The NASCAR Cup Series playoff field will get cut to eight drivers after Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval.
The second-round elimination race is the seventh race at the hybrid oval/road course and the track features a few changes. The chicane before the start/finish line has been changed once again, and the final infield corner before the drivers get on the banking in Turns 1 and 2 on the oval is significantly different.
The course has been reconfigured to create a nearly 180-degree lefthanded hairpin before drivers get on the banking. The goal is to create another passing zone on the track, though it’s also very easy to see drivers divebombing each other out of desperation on restarts. After all, chaos at the Roval is nothing new.
Here’s a look at the standings heading into the sixth playoff race. The first two races of the second round were won by non-playoff drivers (Ross Chastain at Kansas and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Talladega), so William Byron is the only driver who has clinched a spot in the third round.
1. William Byron, 3,122 points
Byron can simply go for stage wins and the race win on Sunday. He has a top five and three top-10 finishes in six career starts.
2. Christopher Bell, 3,105
Bell won two years ago at the Roval and has finished inside the top 15 in each of his past three starts. He’ll probably start up front too. He hasn’t qualified outside the top eight in his three starts with Joe Gibbs Racing. He may clinch a spot in the next round at the end of the first stage.
3. Kyle Larson, 3,100
Larson is most known for his final lap at the Roval in 2018 when he bounced off the wall to finish 25th and knock Jimmie Johnson out of the playoffs. He won at the track in 2021 and, like Bell, should be near the front again on Sunday.
4. Denny Hamlin, 3,078
Hamlin’s misfortune at Talladega turned into good fortune as his beat-up car allowed him to be behind the massive 28-car pileup and end up with a decent points cushion over ninth heading into the Roval. Hamlin’s fifth-place finish in 2021 is his only top-10 at the track, though last season’s 37th-place finish was his first outside the top 20. Anything in the top 20 should be good enough on Sunday.
5. Alex Bowman, 3,074
Did you know that Bowman enters Sunday’s race with the best average finish of any driver at the Roval? He has two top fives in five starts and hasn’t ever finished outside the top 10. Bowman has an average finish of 6.4 and he’ll be in the third round with another top 10.
6. Ryan Blaney, 3,073
Blaney won that 2018 race after Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. collided. It’s his only win at the track but he has four top-10 finishes in six starts. With a 25-point cushion over teammate Joey Logano in ninth, he just needs to avoid a disaster.
7. Tyler Reddick, 3,062
We’re now in the territory of drivers who don’t have to have especially bad days to get knocked out of the playoffs. Reddick, however, has proven to be one of the best road course racers in NASCAR. He has three top-10 finishes in four starts at the Roval and finished sixth after starting on the pole a season ago.
8. Chase Elliott, 3,061
Elliott is also still a very good road racer even if his dominance isn’t what it was a few seasons ago. He won back-to-back races in 2019 and 2020 and has finished 12th, 20th and ninth in the three races since. He’s also failed to qualify outside the top 10 just once. Given how difficult it is to pass on road courses in these Cup Series cars, qualifying is going to be exceptionally important.
9. Joey Logano, 3,048
Reddick has the second-best average finish at the Roval. Reddick is third. Elliott is fourth. Guess who is fifth? Logano hasn’t score a win at the track but his 18th-place finish in 2022 is his only one outside the top 10. He’s going to need a great run and some trouble from the drivers ahead of him.
10. Daniel Suarez, 3,041
Suarez’s stats at the Roval are rough. He finished 13th in 2021 and otherwise has three finishes outside the top 30 and no others inside the top 20. He started third in 2022 and finished 36th. Last season he started third and finished 33rd.
11. Austin Cindric, 3,032
Cindric hasn’t done as well as you might expect in his two Roval starts. He finished 21st in 2022 and was 25th a season ago.
12. Chase Briscoe, 3,029
Briscoe has had success in the Xfinity Series at the Roval but his best finish is a ninth that came in 2022. Can Stewart-Haas give him a fast enough car to keep the team’s last championship bid alive?