Elimination Awaits Four Playoff Drivers at Bristol

Bubba Wallace earned his second career victory on Sunday at Kansas, becoming the 18th different race winner this season. This was also the second straight race where a playoff driver did not win. That is a tough pill to swallow for the 16 contenders, as a win automatically advances you into the next round.

The only driver that has punched his ticket to the Round of 12 is Christopher Bell, who was able to do so by earning enough points in the first two races. Bell finished 5th at Darlington and 3rd at Kansas. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin finished runner-up in both races, but still did not lock himself in to the next round. Hamlin sits 3rd in the standings though, and should be able to get through if he can just avoid disaster this weekend.

That is easier said than done, as Bristol is always the place where drivers seem to lose their temper. Emotions run high inside the half-mile bull ring, and that will only be magnified on Saturday under the lights as drivers face elimination.

Four drivers will see their playoff run come to an end, and no one (besides Bell) is safe. Looking at the bottom of the standings, the two Stewart Haas Racing drivers are essentially facing a must-win scenario at Bristol. Kevin Harvick is 91 points out of the lead after two disastrous weekends where he was not able to finish the race.

Chase Briscoe has had a poor second half of the season, and finds himself with a 65-point deficit to make up. He too will need to win the race to advance. Just above those two, things get very interesting.

Five drivers are separated by just seven points, and will be fighting tooth-and-nail for their playoff lives on Saturday. Both Richard Childress Racing drivers are in this group, in Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon. Their new teammate next season, Kyle Busch, is also in that mix.

Busch has won eight times at Bristol, which is the most among active drivers. With his future plans being announced tomorrow, it could lift a massive burden off his shoulders, paving the way for a great weekend.

It has been a difficult year for Kyle though, and this is the first time the NextGen car will race on concrete at this track. “If I can have past Bristol results be Bristol results, then yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Busch stated. “But if I have Bristol results similar to what’s happened this year, every week, then no, it’s going to be an uphill battle.”

One of the biggest surprises so far has been the results for Dillon, who snuck his way into the playoffs with a wild victory in the season finale at Daytona. Dillon (17th and 14th) has been able to keep the No. 3 Chevrolet out of harm’s way, which has put him in a decent position heading to Bristol.

"We had high hopes at Kansas because we qualified pretty decent," Dillon said. "We fought hard. We kept ourselves in it and we have a shot at Bristol. It's is going to be wild and anything can happen. Nobody knows what to expect when we get there, but it’s a long race. If you’re there at the end of the day, you’ve got a good shot to make it."

The other two drivers in this tightly-bunched group are Daniel Suarez and rookie Austin Cindric.

"We didn’t beat ourselves at Kansas," said the Daytona 500 winner. "We checked that box the last two weeks. Bristol will be a big unknown and big challenge. We can’t take points for granted. I want to win at Bristol. That would be awesome. I have had a lot of heartache at Bristol. I would like to change that, but maybe I will just take moving on to the next round. I have a lot of work ahead and a lot of really good guys I am going to have to beat."

Drivers positioned 2-9 in the standings should be more relaxed going into this weekend, but anything can happen at Bristol. All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers are above the cutoff line, but none of them are guaranteed to make it through without any issues.

William Byron sits just 10 points behind Bell after two much-needed results to open the playoffs. The same can be said of Alex Bowman, who is 6th after two straight top-ten finishes. Bowman has not been good at Bristol though. In his 11 starts at this track, he has finished 15th or worse eight times.

"It looks like we’re up 48 points going into Bristol, which is a tough track," Byron said. "It’s been a good two weeks in a row. We just need to put three weeks together and we’ll advance." Byron is well ahead of his teammates, who are 6th, 7th, and 8th after Kansas.

Harvick and Briscoe are in the deepest holes, but they could also view that as having nothing to lose. Anything can happen at Bristol, and Briscoe remains optimistic. "I feel like we can go there and get some stage points and be in good shape. Even if you are 20 points above the cutline, I don’t know if you are going to feel safe going into Bristol.