Groovy Hollow Recap
Sunday, Denny Hamlin won his way into the Round of 12. But, it’s still not time to shut the book on NASCAR’s trip to Gateway. So, who were the biggest losers from NASCAR’s weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway?
From the outset, this weekend felt like a lock for Ford. Throughout its time on the schedule, WWT Raceway has been a playground for the Ford camp, with Penske drivers locking in wins in two of the three races and having led 341 of the 728 laps of Cup Series competition in the track’s history. But, after qualifying, it didn’t look like the OEM would continue this hot streak.
In a continuation of their dominance at Darlington, Toyota playoff drivers stole the show Sunday, making Ford and Chevrolet look more like lawn mowers rather than, well, championship contenders. While it’s not full crisis mode for either OEM just yet, it is time to panic. Once the usual suspects are eliminated from the playoffs this weekend, there will be little room for error, and as of right now, every Toyota is bound for the Round of 12.
Jeb Burton and his cousin Harrison gave NASCAR fans a lot of excitement late in the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, as the sons of NASCAR legends found themselves battling for the final spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs. The battle ended on lap 111 when Burton’s No. 27 cut its right front tire and slammed into the outside wall.
Prior to this past weekend’s race, Jeb spoke up about the implications of stage racing on “the little guys.” While changing the system wouldn’t make much of a difference, he has a point. Winning and running up front matter, but bringing the car home in one piece should not be overlooked by any means. Of course, Jeb Burton is not a loser by his own doing; rather, his season, one in which he and Jordan Anderson Racing turned a significant corner after a tough 2024, will likely be overlooked as we head into the playoffs. Which is a shame, because JAR and Burton are slowly looking like a playoff threat based on consistency alone, which means winning could be right around the corner for one of NASCAR’s fastest-growing teams.
After wrecking early on in the first two races of the playoffs, Josh Berry sits a massive 45 points below the cutline, but just four races into 2026, he and his No. 21 seemed like the story of the season. Now, unless he wins at Bristol, his efforts will be a footnote in the history of playoffs.
This car has had speed all season long. Berry has 14th 14th-best average starting spot in the series, but his 21.9 average finish is good for 30th, behind the likes of Justin Haley, Daniel Suarez, and Austin Dillon. It’s easy to get comfortable after locking yourself into the playoffs in March, but by September, you have to have things figured out, and so far, WBR and Berry are a textbook example of getting swarmed by the start of the playoffs.
We were not done with Chevrolet because we had to talk about Alex Bowman. Throughout his time at Hendrick Motorsports, Alex Bowman has been viewed as the weak link, in 2020, the conversation was to replace him with Larson and promote Gragson, in 2021, the conversation was replace him with Keselowski, in 2022, the talk was about Kyle Busch, in 2023, it was Josh Berry, and finally, last season it was Justin Haley. Now, these conversations are beginning with fans once again.
Bowman is a good driver; that is a fact, but the dialogue will always exist among Hendrick fans to shake up the lineup, because who doesn’t like change?
After all, in the four full-time car era at HMS (since 2002), this group has been together the longest, beating out full-time drivers Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s four seasons together from 2012 to 2015.
We get that the past two weeks have not been the fault of Alex Bowman; nonetheless, as we have learned throughout the past few years, fans are still going to call for his replacement. So, if Bowman is eliminated this weekend, which, hey, is a track he sat on the pole for in the spring, he absolutely must turn the jets on in 2026.
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