Dover doomsday culls Playoff herd

It was doomsday in Dover, and for Ryan Newman, the difference was two points.

Newman was the first driver outside of a transfer spot at the end of 400 laps in the Apache Warrior 400, missing the Round of 12 by two points. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hung onto the final spot after entering the day clinging to it on a tie-breaker.

A 17th-place finish after earning points in the first stage, while Newman did not, was good enough to advance Stenhouse. Newman finished 13th.

"Well, we just weren't good enough, as simple as that," Newman said afterward. "We didn't have a fast-enough racecar; we didn't have the right strategy. We qualified better, that was a plus, but these first three races were a challenge for us. It seemed like everybody else stepped up their game and we didn't."

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Also eliminated was Newman's teammate Richard Childress Racing, Austin Dillon. After making the postseason for the second consecutive year, Dillon missed the second round by four points.

"[The day] started off pretty good. We were headed to the front and were really good on that first long run," said Dillon. "We pitted, and the caution came out [on Lap 88, trapping him two laps down]. That was pretty much it. [Ricky] Stenhouse getting those stage points; we were better than him all day. It would have come down between me and the 31 [Ryan Newman].

"We decided we had to run long right there to see if a caution would come out and put everybody a lap down to get us on the same strategy Stenhouse got his points on. It stinks. But, I'm proud of my guys. They fought hard. I would have liked to have to battle down to the end with the 31. But, that first caution kind of killed our day right there."

Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch were also eliminated after finishing 14th and 20th, respectively.

"Yeah, disappointed in the way that I drove all through this playoff run. I was driving at 101 percent trying to get every ounce of speed out of it," said Busch. "It just never had a flow for three races. We might have finished 10th here today. The wreck last week really put us in a hole. We needed a perfect day today and playoff stage points.

"We just really never did well in Stage 1 and I thought that it might be our Achilles heel. If we add up the numbers (that's) probably where it was. I can't fault anybody. We ran hard. We gave it everything we had."

Here are the reseeded points for the Round of 12:

Martin Truex Jr. – 3059
Kyle Busch – 3041
Kyle Larson – 3034
Brad Keselowski – 3020
Jimmie Johnson – 3017
Kevin Harvick – 3015
Denny Hamlin – 3013
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 3010
Ryan Blaney – 3008
Chase Elliott – 3006
Matt Kenseth – 3005
Jamie McMurray – 30003