ST. LOUIS -- Though Cardinals manager Mike Shildt says they'll "evaluate" the situation, he's not running away from closer Carlos Martinez after the righty blew the save in a critical 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Sunday.

Down 1-0, the Braves rallied for three runs in the ninth to take a 2-1 series lead on the Cardinals. Game 4 is Monday afternoon.

"I mean, I don't know exactly [Martinez's] save percentage, but it's about as good as anybody in baseball," Shildt said after the loss. "So that's his spot. He'll be in that spot [Monday], and I'll have full confidence in him."

Martinez gave up three runs on three hits and two walks -- one intentional -- as Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson tied the game with a two-out double that was followed by a two-run single by Adam Duvall. Both hits came off of sliders, Duvall's on a 0-2 pitch.

"There were some pitches that didn't go where they were supposed to go," Martinez said through the team interpreter. "I didn't have the best grip on the slider. I tried to get that pitch to do what it was supposed to do and I didn't get to it."

The big question is if the Cardinals could have seen this coming and if there is anything they can do about it as they face elimination. Martinez gave up two home runs in a Game 1, a 7-6 victory, but had only given up runs in one outing in September.

"If you look at -- he's bent, but he hasn't broke a lot," Shildt said. "He's been really, really good a lot. You look at his numbers. One of the big reasons that I'm sitting here and we're playing is Carlos Martinez and the job he did coming in for Jordan [Hicks]. We didn't miss a beat. He's been outstanding in that role."

Some might look at the decision to walk lefty-hitting catcher Brian McCann and put the lead run at first base as a mistake, but Shildt indicated going for the win -- and facing the righty Swanson -- trumped everything else.

"Consensus was that rather take a shot at Swanson, 0-for-6 [career] at that point with Carlos, clearly that's the go-ahead run you're putting on," Shildt explained. "But you have two outs, and we play to win. Play to win the game. Everybody felt like that was the best match up, including the guy on the mound."

Martinez added: "The situation called for that walk. McCann is a more veteran player than Dansby."

Swanson hit the first pitch from Martinez off the wall in left field, scoring pinch-runner Billy Hamilton from third base and setting up Duvall's two-run single.

"Everybody has a bad day," Martinez said. "Today was my turn. ... We still have [Monday] to get back into the series."

But will Martinez be in his same role? Shildt showed confidence in his closer while leaving the door open a smidge.

"We'll continue to evaluate it," Shildt said. Now we're in a do-or-die situation, and really looking forward to tomorrow's game, quite honestly. But guys have gotten us here, it's hard to look at them and say, 'Oh, you didn't do something well.' The proverbial, 'I've got your back until things don't go well.'

"But we've also got to recognize and evaluate what we see and compete in the moment. [I] had complete confidence that he was going to be able to make a pitch there to Swanson and it didn't happen."

WASHINGTON -- Patrick Corbin caused a Nationals disaster.

Pitching in relief in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, Corbin allowed six earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. The Washington lefty, who started Game 1 of the NLDS, took over for starter Anibal Sanchez in the top of the sixth with his team leading 2-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. After allowing a leadoff single to Cody Bellinger, Corbin recorded consecutive strikeouts against Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock. But with two outs, the Dodgers put together a ferocious rally.

Pinch-hitter David Freese kept the inning alive with single, then veteran catcher Russell Martin followed with a two-run double. After pinch-hitter Chris Taylor drew a walk, Kike Hernandez plated two more runs with another double. Corbin intentionally walked Max Muncy, who'd gone deep in his previous at-bat, and then was lifted in favor of righty Wander Suero. The first hitter Suero faced, Justin Turner, blasted a three-run homer, giving L.A. an 8-2 lead.

"Just couldn't seem to get that third out there," said Corbin, who gave way to Suero after throwing 35 pitches and ended up taking the loss in a 10-4 defeat that puts Washington in a 2-1 deficit in the best-of-five series. "Just stinks. Coming in, we're up by one there, just trying to get through a clean inning there. Just left a couple sliders there, kind of spun out. Didn't have the usual break that I've had on them. It just stinks. I feel like I let these guys down. They did a great job scoring, getting the lead early, and Sanchez pitched a heck of a game. So it's tough."

