NASCAR Barometer: Truex Wins in Las Vegas; Advances

Martin Truex Jr. put together the fastest car to overcome Kevin Harvick in the final miles of Sunday night's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The win is the perfect way to start off his championship hunt, and he's now safely through to the next round of eliminations. The win was his fifth of the season and puts him alone atop the rest of the field in that category. While Truex, Harvick and others saw good nights, for championship hopes, others didn't fare so well. Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones all felt the opposite end of the emotional spectrum with poor nights. All three will be looking to turn things around this week.

Next up in the round of 16 is Richmond International Raceway where Truex dominated earlier this season to win. The race will be the second of three in the first elimination round. Truex led 186 laps there in April. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano took the stage victories that night but couldn't overcome Truex as he raced on to the win.

UPGRADE

Martin Truex Jr. – Truex hit a home run in the first round of championship playoffs, winning at Las Vegas and guaranteeing his spot in the round of 12. The win was the fifth of the season for him. He led 32 laps and pieced together the fastest car late in the fuel run to take the lead in the final laps and drive to victory. It was Truex's first win since Sonoma in June, and Sunday's victory gives him some breathing room for the next two races as he focuses on advancing another round further and then all the way to Miami. That relaxing may not happen, though. He was the spring winner at Richmond and finished third in this race last season. The team could be hitting championship stride just when necessary.

Kevin Harvick – Harvick was in contention to win at Las Vegas, which would have been consecutive victories for the No. 4 team that had suffered a long dry spell to start the year. Instead, Harvick admitted he didn't have enough pace to combat Truex and settled for a second-place finish with 47 laps led. Harvick now stands second in the standings with a comfortable margin that should see him through to the round of 12 comfortably. Next up is Richmond where Harvick has three victories. He only finished outside of the top five there once in the last seven races and started on pole the last two times. Those statistics should make him an easy selection for fantasy rosters this week.

Joey Logano – Logano got out of the gates quickly Sunday in Las Vegas. He took the lead on lap 34 and went on to score the first stage win of the playoffs. He went on to trade the lead with multiple drivers until lap 182 when he was unable to make it back to the front again before the finish after contact with the outside wall. In all he led 105 of the 267 laps in an impressive performance for the Penske Racing Ford. The effort moved him to third in the championship standings and puts him on solid footing to advance to the round of 12. Next up, though, is Richmond where he has two prior victories and led 52 laps on his way to a runner-up finish at the track earlier this season.

Ryan Newman – Newman continued his steady climb forward in one of the most opportune times to do so. His run to 10th-place Sunday night in Las Vegas was a great effort from a 17th-place start and means even more than normal as it's the first of the three races in the first elimination round of the playoffs. Newman's consistency drove him to a spot in the playoffs and he intends to continue that path right through to the next round. He's now just outside of the top 12 in standings and only six points behind Aric Almirola with two races to close the gap and move forward. Richmond could be the venue he does that, too. He finished ninth in the spring race despite starting 24th.

DOWNGRADE

Kurt Busch – Busch's championship playoffs got off on the worst possible foot Sunday night in Las Vegas. The former champion started the race with a fast car and had high hopes for a top result, but that all went up in smoke when a tire failure put him in the wall. He was the first driver out of the race and left the first race of the knockout rounds with a last-place finish and his worst result of the season. He tumbled to 14th in the playoff standings and now is 14 points adrift of safety with Richmond and Charlotte to come. Busch was 11th at Richmond earlier this season despite starting on the outside of the front row.

Erik Jones – Despite winning late in the season to build momentum for the playoffs, not much went right for Jones in Las Vegas. A mechanical issue sent him to the garage for repairs and out of contention for a decent finish. In a race that saw little attrition, Jones was only able to return to the track to work back to a 36th-place finish. That puts him last among the 16 championship contenders and 26 points out of the safety zone to advance. Fortunately, he has two races to regroup and climb back up the ladder. He drove from 35th on the grid to the 14th-place finishing position at Richmond earlier this season and finished sixth there in the fall race two seasons ago.

Clint Bowyer – Starting on pole likely was the highlight of Bowyer's Las Vegas night. He raced hard with teammate Daniel Suarez in the opening laps and eventually suffered a flat tire that dropped him out of reach of that win he desperately wants. He led just one lap and finished 25th, which will go down as a missed opportunity and hopefully not a performance that costs him a chance to advance in the playoffs. As of now he sits outside of the top 12 with two races to climb three positions to advance to the round of 12. Richmond has been a decent track for him through his career, and he'll need another top finish there to salvage his playoff hopes.

Kyle Busch – While Sunday night's race in Las Vegas wasn't a complete disaster for Busch, it certainly could have gone a lot better for him. After starting the playoffs with a sizable point gap, he fell to fourth after his problems Sunday night. An issue that resulted in contact early in the 400-mile race put him two laps down. As per his usual style, he charged back, however. He ultimately came home in a disappointing 19th-place finish but limited the damage that could have come with the early contact. He hasn't won since Pocono in June and now has three finishes outside of the top 10 from the last six races, which is uncharacteristic. Richmond is a different week, though. He has six series wins there and two in the last three visits.

Daniel Suarez – Suarez missed out on a spot in the playoffs two weeks ago at Indianapolis and couldn't right the ship this past week in Las Vegas. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver drove furiously in the opening laps, even having some contact with teammate Bowyer. He went on to lead 29 laps in the opening stage and finish fourth in that segment. That was the high point of the night, though. He missed the top 10 in the second stage and finished disappointingly in 20th despite starting on the outside of the front row. Things continue to look poor for Suarez, and he desperately needs some top finishes to turn things around. He has two top-10 finishes at Richmond but finished 18th there earlier this season and 17th in this race last year.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

William Byron – It didn't look like Byron's first race of the playoffs was going to go well after a spin on lap 182 brought one of the four cautions in Las Vegas. The miscue didn't leave lasting damage, though, and he and the team rallied to finish an impressive seventh. He led six laps and averted major disaster while taking home a top-10 finish. Races like that can be pivotal in a championship fight, and the impressive comeback saved Byron's hopes of advancing to the round of 12. He now sits ninth in the standings – seven points clear of the final transfer spot. He has raced three times in the series at Richmond and has an average finish of 15th. He started and finished 13th at the track earlier this year.