Stewart-Haas entered Martinsville with four drivers in the playoffs. They left with one on the cutoff bubble, three below that mark and a guarantee that all four will not get to Miami in championship contention after Joey Logano’s win.
That might make for an awkward meeting this week.
“To go into that team meeting before Martinsville and say, ‘we’ve all got a shot;' to go in this week and say ‘one of us is out - which one is out?’ To look around the room, that is a strange feeling,” Kyle Petty said on Tuesday’s edition of NASCAR America.
Kevin Harvick sits on the playoff bubble, but with the bonus points he amassed during the regular season, he is 25 ahead of Kurt Busch. Clint Bowyer is 42 points below the bubble in seventh. Aric Almirola is last among the top eight with a 50-points deficit.
Parker Kligerman asked the crew chiefs last week when the team sharing and cohesiveness ends.
“At Martinsville, they all told me ‘no it’s all normal, it’s all fine and normal’ ” Kligerman said. “And I think it stays normal because when you look at the situation - Kevin Harvick being the de facto team leader that he’s been - is going to continue to be that team leader and has the best chance of advancing.”
Don’t look for Harvick to be able to syphon resources off his team members, however. After all, they are all still in playoff contention and have sponsors that must be appeased.
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