"We were doing our job," added catcher Yan Gomes, "doing a great job of getting ahead and doing what we needed to do, and it's one of those things, man. They locked it in -- we tried to waste a couple pitches; they would either foul it off or not bite at all. They did a good job. Tip your cap to them. They had a great approach against Pat. We just weren't able to put them away."

Corbin's appearance marked the third time in four games this postseason that manager Davey Martinez has deployed one of his starters in relief. In Tuesday's 4-3 wild-card win over the Milwaukee Brewers, Stephen Strasburg threw three scoreless innings out of the pen and earned the victory. In Game 2 of the NLDS on Friday, Max Scherzer worked the eighth inning and helped the Nats to a 4-2 win that evened up the series at one game apiece. Though Corbin didn't fare as well as his fellow starters, Martinez has no regrets about the decision.

"I trust Pat," said Martinez. "He's been unbelievable all year. And I would do it again. I really would. He was the guy. I just feel bad for him, because he went out there, gave us everything he had."

In his Game 1 start, Corbin went six innings, allowing one earned run on three hits. His outing in Game 3 marked the first time in over two years that he worked in relief. On September 29, 2017, he pitched out of the bullpen for the Arizona Diamondbacks, his lone relief outing that season. In 2016, Corbin's 36 appearances included 12 games out of the bullpen.

"I feel like I got warmed up fairly quick," said the 30-year old southpaw. "Felt pretty good coming in, just couldn't get that third out there. I was in here doing what I would normally do to get loose, and I feel like I got loose fairly quick, and came in and was able to throw everything. The later the inning got -- the breaking ball, it was there early, and [I] just kind of left a couple up there."

Washington's propensity to use starters in relief stems from a regular season in which the Nats won 93 games despite an unreliable bullpen that posted a 5.66 ERA, the worst in the majors. Entering Friday's game against the Dodgers, the Nats bullpen had worked to a 5.00 ERA in the postseason.

The Los Angeles Angels will interview Joe Maddon for their vacant managerial position on Monday, a source confirmed to ESPN on Sunday night.

Maddon is the first known candidate at the moment, though Angels general manager Billy Eppler said earlier this week that the team will undergo a traditional search.

The Angels, who finished 72-90, fired Brad Ausmus after only one season on the first day of their offseason.

Eppler, owner Arte Moreno and president John Carpino then poured through a list of candidates the following afternoon. But Maddon has long been considered the front-runner for the job.

Maddon, 65, spent 13 years in the Angels' organization, the last six as Mike Scioscia's bench coach from 2000 to 2005.

Maddon then went on to manage the low-budget Tampa Bay Rays, a highly successful nine-year run that included the franchise's only trip to the World Series. From there, Maddon led the Chicago Cubs to their first title in more than 100 years. He was dismissed after five seasons.

WASHINGTON -- Patrick Corbin had spent the past two years terrorizing Los Angeles Dodgers hitters, relying mostly on a biting, tilting, low-80s slider that closely resembles his fastball until it's too late to adjust. But Russell Martin remembered this one key tidbit in a postseason pregame meeting that outlined Corbin's tendencies: With two strikes and runners in scoring position, strikes are highly unlikely.

So when Martin faced an 0-2 count in the top of the sixth inning of Sunday's National League Division Series game -- with two outs, runners on the corners and the Dodgers trailing by a run, their offense continuing to reel and their season suddenly on the brink -- he focused on tracking pitches and hardly worried about swinging.

He watched a slider break into the dirt and identified the point where he could differentiate it from Corbin's fastball.

He saw a fastball next, sailing up and in, and compared the difference.

"The more pitches I saw," Martin said, "the more I felt comfortable."

Corbin went to the slider again, with the count now 2-2, and this time Martin was the aggressor. The pitch traveled 85 mph, began in the strike zone and dropped just below it, an ideal location in that setting. But Martin lofted the baseball deep into the left-center gap for the two-run double that gave the Dodgers a lead, ignited an improbable seven-run inning, inspired a 10-4 victory in Game 3 and ultimately put the pressure squarely on the Washington Nationals.

