WWTR bites brakes once again as a number of drivers get caught out

World Wide Technology Raceway, a racetrack notoriously tough on NASCAR Cup Series brake packages, ended up biting multiple Chase drivers for that reason on Sunday.

Ryan Blaney was the first victim in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Blaney hit the wall going down the frontstretch and into Turn 1 on lap 155. He was running in sixth position at the time.

“No warning,” Blaney said after exiting the race. “I had a little concern early in the race, but then they kind of stabilized; they didn’t really get worse. Gosh, I feel like they blew on the frontstretch before I even touched the brake pedal; they just crumbled apart and blew out. It’s unfortunate, but fairly fortunate where they blew and (that they) didn’t blow as I was kind of in the corner.

“But it’s a shame. I thought we did a great job today running up toward the front and doing really well in the stages, and I was looking forward to seeing how that last run played out. I thought we got our car pretty good to see where we were at, stacked up with some of those guys, and unfortunately won’t get the chance.”

The incident occurred in the final stage after Blaney had earned 14 points from the two stages. He finished in 35th position. On the Chase front, Blaney fell one spot in the championship standings to fourth place and lost 17 points to the leader. He is now 33 points behind Denny Hamlin.

The second incident came on lap 214 with 27 laps to go and involved Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe. It was going into Turn 1 that Elliott lost control of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and collected Briscoe in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as it headed toward the outside wall.

Both drivers were knocked out of the race. Briscoe finished 32nd. Elliott finished 31st. Briscoe was running sixth at the time of the crash and Elliott was running seventh.

“There was really nothing that said it was fixing to break, unfortunately,” said Elliott. “I knew there had been some issues throughout the day, obviously. I had seen some other guys and was right behind Ryan [Blaney] when he blew his, and I guess that’s kind of luck of the draw, unfortunately. I went to make a move on the (No.) 19 there, and I stepped on the brakes and exploded a rotor, and that was about it. So, I was kind of hanging on.

“It’s really unfortunate. I thought we were having a really solid day, honestly; we were right there around the top five, and I thought we had the right strategy there at the end and were able to kind of continue marching forward there. So, I’m proud of the effort today and hate to have another bad week, but we had some good pace and some good stuff to hopefully build on and try to go get them next week at Bristol.”

Elliott dropped two spots in the Chase standings to 11th and is now 93 points behind Hamlin, whileBriscoe fell three spots in the standings and is 59 points behind his teammate.

“It was just the wrong place, wrong time for our Bass Pro Shops Tracker Toyota,” Briscoe said.

“But we’ve just got to go to the next eight weeks and try to win as many of them as we can. I don’t know - we kind of used nine lives today and kept trying to find our way up there, and just at the end we weren’t in the place we needed to be. I don’t know; go get in the deer stand tomorrow morning and reset.”

Chris Buescher was the third and final Chase driver struck, seemingly, by the same issue. The RFK Racing driver was having a forgettable afternoon, with an average running position of 26th and no stage points, when he crashed with three laps to go in regulation. It also happened in Turn 1.

Buescher finished 27th. In the process, he fell two positions in the championship standings to 13th and is in a 111-point hole.