The night races at Bristol Motor Speedway meant more than just some wild short track racing for all three racing series.  With all three series now officially in the playoffs, one driver won his way into the Championship four, one driver assured his spot in the next round of the playoffs, and four drivers saw their hopes of winning a championship go down once the checkered flag had dropped.

The Craftsman Truck Series got the weekend started off early with some Thursday night racing as they began the second round of their playoffs and only four more races remaining in the season.

Corey Heim knows that he will be racing for the championship when the Truck Series gets to Phoenix in November after winning the race at Bristol to become the first driver in the Championship Four.

Craftsman Truck Series Playoff Standings:
Corey Heim – 3080
Christian Eckes – 3079
Carson Hocevar – 3068
Grant Enfinger – 3064
Zane Smith – 3050
Ben Rhodes – 3045
Nick Sanchez – 3042
Ty Majeski – 3042


On Friday night, The Xfinity Series filled the house when Dale Earnhardt Jr joined the drivers for the race.  JR was hoping to finish the race in the top 15 but a fire in the car took him out of the race and he ended up in 30th and a hole in the lower right pant leg due to the fire.

But JR still got to make a tip to Victory Lane when his driver Justin Allgaier crossed the finish line first.  When Allgaier arrived at Victory Lane he had a couple of passengers on the car – his father was sitting in the right side window with car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr sitting in the left side window.

The race at Bristol also kicked off round one of the playoffs for the Xfinity Series and Justin Allgaier has locked in a spot in the next round.

Xfinity Series Playoff Standings:
John Hunter Nemechek – 2095
Justin Allgaier – 2085
Cole Custer – 2069
Austin Hill – 2051
Chandler Smith – 2048
Daniel Hemric – 2042
Sammy Smith – 2035
Sheldon Creed – 2034
Jeb Burton – 2030
Sam Mayer – 2020
Josh Berry – 2010


The Cup Series capped off the weekend with some short track Saturday night racing that ended round one of the playoffs and the 16 drivers dropped to 12.

Denny Hamlin dominated the race and lapped most of the field in the process to win the race.  After an on track crash, Joey Logano’s night ended early…and his chance to repeat as champion.

By the end of the night Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Michael McDowell were all eliminated from the playoffs.

After each round, the points are reset and the playoff points earned are added to the points; as a result, Martin Truex Jr finds himself back near the top of the point standings despite a bad night in Bristol.

Cup Series Playoff Standings:
William Byron – 3036
Martin Truex Jr – 3036
Denny Hamlin – 3032
Kyle Larson – 3023
Chris Buescher – 3021
Kyle Busch – 3019
Christopher Bell – 3016
Tyler Reddick – 3014
Ross Chastain – 3011
Brad Keselowski – 3011
Ryan Blaney – 3008
“Bubba Wallace – 3000