The Dodgers' offense was noticeably reeling when the sixth inning began. Their hitters had collected 38 strikeouts in 75 postseason at-bats, only five shy of the record for any three-game stretch within a playoff series -- and then suddenly they erupted.

Their final tally in the sixth: 11 batters; two walks; six hits, four of them for extra bases; and seven runs, all of them with two outs and all of them driven in by three hitters -- Martin, Enrique Hernandez and Justin Turner -- who came back from being down 0-2 in the count. More than 50,000 MLB games have been played over the past 20 years. Before Sunday night, no team has had that many two-out RBIs from players who faced 0-2 counts, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau.

"We just fight," Dodgers corner infielder David Freese said, his team now up 2-1 in this NLDS. "You get here by fighting. You get here by being confident. Just passing the baton and moving the chain. We just had an inning where we just showed up and got it done."

The beginning was subtle, as is typically the case, but it was also encouraging. It was a line-drive single down the right-field line from Cody Bellinger, the potential MVP who had accumulated zero hits and five strikeouts through his first eight at-bats in this series. Corbin, who relieved a highly effective Anibal Sanchez after five innings, recorded strikes on his first two pitches. But Bellinger laid off three others out of the strike zone, fouled off a couple more, then turned on a slider low and away and started a rally.

"He hasn't had much success in the first two games," Turner said, "and he's in there grinding, trying to get locked in, and he wants to be that MVP guy for us that he's been all year. And that at-bat kind of unlocked him."

Bellinger would register another hit, a double, before the end of the inning. But long before that was Freese, hitting for Gavin Lux, beating the shift by sneaking a two-out grounder through the right side, his first of three hits in a game he did not start.

"He has to be going down as one of the greatest October players of all time," Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said of Freese, the man who famously propelled the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2011 World Series. "I don't care what anyone says -- he has to be."

Martin was only in the game because Hyun-Jin Ryu was the starting pitcher. Over the last two years, he mustered only a .665 OPS, 78 points below the major league average. He navigated through the 2019 season with a .220/.337/.330 slash line, but the Dodgers value him for his personality and his insight.

Martin, 36, spent the first five years of his career with the Dodgers and found his way back with them after a winding path that saw him play for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. His sixth-inning double was only his second extra-base hit since Sept. 3. His ninth-inning home run was his first postseason homer for the Dodgers since the 2008 NLDS, against the Chicago Cubs, which Martin remembered well.

"That's such a long time ago," Martin said. "A lot of foul tips ago."

Martin's double was followed by a Chris Taylor walk, which was followed by Hernandez, the Dodgers' third pinch hitter of the inning, falling behind 0-2, laying off a slider low, then turning on a slider out over the plate and blasting it deep into Nationals Park's outfield.

After signaling for an intentional walk of Muncy, Corbin, the former Arizona Diamondbacks starter who had held the Dodgers to three runs in 36⅓ innings since the start of the 2018 season, exited.

The Dodgers had finally gotten to him.

"We were trying to see the ball a little bit deeper," Hernandez said. "All those years in the NL West, I think the one slider that I hit was the first slider that I've recognized out of the hand that he's thrown."

When Turner blasted a three-run homer off right-handed reliever Wander Suero -- on the sixth consecutive cutter that he saw -- the Dodgers had set a franchise record for postseason runs in an inning. The Dodgers finished with eight RBIs by players who fell behind in the count 0-2, the most by any team all season. And they joined the 2010 San Francisco Giants and the 2007 Boston Red Sox for the most two-out runs in a single inning in postseason history, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau.

Corbin faced seven batters and reached two strikes on five of them.

He retired only two.

"He just couldn't finish," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "They laid off some good pitches."

Sanchez recorded nine strikeouts through five innings, but he expended 87 pitches and was starting to get hit around in the final frame. His spot came up in the bottom of the fifth, and Martinez opted to hit for him. Martinez knew Corbin, Thursday's Game 1 starter, could contribute 35 pitches and was hopeful that he could stretch it over the course of two innings, then hand the ball to Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson to finish the game off.

