With one race left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, and fifteen of sixteen drivers locked in with the final spot still up for grabs. It is the perfect time to preview the playoffs drivers and the ones that are contending for the sixteenth and final spot. 

           First in points at this moment is Kyle Larson who has had what can only be described as an unbelievable season almost never missing a beat on any racetrack. Larson has gotten five wins this season along with eighteen top ten finishes, Larson is the favorite for the championship undoubtedly and with him being fast at almost every track it’s likely gonna take some serious misfortune for him to get eliminated early. Second in points is Denny Hamlin, although he has had zero wins it’s been all about consistency as he’s had seventeen top tens and a very impressive zero dnf’s (Did not finish). Hamlin’s key is going to be to continue the consistency and hopefully get some race wins in the playoffs to ensure most of his success. Third in points is Kyle Busch, with two wins Kyle has shown race winning speed but not as much that some would expect. Busch with sixteen top tens this season has also been consistent like his teammate Hamlin but misfortune has been a thing he has run into a lot this season being a main factor for the fact he doesn’t have more wins. For example in New Hampshire Busch early in the race got caught up in a big crash due to a sudden rain shower ending his day before it really got started. Busch is always a contender and the expectation is another deep playoff run. 

           The rest of the locked-in drivers are Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, Michael Mcdowell, Aric Almirola, and Kevin Harvick. However the final playoff spot currently held by sophomore driver Tyler Reddick is only separated by a mere 25 points with his teammate Austin Dillon being the driver that follows behind him. With the track being Daytona where earlier in the year Michael Mcdowell shocked the NASCAR world and got his first career victory in a massive upset, anything can happen. Many other drivers have gotten there first win at the track as well, drivers like Matt Dibenedetto, Ross Chastain, Darrell Wallace Jr,, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Corey Lajoie and Anthony Alfredo are all looking to steal the final playoff spot and pick up there first win in the process. Drivers outside the cut line who have had a win include Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Ryan Newman, and Cole Custer would also like to see some Daytona magic and take the final spot away.

          With one of the most anticipated races of the year coming up and the playoffs on the horizon the season is heating up and it’s make or break time for some drivers. A lot of questions fall into this upcoming weekend in Daytona and this year’s playoffs look like it may be setting up for a first time champion in the series.

With one race left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, fifteen of sixteen drivers locked in with the final spot is still up for grabs. It is the perfect time to preview the playoffs drivers and those contending for the sixteenth and final spot. 

           First in points at this moment is Kyle Larson, who has had what can only be described as an unbelievable season, rarely missing a beat on any racetrack. Larson has gotten five wins this season, along with eighteen top-ten finishes. Larson is undoubtedly the favorite for the championship. With him being fast at almost every track, it’s likely going to take some severe misfortune for him to get eliminated early. Second in points is Denny Hamlin; although he has had zero wins, it’s been all about consistency as he’s had seventeen top tens and a very impressive zero DNF’s (Did not finish). Hamlin’s key will be to continue the consistency and hopefully get some race wins in the playoffs to ensure most of his success. Third, Kyle Busch in points; with two wins, Kyle has shown race-winning speed but not as much that some would expect. With sixteen top tens this season, Busch has also been consistent like his teammate Hamlin, but misfortune has been a thing he has run into a lot this season, being the main factor for the fact he doesn’t have more wins. For example, in New Hampshire, Busch, early in the race, got caught up in a big crash due to a sudden rain shower ending his day before it got started. Busch is always a contender, and the expectation is another deep playoff run. 

           The rest of the locked-in drivers are Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, Michael Mcdowell, Aric Almirola, and Kevin Harvick. However, the final playoff spot currently held by sophomore driver Tyler Reddick is only separated by a mere 25 points. His teammate Austin Dillon is the driver behind him. With the track being Daytona, where Michael Mcdowell earlier in the year shocked the NASCAR world and got his first career victory in a massive upset, anything can happen. Many other drivers have gotten their first win at the track as well; drivers like Matt Dibenedetto, Ross Chastain, Darrell Wallace Jr, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Corey Lajoie, and Anthony Alfredo are all looking to steal the final playoff spot and pick up there first win in the process. Drivers outside the cut line who have had a win include Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Ryan Newman, and Cole Custer. I would also like to see some Daytona magic and take the final spot away.

          With one of the most anticipated races of the year coming up and the playoffs on the horizon, the season is heating up, and it’s make or break time for some drivers. Many questions fall into this upcoming weekend in Daytona, and this year’s playoffs look like it may be setting up for a first-time champion in the series.