Texas Motor Speedway hosted the AAA Texas 500 yesterday. This 500-mile race caused problems for several playoff drivers. Most of which were penalties occurring on pit road. The mile and half speedway also proved to be difficult to pass on as drivers had issues trying to move up through the field.

Ryan Blaney started from the pole and took an early lead. Once the field reached the competition caution on lap 30, Harvick had raced back to Blaney. After the caution, it was Harvick’s race to lead and he was able to win the first two stages of the race.

Harvick played a strategy between stages and stopped for four tires while other drivers only took two tires. As a result,he had to surrender his lead heading into the final stage of the race.

Multiple cautions late in the race allowed for an overtime finish with a restart between Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney on the front row. The two drivers were swapping the lead position back and forth late in the race. Harvick took outside lane as Blaney received a nice push from Kyle Larson on the inside. The push allowed Blaney to lead the field into turn one, but the outside lane worked well for Harvick on restarts all race. It worked well again on the final restart as Harvick was able to blast away once reaching turn one. That was all Harvick needed as he was able to lead the field down the to the checkered flag.

Kevin Harvick clinched his Championship 4 spot in Miami with his win in Texas.

Next week the final race before the championship round will be hosted in Phoenix, Arizona at ISM Speedway. Above the Round of 8 cut-off line in position to move on to the Championship 4 are Joey Logano with his win at Martinsville, Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. The bottom four on the verge of being eliminated are Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott, and Kurt Busch. Kurt Busch is 25 points below the cut off line in that fifth position. It is safe to say that it is almost a must-win situation for these four drivers below the cut line.

However, racing in Phoenix is always an interesting event. Teams often encounter brake issues and failures as racing at this track is hard on the brakes. These failures could close the door for some playoff drivers as well as give someone below the cutline an opportunity to race for the championship in Miami. Every driver below the cutline is able to rise to the occasion and clinch a championship opportunity. Next week’s race in Phoenix will be one the most important races of the season for these eight drivers in the playoffs.