The Dodgers torched that plan, and now they'll prepare for a Game 4 matchup on Monday night that might feature a tired Max Scherzer, who threw his between-starts bullpen session in Game 2.

"It's not the same being down 2-1 on the road with Scherzer on the mound than being up 2-1 on the road with Scherzer on the mound," Hernandez said. "If there is a Game 5, we're going home. It's huge. I like our chances now."

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Lee Pulliam may have struggled to crack a smile after Saturday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, but he still had plenty to celebrate as he left the Martinsville Speedway grounds.

Pulliam’s fifth-career runner-up finish in the Martinsville late model stock car special was just enough to secure his second Virginia Triple Crown Series championship, edging out Peyton Sellers by a single finishing position for the $7,000 top prize.

The Virginia Triple Crown is an annual three-race series encompassing the premier races at South Boston Speedway (South Boston 200), Langley Speedway (Hampton Heat 200) and Martinsville.

The series champion is determined by the lowest average finish across the three races, and eligible drivers must start all three features. Pulliam’s total score of 10 left him with an average finish of 3.33, while Sellers’ combined score of 11 gave him an average finish of 3.67, just short of the prize.

Those totals were the focus in the final laps, as Pulliam put on a furious scrap with Timothy Peters in the closing laps before securing second place for good with four laps left.

Considering that Sellers had a win in his back pocket – and by virtue of that, the tiebreaker over Pulliam – going into Martinsville, the four-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion knew that every position in the final laps could make the difference in winning or losing the Triple Crown.

“That was a hell of a battle there. It got pretty intense there, beating back and forth, but really Timothy ran me fairly clean,” said Pulliam. “He gave me a little bit of a rub; I rubbed him just a little bit to get under him, but that battle was pretty clean. The 22 (Bobby McCarty) was kind of rough, but it was exciting. That’s just hard racing. Everybody finished in one piece, and that’s what it’s all about.

“I never thought once that I had it, because I’ve been in that position before, and honestly I was just trying to win the race,” Pulliam added. “I wasn’t even thinking about the Triple Crown. At the end of the day, we won the battle for second, and that was the best we could do with where Josh (Berry) was.”

As he reflected on the night as a whole, Pulliam did give major credit where it was deserved: to the No. 88 JR Motorsports squad of Berry, who led all 200 laps of Saturday night’s feature in convincing fashion.

“The (No.) 88 car, I don’t know what the heck they had, but that thing was unbelievable. I mean, I can’t ever remember seeing a car be that dominant here. Good job to those guys; I know they worked hard. Josh is a really good driver and when you’re driving good stuff, often enough good things will happen.

“We were all racing for second in this one. The best car went to victory lane this weekend.”

Saturday night marked the unprecedented fifth time in Pulliam’s career that he’s finished second in the quest for the grandfather clock, a statistic that had the Semora, N.C., veteran shaking his head.

“It’s my fifth time finishing second here, and man … I’ve won it twice, but I think I’m like the king of seconds here,” Pulliam noted. “So anyhow, one spot short again.”

Asked if securing the Triple Crown took some of the sting out of yet another runner-up finish at Martinsville, Pulliam chuckled quietly before offering a small nod in response.

“It does help,” Pulliam told SPEED SPORT. “I tried to take the high road with that deal with Peyton. I got spun a couple times, and I had the opportunity to wreck him tonight, but I just told the guys that I wasn’t gonna race him like that. I wanted to race hard and race for positions, and I think that you get rewarded when you do good stuff like that. We won the thing by one position and I can go to sleep at night when I get home. He ran me clean tonight, too. It was just really cool to win it.

“I’ve won it before, and it’s a neat deal to be a repeat champion of that series, but this weekend was all about that grandfather clock and it was tough to lose it being one spot away tonight.”

HEUSDEN-ZOLDER, Belgium – Loris Hezemans locked up the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series ELITE 1 championship with a sixth-place victory in Sunday’s finale at Circuit Zolder.

Meanwhile, Stienes Longin grabbed his first NASCAR Whelen Euro Series ELITE 1 victory in front of his home crowd.

