler Reddick powered his way through the field on new tires to kick Logano out of the playoffs before Bowman’s DQ.
Larson led 62 laps and was clearly the driver to beat. It’s the second Roval victory of his career, as he won the race in 2021 ahead of his first (and so far only) Cup Series title.
William Byron finished third, ahead of Cindric and Chase Elliott. The eight drivers who advanced to the third round of the Cup Series playoffs were Larson, Bell, Byron, Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Reddick, Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman. Now Bowman has been replaced (for the time being) by Logano, who was the first driver to leave the play-offs.
Bell was the only driver who ultimately found himself within sniffing distance of Larson. He finished about 1.5 seconds back while Byron was almost nine seconds back at the finish.
After the race, Larson thought he would miss his 8:40 p.m. ET flight to Cabo San Lucas for a vacation before the semifinals begin Oct. 20 in Las Vegas.
How Cindric, Suarez and Briscoe were eliminated
Logano finished eighth but needed Reddick to stop charging through the field on the final stage to advance. Reddick had to pit earlier in the race to repair a broken rear toe joint after his car jumped the curb behind a pile in front of him in Turn 7.
Reddick searched for tires during the final caution of the race and it paid off. He passed numerous cars and comfortably made it to the third round before it ultimately didn’t matter anymore due to Bowman’s DQ.
Briscoe had mechanical problems and retired from the race early. He entered the race needing a win to advance. Suarez was 20 points ahead of the semi-finals for Sunday’s race and suffered braking problems. He finished 31st.
Cindric ran well all day, but never got close to the lead. Like Briscoe, he needed a win and simply wasn’t fast enough to get it.
Bank of America Roval 400 results
1. Kyle Larson
2. Christopher Bell
3. William Byron
4. Austin Cindric
5. Chase Elliott
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. Shane van Gisbergen
8. Joey Logano
9. Bubba Wallace
10. Ryan Blaney
11.Tyler Reddick
12. Carson However
13.Kyle Busch
14. Denny Hamlin
15. Michael McDowell
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17. Chris Buescher
18. Alex Bowman (DQ)
19. Todd Gilliland
20. Zane Smith
21.Harrison Burton
22. Martin Truex Jr.
23. Josh Berry
24. Brad Keselowski
25. Daniel Henric
26. Ryan Preece
27. Justin Haley
28.Kaz Grala
29. Ross Chastain
30. Josh Bilicki
31.Daniel Suarez
32. Noah Gragson
33.Austin Dillon
34. Erik Jones
35. John Hunter Nemechek
36.Ty Gibbs
37. Chase Briscoe
38. Corey LaJoie
