We are officially one race into the Round of 12 and things, as the playoffs have shown us, have shaken up quite a bit. Penske seems primed to rocket towards a fourth consecutive title and Joe Gibbs Racing has found some in-fighting at the wrong time.

Lets get into some interesting takeaways after a solid race in Loudon. 

Adversity knocking 

2025 has been no joyride for the entire 23XI team. Between the team’s antitrust lawsuit battle against the France family and on track hurdles, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace have both faced their fair share of road blocks. Reddick has had a season to forget, not nabbing a single win and barely making the playoffs off of points. 

Wallace’s season is highlighted by a massive Brickyard win, but without that he may have missed the playoffs entirely. Heading into Kansas, the two drivers find themselves 11th and 12th respectively. They’ll need to show up and show out at one of their best tracks if either of them want a shot at the Round of Eight (and if they want a shot to stick it to the man). 

Penske Power 

Hereeeee comes Rodger! In all seriousness, Penske seems to constantly turn it on in the playoffs. Between Blaney’s dominant win yesterday and his teammate Logano’s consistent day in tow, it feels like Penske is just primed to make it happen in crunch time.

The stats back me up: three championships in a row for Ford’s premier team and no signs of stopping. Logano has been quiet all season for his standards and just turns it on outta nowhere with his third straight top five. 

JGR’s competition director seemed convinced that the dark horse and its set ups give Penske an edge, especially at Phoenix, and the stats so far have backed that up. Another reason why our current playoff format is a farce, which leads me to my next point…

“Play” “Offs” 

For as long as NASCAR makes me suffer through this nonsensical format, I will continue to beat the proverbial dead horse. First of all, no I am not salty my driver was a lame duck in the New Hampshire race.

What I am frustrated about is that he’s 27 points under the cutline after one mishap of a race where the car was awful. Rather than a system that rewards consistency, we have a system that punishes you for one incident. I will never go as far as to say a championship winner is a fluke, we have yet to truly see that be the case, but every time we allow this broken and preformative system to continue, the larger the chance gets. 

Now there are rumors that NASCAR brass would like to ADD drivers to the championship round! The circus never ends here folks. Maybe in 2045 we’ll be a legitimate motorsports series. 

Gibb me a break 

Something to keep an eye on as we approach the final two rounds of playoff contention is the animosity between Ty Gibbs and teammate Denny Hamlin. During yesterday’s race, Gibbs was sent spinning by a frustrated Hamlin who had been racing him all day. 

Once the dust had settled, even Joe Gibbs had conceded, saying the two drivers could figure it out themselves. This is the last thing Hamlin needs, as his chances of getting a championship are running thin. 

Gibbs has notably raced his peers hard all season, and racing your desperate teammate when he has a run isn’t helping the team at all. Many will say I’m glazing Hamlin but Gibb’s antics have been a consistent theme. The former Xfinity phenom will need to turn it up soon, or else he runs the risk of becoming NASCARs very own Trevor Lawrence.