Hezemans’ championship was already in the books when the 22-year-old Dutchman completed the first of the race’s 18 laps in the rain at Circuit Zolder. He mastered the slippery track and brought home a solid sixth place to win the championship and the Junior Trophy. Hendriks Motorsport also won the team championship with it’s No. 50 Ford Mustang driven by Hezemans and Giorgio Maggi, who ended up second in the ELITE 2 division.

“It’s not sinking in yet,” said Hezemans while holding the trophy in victory lane. “The donuts after the checkered flag were so much fun. I never did them before in a race car. It was a crazy race and probably the most hectic few laps in my life. The car was going left and right all the time. I was just thinking: ‘bring it home, bring it home!’ Those were the longest laps in my life. For 2020 I hope for more races in America and this title is such a good opportunity. My heart still belongs with Euro NASCAR and I really hope to build a NASCAR career from here.”

Hezemans was very strong in the second half of the season, scoring three wins in five races. He overtook Longin in the points standings with two clutch wins in the Semi Finals at Hockenheim and secured the title with two additional top-10s during the Finals at Circuit Zolder.

Longin ended up second in points but the greatest joy for him was winning his first ELITE 1 division race in front of his home crowd. He finally went to victory lane to cap his most competitive season in Euro NASCAR and he did it one year after losing two races to Alon Day at Circuit Zolder. This time, Longin was unbeatable in the treacherous weather conditions and Day had to settle for second after surrendering the lead to the Belgian on lap seven.

Following Thomas Ferrando’s win on Saturday, Longin became the seventh different winner of the season.

“It’s an awesome feeling, I cannot describe it,” said Longin. “In the last six laps, when it started raining so heavy, my windshield wiper stopped working. It was a heck of a challenge and a crazy drive. Next year I will aim for the title again as this year. I will give my best again in the 2020 season.”

It was Marc Goossens took over third place in the last lap when Jacques Villeneuve, who was holding on to a place on the podium after starting from the pole, suddenly slipped down to seventh with visibility issue on his No. 32 Go Fas Racing Camaro. Goossens crafted his way through the final laps and scored his second consecutive podium.

Returning Alex Sedgwick won the Junior Trophy race ahead of Gianmarco Ercoli and Hezemans.

With his ninth Challenger Trophy triumph of the season, Henri Tuomaala won the special classification dedicated to silver and bronze drivers in the ELITE 1 Division. Mauro Trione was second ahead of Kenko Miura.

AUSTIN, Texas – Even though he only needed to start the race to secure the Trans-Am Series TA2 powered by AEM championship, Marc Miller took an emphatic victory at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.

Miller’s No. 40 Prefix/Stevens-Miller Racing Dodge Challenger was fastest in testing, practice, qualifying, and ultimately the 100-mile TA2 feature on Sunday. But as easy as he made it look on the iconic 3.427-mile, 20-turn circuit, the race was by no means an easy one for Miller to win.

Scott Lagasse Jr. kept Miller honest for most of the 25 laps, even leading the race at one point.  But Miller pulled it together, clinching his championship in style with his fourth win of the season.

Lagasse finished a close second, with Edward Sevadjian claiming his first TA2 podium with a third-place finish.

“I loved that race,” said Miller. “Scott (Lagasse Jr.) and I raced each other clean, but hard. It was so fun. I wasn’t even thinking about the championship until right now and it feels great. To not only win it for our team but to win for Prefix on their 40th anniversary, how amazing is that?! The day would be perfect if my family were here to celebrate.”

Lagasse got the jump on the start and went from a fourth-place start to second before entering turn one. Miller pulled a six-second gap by lap six but, all of that would change when an extended caution period eliminated his advantage.

Excelling at restarts, Lagasse whipped to the outside of Miller and took the lead entering into turn one. The former NASCAR driver lead for three laps until Miller repaid the favor. Lagasse was relentless in the pursuit for his first win of the season, glued to the No. 40’s bumper for the remainder of the race, but the clock expired before he could make a successful move for first. Lagasse settled for second, which satisfied the SLR/Fields Racing driver after suffering a total loss at Virginia Int’l Raceway just two weeks ago and his past experience at COTA.

