NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were among the first four drivers knocked out of the playoffs Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Kyle Larson cruised to an easy victory. The first of three elimination races in the 10-race playoffs began with Denny Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski and Harrison Burton all below the cutline and facing elimination from the 16-driver field. Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner with four career wins at the track in Bristol, Tennessee, was never really worried and finished fourth.“My aspiration was winning,” Hamlin said. “It’s as good as what we’ve been here the last couple times. It’s all offense from this point forward.”Burton, who used a surprise win at Daytona last month to qualify for the playoffs in the final few weeks before he loses his seat with Wood Brothers Racing, was doubtful to recover enough to advance and finished 35th. Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, and 2017 champion Truex had a better shot at salvaging their playoffs but both came up empty.Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road, taking him out of contention to advance, and Keselowski just didn’t have the pace. Joe Gibbs Racing also had two of its four cars eliminated from the playoffs as Ty Gibbs was also penalized for speeding.Keselowski finished 26th.“Didn’t have the pace we wanted. We ran as hard as we could, there just wasn’t anything there,” Keselowski said. “Just gotta be faster.”Truex is retiring fro …
