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BRISTOL, Tenn. – Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell were each eliminated from the Cup qualifiers on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Everyone had their difficulties throughout the race and couldn’t overcome them in the final laps.
Reddick had to stop a second time for a loose lug nut on the right rear tire on lap 255 of the 500-lap race. He had finished the second leg ninth, but the additional pit stop dropped him to 26th place. He spent the rest of the race trying to make up the deficit. His 12th place left him two points behind William Byron for the last transfer place.
“We’ve definitely given up more than two spots in this first round,” said Reddick. “Darlington, stuck in a ride in Richmond. Not just a key opportunity, but there were a number that made the difference.
“The situation tonight is not really the one that stings her. It was just unfortunate to get to the playoffs. We don’t really have the pace that we just had to work our way through the playoff standings.
Almirola also finished two points behind Byron for the final transfer point. His team had to fix a leaking oil line that caused his car to smoke. The team completed work on lap 174.
He was 27th when the line was repaired. Almirola was 12th with 100 laps to go but passed out and finished 18th. It was six points lost.
“Disappointed that it ended like this just because we faced so much adversity all night long, that we found ourselves in a position where we were in the top 10, doing what we had to do,” said he declared.
“This warning came out at the end where we had 18 laps with our tires. We stayed outside. For some reason when we started with these tires the car was at the top of the skate track. Would not turn. In trouble.”
Busch struggled with his car’s handling for much of the race and finished 19th. He was six points behind Byron for this final transfer point.
Michael McDowell needed to win to move forward. Instead, he finished 24th, seeing his first race for a title end after three races. He was 49 points behind Byron.
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