NASCAR at Texas preview: Playoff drama builds heading into second race of Cup Series semifinals

Chase Elliott has not forgotten nor forgiven Denny Hamlin for costing him a key playoff win. There may or may not be some lingering feelings between Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick. And Jimmie Johnson doesn’t at all resemble the driver who’s won a record-tying seven Monster Energy Cup Series championships.

That is how the NASCAR world turns heading into the AAA Texas 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway (2:15 p.m. ET, NBCSN), the second of three semifinal races that will determine the four drivers who will vie for the championship in two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Elliott and Hamlin have been the central focus this week in the aftermath of Hamlin putting the bumper to Elliott in the closing laps of the semifinal opener last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. The contact sent Elliott spinning into the wall and later he confronted Hamlin, with the two having a terse exchange post-race.

Also having a heated conversation were Blaney and Harvick, each bothered with the other following repeated run-ins -- including some instances of intentional brake-checking and door-slamming. They ended their talk with some physical contact that could be interpreted as a friendly dap or a warning of what’s to come if the behavior doesn’t change.

“Obviously, we weren’t happy with each other,” Blaney said Friday at Texas. “Both of us had our conversations and what we were upset about. I felt like we handled it fine. It was a stern talking to.

“I have a lot of respect for Kevin. He helped me a lot when I got started a couple of years ago. It is just Martinsville racing pretty much. We had a talk, and I think we are fine. I am sure we are over it. Those were just to reassure that we were good.”

Amid the theatrics, Kyle Busch won the First Data 500, locking himself into the four-driver championship final Nov. 19 at Homestead. Elliott now must win Sunday or next week at Phoenix Raceway to avoid playoff elimination, while Hamlin can still advance either by winning or his points ranking, but must race with the knowledge that Elliott may be looking for retribution.

When Elliott was asked Friday if he had placed a target on Hamlin’s back, the 21-year-old driver dismissed the question.

“As far as last week goes, I don’t know that my thoughts are a whole lot different today than they were then,” Elliott said. “I’m still pretty frustrated about it. Really, as the week has gone along, it’s given me a lot of time to think about how close we were to going to Homestead. I think with anything else, that will drive you up the wall more as you think about it. Definitely not happy about it. I don’t think a whole lot has changed.

“No, I’m not going to answer you all’s questions whether I’m going to get him back or not, so don’t even ask because you’re not going to hear it from me. Just don’t go there. I don’t think my mindset has changed a whole lot from that standpoint. This is a point in this round where we’re going to have to perform these next two weeks to have a chance now at Homestead.”

Were Elliott to try and extract some vengeance on Hamlin, it stands to reason it won’t happen at Texas. As opposed to the half-mile Martinsville bullring where the tight confines make contact inevitable and easy for drivers to use force to pass competitors, the 1.5-mile track about 45 minutes outside of Dallas doesn’t lend itself to similar kind of full-contact racing.

Five drivers exceeded 200 mph in qualifying, with Kurt Busch’s pole-winning lap of 200.915 mph the fastest ever on a mile-and-a-half speedway. Hamlin qualified second, distancing himself from Elliott, whose car failed pre-qualifying technical inspection and never made it onto the track. He will start 34th Sunday, another setback in what already has been a trying week.

If Elliott needed some positivity that his hopes for winning Sunday weren’t dealt a death knell due to the issues clearing inspection, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate can provide a ray of optimism. Johnson demonstrated in the spring Texas race that it is possible to win even if one must start at the rear of the field. He had to forfeit his 24th starting position after a spin in qualifying necessitated an unapproved tire change, then rallied.

“Jimmie started in the back in the spring and it worked out fine for him,” Elliott said. “So, I think if you have your car driving good and you do the right things all day … it’s definitely doable if we all do our part.”

Johnson could use a repeat of what he accomplished in April. He enters Texas coming off a substandard 12th-place finish at Martinsville that has him three points behind Harvick for the provisional transfer position.

Ordinarily, such a deficit would be easy for Johnson to overcome, except these aren’t normal times for the defending and seven-time series champion. Customarily at its best during this portion of the season, the No. 48 team has been anything but the epitome of excellence thus far, with Johnson posting an 11.3 average finish with only 29 laps led in seven playoff races.

The lackluster postseason performance has carried over from the regular season. Although Johnson won three times, those wins represented his only top-five finishes. He’s on pace for career-lows in top fives, top 10s and laps led.

“We are a victim of our own success in some regards,” Johnson said. “The expectations are high. I will accept them, I have high expectations for myself, but the sport isn’t easy. It really isn’t.

“But, we are not done. No one on this team is and we are ready to get back on top and whatever work that needs to go into it we are ready. We have been trying extremely hard to get there. We just haven’t got there yet, but we will get there.”