Ryan Blaney won the final race of the NASCAR Cup regular season last Sunday, his second win this year. Both Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman survived to advance to the playoffs despite being involved in separate accidents. Reddick was involved in a two-car crash but returned to finish 21st. Bowman got caught up in the “big one” on lap 28 and his race was done. He was scored in 36th. Kyle Larson and William Byron are tied for playoff top seed with 2,032 points each. Going into the Round of 16, the four drivers on the transfer bubble are Josh Berry, Reddick, Austin Dillon, and Bowman.

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This weekend’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington is the first of three races to determine which of the 16 playoff contenders will advance to the Round of 12. Denny Hamlin’s four victories there lead all ac

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