Getty The Cup Series drivers will return to Martinsville Speedway.
There are three races remaining for Cup Series championship hopefuls to punch their tickets to Phoenix. Chase Elliott has a sizable points advantage, but no NASCAR driver is truly safe from elimination.
Following Christopher Bell’s comeback win at the Charlotte Roval, there are now only eight drivers remaining in the playoffs. Elliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, and Bell sit above the initial cutline. Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe are all below the cutline, but they are all within mere points of a championship four spot.
A fresh slate as we head to @LVMotorSpeedway. #NASCARPlayoffs
Elliott, the regular-season champion, currently sits in the best position by far. He has 4,046 points, putting him 31 above the cutline and 20 above fellow former champion Joey Logano. Elliott should have an easier path to the championship four, but he has shown over the first two rounds that anything can happen.
Elliott has used all of his bonus points due to wrecks at Darlington Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway, which both put him near the cutline during the Round of 16 and Round of 12. Though he survived and advanced with some strong performances, including a win at Talladega Superspeedway.
The Standings Will See Some Changes
GettyDenny Hamlin needs to make up points to reach the championship 4.
While Elliott sits in a fairly favorable position, the other seven drivers can not afford to make any mistakes. Six of them are within single-digit points of the cutline while Logano is only 11 points to the good.
This small margin separating the playoff drivers means that they will likely change positions multiple times during the Round of Eight. Simply winning one stage will secure 10 points while winning two will add 20. This total would be significant for drivers such as Briscoe (-9) or Blaney (-3).
Briscoe is actually a fitting example of what a strong points day can do for playoff hopes. He entered the Round of 16 as the 12th seed. There were multiple people that expected to see him face elimination in the first round, especially after a 27th-place finish at Darlington Raceway.
Following this difficult start, Briscoe just methodically gained points while other drivers dealt with fires, blown engines, crashes, and other setbacks. He finished out the Round of 16 with consecutive top-15 finishes and moved on to the Round of 12.
Briscoe then turned in one top-five and two more top-10s to stun the field and reach the Round of Eight. He enters the penultimate round below the cutline, but he has confidence that he can stack points and reach the championship race.
“I feel happier than I ever have when I’ve won a race before, truthfully,” Briscoe said after the Charlotte Roval race. “I know what this team is capable of, especially in this next round. Homestead, I feel like, is by far my best racetrack. Vegas, I’ve been able to have a lot of success there and Martinsville we were really fast.
“If we can get to Phoenix, we know we have a good car there, too. To have a one in eight chance to win a NASCAR championship is an unbelievable feeling and I think that’s why it feels even bigger than a win.”
The Round of 8 Benefits 2 Particular Drivers
GettyCup Series drivers race at Martinsville Speedway.
While Briscoe has confidence in the No. 14 team at Stewart-Haas Racing, he won’t be the main driver discussed entering the Round of Eight. Instead, a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers will draw plenty of attention.
There will be plenty of focus on Christopher Bell (+3) and Denny Hamlin (-5). One reason is that two of the tracks during the Round of Eight are intermediates. Toyota Racing drivers have excelled on this layout throughout the 2022 season with top-10s at Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.
Bell, in particular, finished 10th during the first race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while Hamlin scored points in the first two stages. He ultimately finished 32nd due to a broken drivetrain. Now the two Toyota drivers will return to the Nevada track with plans to reach the championship four.
Of course, they will have to contend with drivers that have been consistent during the 2022 season. Blaney, Chastain, Elliott, and Logano all have double-digit top-10s while Byron and Briscoe have come on strong in recent weeks. Byron also won the spring race at Martinsville Speedway.
The fascinating part about the remaining field of drivers is that there isn’t really a dominant one among them. Elliott is the regular-season champion with the most bonus points, but he has experienced his fair share of struggles. The other drivers have all had their own issues during the first six playoff races, which only creates more questions about the upcoming tracks.