NASCAR playoffs: Joey Logano wins Atlanta; Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin tumble in standings

Goodness.

As a “plate race,” we knew Atlanta had a chance to tweak or outright revamp the playoff standings . But you had to assume it would happen at the very front, with an underdog doing what underdogs do at these types of pack-racing events: Win at one of the few places his team is capable of winning.

Instead it was Joey Logano, whose win surprises few, though it did eliminate a very real fear of the two-time champ bowing out of the playoffs early again (more on that in a bit).

No, the disarray was elsewhere and fairly widespread. And just like that, the playoff standings have spilled out in unruly fashion.

Let’s go through the gearbox and get up to speed.

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First Gear: Atlanta shuffles NASCAR playoff landscape

Let’s start with a winner who quickly erased concerns of another quick playoff exit — real concerns, too, not just cooked-up drama to get everyone on their toes.

It’s not like Logano came into the playoffs all hell-bent-for-leather with his ears pinned back and any other cliché you care to throw out there. Joey won two months ago at Nashville to break a 49-race winless skid, and by the way, basically won Nashville by surviving — five overtime restarts, to refresh the memory.

Entering the playoffs, in seven starts since Nashville, Joey had more finishes of 31st or worse (three) as he had top 10s (two), and the top-10s were a fifth and eighth, where he led a combined three laps.

Atlanta’s speed restrictions have been in place three years now, for six races, and while Daniel Suarez’s spring win this year was the only one of those won by non-blueblood team, Atlanta was still considered an opportunity for the playoff longshots to bag a win and automatic entry to the Round of 12.

At first glance, it didn’t turn out that way, but a look at Joey Logano’s past couple of years, maybe it did.

Second Gear: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin suddenly worried

Who had Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin suddenly battening the hatches and shoring up their playoff future after Atlanta?

Faster than you can say “Trouble in Turn 2,” Larson’s Chevy snapped violently and sent him nose-first into the outside SAFER Barrier (I say this instead of “wall” to remind you of how fortunate racers are for 21st Century life-saving improvements). “That was super weird,” Larson said of the mysterious break.

Also weird: He took home exactly one point more than you did from Atlanta, as did Chase Briscoe, whose momentum from Darlington lasted right up until he found Larson’s rear bumper in the smoke. And just like that, Larson’s thick playoff cushion is now just 15 points with Watkins Glen and Bristol the next two weeks.

Larson dropped nine spots, from first to 10th. It’s better to be up 15 than outside the top 12 after one playoff race, but still, at plus-15 you’re close enough to the discard pile to smell the mild panic.

Third Gear: Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and 23XI vs. NASCAR on charter deal

Denny Hamlin’s weekend in north Georgia, even with autumn fast approaching, was far from relaxing. First came the drama involving NASCAR, the teams and negotiations over extending the charter agreement.

It seems every team except two have signed a new deal to extend the “franchising” agreement for seven more years, the lifespan of the new media-rights deal. The two hold-outs are Bob Jenkins' Front Row Motorsports and 23XI, which is owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

There’s varied speculation on what this means now but more importantly what it could mean for those two teams’ futures.

To make things worse in the here-and-now sense, Hamlin had a bad plug wire during qualifying that sapped his speed and landed him in the 38th and final starting spot. Knowing the challenge ahead on a tight track with heavy and unpredictable traffic, Hamlin lowered expectations and hoped for a finish in the 10-15 range, acceptable given his sixth-place standing entering the playoffs.

Instead, he was battling for 20th when the last-lap crash ignited and ended up 24th with a meager 13 points earned. He tumbled from sixth to 11th in points and, worse yet, just two points ahead of Brad Keselowski down there in 13th.

The bright side for Denny? It’s on to Watkins Glen, where he once struggled mightily but has finished fifth or better (including a win) in five of his past seven starts. He’s had no luck at Atlanta since the speed restrictions, and he’s glad to get out of there.

Fourth Gear: 2 wheels and 4, Paul Goldsmith was a Daytona Beach champ

GOLDSMITH IN DAYTONA Former NASCAR driver Paul Goldsmith returns to Daytona's Beach and Road Course

Let’s end things this week on a sad yet celebratory note.

Former racer Paul Goldsmith died this past week. That’s the sad.

The celebratory: He made it to 98, and for racers of his generation, 98 is seriously outkicking the coverage of the actuarial tables.

Goldie was the type of man for whom movies are made — or at least should be. Might be the baddest and fastest native of West Virginia this side of Chuck Yeager, though the Goldsmiths relocated to Detroit when Paul was a youngster.

Goldie got into motorcycles first and eventually became an AMA champ. Then he turned to four wheels and became a champ again. His win in the final NASCAR beach race in Daytona, in 1958, came five years after he rode a Harley Davidson to victory in the Daytona 200 motorcycle classic on the same course — both wins came with horsepower help from Daytona motor maestro Smokey Yunick.

Goldsmith won nine times in NASCAR and 26 times (with two championships) in USAC’s stock-car series. For good measure, he ran eight USAC open-wheel races — six of them Indy 500s between 1958-63, with best finishes of fifth and third.

One of the first racers to also pilot his own plane, he owned and operated a private airport outside Chicago after leaving racing, and continued piloting deep into his 90s. He also possessed an excellent analytical mind, particularly relating to mechanical engineering, which explains why Smokey took such a liking to him.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR playoffs: Joey Logano wins Atlanta; Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin tumble in standings