Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shop 500 at the half-mile bullring will trim four of the original 16 championship hopefuls from the field.
- Saturday night’s Cup Series race at Bristol will trim the NASCAR Playoff field from 16 to 12.
- While points leader Christopher Bell is safe and can sleep relatively well this week, the same can’t be said of former champion Kevin Harvick, who is 16th and has some ground to make up.
- Three others are jammed together with Harvick below the cutoff line, including Stewart Haas teammate Chase Briscoe (nine points below the line), Austin Dillon of Richard Childress (minus-3), and two-time champion Kyle Busch (two points below the line).
The best word to describe NASCAR’s Championship Playoff schedule-makers is diabolical. Or maybe fiendish.
Or evil. Sadistic, even.
How else to address whoever put a Playoff elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where chaos is king and heartbreak is lurking nearby?
Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shop 500 at the half-mile bullring in eastern Tennessee will trim four of the original 16 championship hopefuls from the field. The only driver absolutely assured of progressing to the upcoming Round of 12 is Christopher Bell (pictured above) of Toyota-based Joe Gibbs Racing. Bell is atop the standings with 2,108 points on the strength of fifth- and third-place finishes in Playoff races at Darlington and Kansas City.
Regardless of what happens over 500 full-contact laps Saturday night, the young Oklahoma native will remain a championship hopeful throughout the upcoming Round of 12 at Fort Worth, Talladega, and Charlotte. Those races will trim the field from 12 to eight contenders for the Round of 8 at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville. Those races will establish the Championship 4 for the season-finale near Phoenix on Nov. 6.
Kyle Busch has had a good week off the track, but he could still see his 2022 title chances end on Saturday night.
James GilbertGetty Images
While Bell can sleep relatively well this week, the same can’t be said of former champion Kevin Harvick. After becoming Playoff-eligible by winning back-to-back at Michigan and Richmond in August, the Ford driver for Stewart Haas Racing has stumbled badly recently. He was a fire-related 33rd at Darlington on Labor Day weekend and a wreck-related 36th last weekend at Kansas City. He’s dead-last 16th in points, 36 below the top-12 cutoff line. The good news is that he’s a three-time Bristol winner with 18 other top-10s in 41 career starts.
Three others are jammed together with Harvick below the cutoff line, but their situations aren’t nearly as dire. Stewart Haas teammate Chase Briscoe is nine points below the line, Austin Dillon of Richard Childress is minus-3, and two-time champion Kyle Busch is two below the line. On a brighter note, at least Busch is free of the season-long uncertainty regarding his immediate future. After 15 spectacular years with the Gibbs organization, he confirmed on Tuesday his new deal with RCR.
Second-ranked William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports is 48 points above the cutline, JGR star Denny Hamlin is 47 above it, and former champion Joey Logano is 40 to the good. It’s possible they could fail to advance to the Round of 12, but it would take an unfathomable set of circumstances for them to fall below 12th after Bristol.
In truth—although NASCAR wants you to think almost everyone is fighting to stay in contention—winless Ryan Blaney (plus 36 points) is in good position to move on. That also holds for Alex Bowman (+30 points), former champion Chase Elliott (+28), defending champion Kyle Larson (+27), and Ross Chastain (+26).
Daniel Suarez is 10th in points, but just six above the top-12 line. Tyler Reddick and presumptive rookie of the year Austin Cindric are plus-two above in 11th and 12th. Busch is two below the line, Dillon is minus-3, Briscoe is minus-9, and Harvick a seemingly hopeless 36 behind.
Regardless of the point standings, every Playoff race winner automatically advances to the next round. Harvick conceivable could finish Bristol below the cut line yet still advance if he won the race. When asked at Kansas City about that, the 2014 Cup Series champion said the only thing he could say:
“It is what it is. We were racing to win anyway today, so that’s what we’ll do again next week. We approached Darlington and Kansas as ‘must-win,’ so we’re absolutely approaching Bristol the same way.”
NASCAR Playoff Standings
Field of 16 will be cut to 12 after the race at Bristol on Sept. 17. Any Playoff driver that wins at Bristol will automatically advance.
- Christopher Bell 2,108 points
- William Byron 2,098
- Denny Hamlin 2,097
- Joey Logano 2,090
- Ryan Blaney 2,086
- Alex Bowman 2,080
- Chase Elliott 2,078
- Kyle Larson 2,077
- Ross Chastain 2,076
- Daniel Suarez 2,056
- Tyler Reddick 2,052
- Austin Cindric 2,052
- Kyle Busch 2,050
- Austin Dillon 2,049
- Chase Briscoe 2,043
- Kevin Harvick 2,017
Keyword: Scheduling a NASCAR Cup Playoff Race at Bristol Is Downright Sadistic