Ryan Blaney, the driver of the #12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, crosses the finish line to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on September 30, 2018, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

The Charlotte Roval hosted the first elimination race of this year’s playoffs and it certainly did not disappoint.

Drivers had a hard time adapting to this new layout all weekend with multiple teams starting with their backup car due to wrecks in practice or qualifying. Teams and fans were unsure how this race would go on a course with many tough obstacles including two tight chicanes and a ninety-degree corner leading into the infield. Disaster loomed around the whole track when all forty cars came barreling through.

Kurt Busch led the way starting the race but quickly Kyle Larson was able to chase him down and make a pass for the lead. It was easy to see that Larson had a big advantage if he could hit his marks and he was definitely hitting his marks all afternoon. Larson led the rest of the first stage, winning the first leg of the race.

Larson played out his strategy and did not pit in between stage one and two. He restarted first and continued to lead the way. Once Larson came down pit road for service, Ryan Blaney took over as race leader and he went on to win the second stage of the race.

The last stage of the race was where all the anticipation was set. How will the drivers race each other for position on a track that has proven all afternoon as difficult to pass?

Drivers were disciplined all weekend trying to race hard through the chicanes and the tight corners of the roval. Late in the race, Brad Keselowski overdrove his racing machine into turn one during a restart causing a pile-up that included, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and William Byron.

The wreck brought the field back together for one final restart. Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were racing hard against each other for the final two laps and it came down to the last corner. The two drivers raced each other hard coming off the main track down into the chicane on the front stretch when Johnson overdrove the chicane trying to take the lead from Truex Jr. and ended up spinning around. This caused Truex Jr. to spin out, giving Ryan Blaney a chance as he avoids the collision to take the lead and the win.

The Charlotte roval was a great race and the last fifteen laps solidified that this course should continue on the schedule. There was a lot of exciting moments and once the drivers fell into their groove, there was a lot of action going on all over the course.

With Johnson wrecking at the end, the playoff picture changed in a huge way.

The first four eliminated from the playoffs are Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, and Jimmie Johnson. Aric Almirola, Larson, and Alex Bowman barely squeaked into the next round.

Johnson was too aggressive at the end of the race trying to go for the win and lost his chance at advancing with a second-place finish. Demoralizing for that team as they struggled all year long and finally found some speed coming into the playoffs. It would have been nice to see him advance with the rest of his teammates.

With the Round of 12 beginning next week, the Cup Series returns to some normalcy with a race at Dover, the first leg of the round.

The next races of this round are at Talladega and Kansas. Talladega Superspeedway will be the deal breaker for a few teams, so it’s important for the remaining twelve teams to have a solid run next week to set up a good foundation before four more are eliminated at Kansas.