“Marc (Miller) needed to make some mistakes so I could win,” Lagasse laughed. “SLR/Fields Racing guys really put in the time to get the new car put together for the race. We had terrible luck here last year, not even starting the race, so to go out there and have great battles with Marc (Miller) was the comeback we needed.”

Texas native Sevadjian’s No. 38 Chevrolet Camaro was in pieces last week, but his Leadfoot Racing team finished the build on Tuesday, just in time to load up for race weekend.  Fighting heat and a few teething issues, Sevadjian wheeled his brand new machine to his first TA2 podium finish.

“We felt the Texas heat today,” Sevadjian said following the race. “Being that the car was brand new, we hadn’t run it with a full tank of gas. The weight distribution of the gas changed the handling a bit and it was a battle to finish where we did. Considering the car was just put together this week, we are extremely happy with a podium finish. It’s more than we expected heading into the weekend.”

Rookie Lawless Alan placed his No. 52 AutoParkIT Ford Mustang just outside of podium position, in fourth. Keith Prociuk charged through the field, starting from 32nd to finish fifth.

Brad McAllister locked up the Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship by three points with his win over Anthony Honeywell Sunday at COTA. McAllister entered the weekend trailing Honeywell by two points. Nabbing an extra two points for qualifying second, McAllister needed a race win to secure the championship.

Ethan Wilson, in the No. 25 BC Race Cars/Western Grinding Services Chevrolet Camaro, lead for the majority of the race, and McAllister’s chances of clinching the championship looked bleak until Wilson experienced mechanical issues that forced him to retire the race early.

Wilson’s misfortune lead to McAllister’s gain as he crossed the finish line first for the West Coast bunch, earning his first Trans Am championship.

“I am really proud of all the West Coast guys, we came here and matched up with the National guys with three of us finishing in the top-10,” said McAllister. “I’ve been racing in the West Coast Championship since its inception in 2017. It’s great that Trans-Am indroduced the series out west because it allows guys like me to race in a professional series at an affordable cost. I look forward to coming back next season to defend my title.”

Honeywell finished second on the day, missing out on championship glory by three points. Matthew Butson (No. 19 Butson Racing Chevrolet Camaro) rounded out the podium in third.

Michael Mihld ‘s fifth-place finish, in the No. 55 Michael Mihld Racing / Chevrolet Camaro, earned him enough points to finish take third in the West Coast Championship.

DOVER, Del. – Kyle Larson punched his ticket to the third round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a victory Sunday at Dover Int’l Speedway.

Larson, who hadn’t won in NASCAR Cup Series competition since 2017, ran in the top-five for the first portion of the race but didn’t take command of the Drydene 400 until after the completion of the second stage.

Martin Truex Jr., who had battled by polesitter Denny Hamlin to win the second stage, led Larson and the rest of the field down pit road for pit stops after the second stage. Unfortunately for Truex his rear tire changer slipped coming around the car and fell, which also caused the direction of the air gun to change upon impact with the ground.

The delay caused by the falling crew member cost Truex greatly, dropping him from the race lead to sixth while Larson inherited the race lead off pit road.

“The pit crew did a great job to get us out as the leader and we controlled the race from there,” Larson said.

Now the leader, the driver of the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 was in complete control. He rocketed away from Hamlin at the start of the final stage and drove away from the field, at times leading by more than six seconds.

Behind the race leader Truex was on a tear, marching back through the field in an effort to regain his lost track position. On lap 307 Truex dispatched Hamlin to take the second position, but he was still well off the pace being set by Larson.

Following a pit stop cycle around lap 320, Larson continued to lead Truex by about six seconds. Soon Larson found himself in lap traffic, which began to allow Truex to close the gap on him.

By lap 360 Truex had cut nearly four seconds off Larson’s lead, but once Larson pulled clear of the traffic he stretched his lead back out to more than four seconds. In the final laps Truex closed back in on Larson, but he ran out of time as Larson got to the checkered flag 1.5 seconds ahead of Truex.

