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  • Shane van Gisbergen won his fifth consecutive road course race at the Charlotte Roval.
  • Joey Logano advanced to the Round of 8, eliminating Ross Chastain in the final moments of the race.
  • Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace were also eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs.

Choose your favorite adjective for “great.”

Shane van Gisbergen continues to be outstanding, extraordinary, unbelievable and more on NASCAR road courses. 

He won again Sunday, Oct. 5, speeding to his fifth consecutive road victory, this time at the Charlotte Roval in the Bank of America ROVAL 400. He led 57 of the 109 laps and beat runner-up Kyle Larson by 15 seconds.

Next season, SVG will have a chance to tie Jeff Gordon’s record of six straight road wins.

But because van Gisbergen was cut from the Cup Series playoff field after the first round, his triumph wasn’t the story of Sunday. It was what was happening behind him.

Here are three takeaways from the conclusion of the Round of 12.

1. Which NASCAR drivers were eliminated from playoffs?

Wow.

This got crazy.

By the last minutes of Sunday’s race, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace were out of the hunt. Their playoff journeys were signed, sealed and delivered. All three were eliminated.

But the battle for the final spot in the Round of 8 came down to the wire. Ultimately, Joey Logano snuck in, edging Ross Chastain by four points.

Chastain sat in playoff position until the final lap. But Logano gained enough ground to move into a tie, and he owned the tiebreaker.

Chastain then wrecked Denny Hamlin in a last-ditch effort in the final corner. Both cars crossed the finish line in reverse.

Logano placed 20th. Chastain was 21st.

“Man, that’s the drama of the playoffs,” Logano said on the USA Network broadcast afterward. “If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there.”

Chastain bared his soul in a postrace interview with USA. His No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team had two wayward pit stops and received a penalty in the last 30 laps.

“Just unforced errors. Just terrible,” Chastain said. “It’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse … Justin (Marks) hired me to carry this 1 car and to drive it and be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day. We definitely had the speed on the last lap. I’m just sad right now … Just completely unacceptable.”

And more:

“It’s terrible to get to this level and not perform. When you watch and you learn and you study for half your life to get here, to fail is a terrible feeling right now. I will wake up tomorrow and go right back to work.”

2. Kyle Busch sets NASCAR road course record

It was a day Kyle Busch would probably like to forget. But it was notable.

Rowdy set a new NASCAR Cup Series record for most career starts on road courses. He now sits at 64, one more than Terry Labonte. Kevin Harvick and Hamlin are tied for third with 61 road starts.

Of those 64 starts, Busch has collected four wins. He prevailed twice at Sonoma and twice at Watkins Glen.

No such luck Sunday.

After qualifying 28th, Busch faced immediate trouble. He got loose in Turn 1 and crashed into the wall on the opening lap. He went to the garage but later returned to the track. His final placement: 35th.

3. NASCAR schedule: Round of 8 begins at Las Vegas

Just four races remain in the Cup Series season.

Next Sunday, the Round of 8 will kick off with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Josh Berry won in March. The green flag is slated to drop a few minutes after 5:30 p.m. 

Drivers will then run 267 laps and 400.5 miles. The event will air on the USA Network.

After that, Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway will wrap up the round before the championship race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2.

Charlotte was the final road course of the year.



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