After a missed cut at the U.S. Open and a poor T45 finish at The Travelers, Sepp Straka is an easier name to forget about, even though he's a top 10 player in the world. A short stint of hot putting has withered to a point that he's averaged -1.47 strokes gained putting over those two starts. Accuracy has been the biggest selling point for the 32-year-old this season, but from an off-the-tee perspective, his lack of firepower is more of a detriment than his accuracy is a benefit. In two previous appearances, the former Bulldog has had horrendous weeks on the greens. That makes for a scary proposition this time around since things are already trending in that direction. Avoid him in most situations.

Ty Gibbs had one of his better races of his career at the Chicago Street Course yesterday. After starting ninth, he remained in the top ten for the entire race with the exception of his pit stops late in Stage 1 and Stage 2 to flip both of those stages. He caught a significant break when Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick both pitted on lap 61 even though they might've been able to make it on fuel, which elevated Gibbs from fourth to second where he remained the rest of the race. Shortly after the ensuing restart, Briscoe had a flat tire, which effectively ended his race while Reddick's attempt to get around Gibbs was thwarted by a last-lap caution for Cody Ware's crash. Although the result helped Gibbs advance in the In-Season Challenge over A.J. Allmendinger, it did little for him in the playoff picture as he still almost certainly needs to win to make the playoffs

After qualifying second at Chicago, Michael McDowell unexpectedly took the lead from eventually Shane van Gisbergen on the opening lap and led the entire first stage. He declined to pit during the first stage break in an attempt to make the race distance on only one pit stop. However, he was forced to go behind the wall early in Stage 2 to fix a broken throttle cable. McDowell returned to the track and finished 22 laps down in an attempt to collect his fourth fastest lap point of the season, but he didn't succeed. Nonetheless, the rash of crashes allowed him to finish 32nd. McDowell still has three plausible chances to win at Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and Daytona, but he is probably now in a must win situation even if he wasn't before.

Bubba Wallace's summer of futility continues with another crash in a race where he was fast. Despite being relegated to a 37th-place starting position after a botched qualifying lap, he had driven up to 16th when he was spun by Kyle Larson at the start of Stage 2. However, good strategy and a decision not to pit allowed him to vault into the top ten by the end of Stage 2. He remained there until Alex Bowman attempted to follow Wallace's teammate Reddick around him. After running into each other numerous times for nearly an entire lap, Bowman spun Wallace out again with six laps remaining. This relegated Wallace to a 28th-place finish. As a result, he only sits a mere two points ahead of Ryan Preece on the playoff bubble. After the race, he ran Bowman into the wall. It remains to be seen whether either driver will be penalized.