(photo credit Leon Hammack)

The half-mile high-banked Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway lived every bit up to its ‘bullring’ nickname on Saturday night – a dramatic Bass Pro Shops Night Race brought all the emotion and drama expected of one of NASCAR’s most famous tracks – particularly on a night that decided which Playoff drivers would advance to the next round of championship competition.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell took the lead on a re-start with four laps remaining to punctuate his Playoff run with a victory and create some important momentum atop the championship rankings heading into New Hampshire Motor Speedway next week where he is the defending race winner.

There was also plenty of important action all night for those racing to extend their Playoff life.

Ultimately, however, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen and the Wood Brothers Racing Josh Berry – all race winners this season – were eliminated from a chance at the NASCAR Cup Series most treasured trophy this year.

Tire wear dominated team strategies for much of the night, but it was of lesser consequence in the mad dash for those four to try and advance in the Playoffs.

Berry was the first eliminated after retiring on Lap 75 when his car had a fire on the right wheel. The 39th-place showing marked the third time in as many Playoff races he finished last in the field – all by different circumstances.

Dillon struggled to overcome an early race pit road penalty that forced him into a game of catch-up and he finished 28th. Van Gisbergen, a four-race winner this season, was involved in a trio of on-track incidents, including a pair of spins that left the series rookie in a frustrating learning curve on one of the most challenging venues in the sport. He crossed the finish line 26th.

In the end, it was Bowman who came closest to pulling off a clutch victory to extend his Playoff run. He raced up front for much of the second half of the 500-lap summer visit that featured 36 lead changes among 14 different drivers. Bowman led twice – the only one among the four eliminated drivers to do so – and at times looked to have put himself in position to deliver a fairytale ending.

Multiple times late in the race he started on the front row for a re-start, but his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet struggled to get going – and with 14 caution flags, that was frustrating. He also said he had radio problems throughout the night and wasn’t always aware of the points situation.

Late in the race that situation took a dramatic turn.

With 42 laps remaining, another Playoff driver, Austin Cindric had an extended pit stop to deal with a problem on his car’s right front. It cost him multiple laps and he dropped into 12th place in the championship standings – and at one brief time, Bowman pulled to within a single point.

Ultimately he finished eighth – a strong showing but not enough to overcome a 23-point deficit at the drop of the race’s green flag.

“Honestly, I thought our car when he had some green flag running was really good, it just cycled really poorly for re-starts,” Bowman said. “I would drive off into Turn One and just hope to make the corner. For whatever reason it just wouldn’t take off and then after five laps, it’d get going again. We couldn’t figure it out, if it was me not cleaning the tires off enough. … I don’t really know what we lacked there.

“But proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the fight. Obviously, had a shot at it if it had gone green to the end. That last re-start was rough.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will start the next three round Playoff series Sunday with the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) where Bell is the defending race winner.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!