A look at the winners and losers from a weekend of racing at Road America:
WINNERS
Chase Elliott - Came from 34th on the starting grid to win the first Cup race at Road America since August 1956. Elliott has now won seven of the last 11 road course races in NASCAR’s premier division. When asked about how he’s become so strong on road courses, Elliott replied that “honestly (I) don’t know.” He added, with a smile: “If I did, I’d tell you – maybe.”
Christopher Bell - Runner-up finish broke a rough stretch for Bell, who had earned one top-10 finish in the previous 10 races entering Sunday. He heads to Atlanta, where he finished 21st in the spring. “Atlanta was definitely a struggle point for us, but we are building on a little bit of momentum here coming off of Nashville – that was a good race,” Bell said. “Pocono 2 was a really good race and then here. Maybe we can continue to build on that and be good at Atlanta.”
Kurt Busch - Fourth-place finish Sunday was his fourth top 10 in the last five races. The run has helped him climb into playoff contention. He’s now 25 points up on Chris Buescher for the 16th and final post-season spot.
Chase Briscoe - Sixth-place finish for the Cup rookie matches his best result from Circuit of the Americas earlier this season. Briscoe recovered from having to start in the back (35th), as well as an early pit road penalty for driving through more than three stalls.
Tyler Reddick - Scored a race-high 46 points and earned his first stage win of the season on his way to finishing eighth. For a driver seeking to solidify a playoff berth as the regular season winds down, that’s a big result. He’s earned 10 top-10 finishes in 2021, his most in a single season.
LOSERS
William Byron - Won the pole, then finished first and second in the stages. But after pitting during the Lap 43 caution, he went off course in Turn 5 on Lap 49 while trying to regain ground. He never recovered and finished 33rd.
Daniel Suarez - Transmission issue on Lap 3 ruined his day. He finished 36th, nine laps down. After having pulled within 48 points of the final playoff spot entering Road America, he’s now 88 points behind the cutline.
Austin Cindric - Hard luck for the Xfinity Series champion, whose mechanical issue on Lap 24 cost him an opportunity to contend for his first Cup victory. He told NBC Sports that he has one more Cup race this season in the No. 33 Team Penske Ford before moving to the series full-time in 2022.