The victory, Larson’s first since a win at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in 2017, means he no longer has to stress over competing at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway next weekend since he is already locked into the next round of the playoffs.

“Everybody in this playoff field is going to be stressing next week at Talladega accept for me,” Larson said. “That’s good. Last time I was at Talladega I was on my lid. I may still end up on my lid next week, but it’s not going to matter.

“What a day. This Clover Chevy was really good. After the first stage I kind of changed my driving style up and I felt like I made the car better at the same time. It really, really benefited our long run. That’s as good as I’ve ever been cutting the bottom around here.”

Truex was forced to settle for second after the pit stop issue between the second and third stages, but noted he was happy with his run given how difficult it was to pass.

“We got the lead there in stage two and got that stage win, then had a pit stop issue and lost track position and the whole third stage we were behind,” Truex said. “We were catching him there at the end. We got close.

“Yeah, just unfortunate there. We win and lose as a team. The guys will clean it up I’m sure. It’s cool to come home second after that as hard as it was to pass today.”

Alex Bowman finished a strong third after finishing second at Dover in the spring. Kevin Harvick was fourth, followed by Hamlin in fifth.

Kyle Busch was sixth, giving playoff drivers a sweep of the first six positions. Matt DiBenedetto, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and playoff driver Clint Bowyer completed the top-10.

For complete results, advance to the next page.

DOVER, Del. – The Monster Mile took a serious bite out of several Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers on Sunday afternoon.

The first victim of Dover Int’l Speedway was reigning series champion Joey Logano, who saw his shot at winning erased before he even took the green flag at the one-mile concrete oval.

During the pace laps Logano reported to his crew that there was something wrong with the rear of the car. After hitting pit road during the pace laps, his crew sent him to the garage so they could fix the car.

He returned to the race more than 20 laps down and out of contention, resulting in a 34th-place finish.

“Something back there wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do, so we had to fix that and we were 20-something laps down from there,” Logano said. “You can’t make up 20 laps, that is for sure. Maybe you can get one or two back if things go right. It was a bummer. Things happen. I guess the good news is that I think we are the last one in right now. We definitely used our mulligan. We used the playoff points we accumulated, we just have to be perfect now.”

Despite being well out of contention to win the race, Logano still raced hard. At one point during the second stage Logano found himself racing ahead of race leaders Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson.

That didn’t make Logano very popular among his fellow playoff drivers, but he said he was in a race of his own and he couldn’t worry about what was happening behind him.

“Well, the situation was that I had about four or five cars that it was possible for me to catch, which is five points. You tell me if it is worth it,” Logano said. “I would say it is worth it and I have to go. I have to try to get those spots if I can get them. If some of those cars that were that slow out there and we’re going to be 20-something laps down, the pace we were running we were going to be within a lap or two of them. I had to race hard. I had to keep going.”

Logano will now head to Talladega Superspeedway tied with William Byron for the final spot in the third round of the playoffs. Luckily for Logano, he’s won three times at the 2.66-mile oval.

“We have two really good race tracks coming up though. Talladega is arguably one of our best race tracks and I would say Kansas is as well. We just have to be perfect from here,” Logano said.

Not long after Logano’s issue, Chase Elliott was also taken out of contention when the engine in his No. 9 Chevrolet expired unexpectedly. Elliott finished last in the 38-car field, which dropped him to 11th in the playoff standings.

“I just had an engine failure of some sort,” Elliott said. “Unfortunately, we don’t really know what it was just yet. It just quit running. It didn’t really seem like anything was off. We were just kind of making laps and then obviously had a failure. It’s an unfortunate way to start this round for sure.”

Now on the outside of the playoff bubble, Elliott believes he’ll have to win if he hopes to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

“I don’t know where we’ll stack up,” Elliott admitted. “I assume we’ll have to win one of these next few weeks. If you ever make it to Homestead, you’re going to have to win down there. I guess it’s a good opportunity to practice here these next few weeks.”

Logano’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney also had a rough day, failing to finish after a reporting no brakes late in the race. He finished 35th and is now last in the 12-driver playoff field as the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway next weekend.