NASCAR playoffs round of 8 begins, focus back on the track

There has been a NASCAR reset, on the track at least, with the third round of the playoffs beginning Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a new Cup champion set to be crowned after four races. Kyle Larson was knocked out of contention for consecutive championships after being eliminated at Charlotte, nosed out by two points by Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing — a team now accused of race manipulation and fined $300,000 by NASCAR over the last week. The back and forth of penalties, suspensions and accusations between NASCAR and Stewart-Haas Racing, which fields a Ford for Kevin Harvick, one of the most outspoken critics of its new Next Gen car, has team co-owner Tony Stewart too furious to even comment.