This is it.
This is the last chance for NASCAR Cup Series drivers to stake a claim for one of the 11 available spots in the playoffs’ Round of 12.
Non-playoff drivers Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace won the postseason opener at Darlington and the Round of 16 race at Kansas, respectively. As a result, only one driver has clinched a berth in the Round of 12 entering Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The one driver who won’t have to worry about falling below the cut line is Christopher Bell, who finished fifth at Darlington and clinched a Round of 12 spot with a third-place run at Kansas.
The other 15 drivers — no matter how large a margin above the cut line they might enjoy — will come to the .533-mile with varying degrees of anxiety.
That’s no idle assertion. Thanks to early accidents, playoff drivers have finished last at both Darlington (Chase Elliott) and Kansas (Kevin Harvick). In the latter race, in fact, playoff drivers occupied the bottom two positions, with pole winner Tyler Reddick the second retiree behind Harvick.
For Harvick, at least, there’s clarity. Last in the standings and 35 points behind Reddick and Austin Cindric in 11th place, Harvick realistically must win on Saturday night to advance.
Harvick, who has a victory and a second-place finish at Bristol in his last three starts there, is at his best with his back to the wall. In 2014, the first year of the current elimination format, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford won at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4 Round and followed that with a victory at Phoenix to claim the title.
That history gives Harvick a valuable arrow in his quiver.
“Experience,” said Harvick, who has three career wins at Thunder Valley. “I think experience goes a long way as you go down this road.
“Obviously, it’s different than the regular season because there’s so much on the line, but our guys have been through that battle. Plus, we don’t have anything to lose.”
Contrast Harvick’s situation with that of Kyle Busch, who trails Reddick and Cindric by two points. An eight-time winner at Bristol, Busch likely will advance with a strong finish at arguably his best track.
Busch also won on dirt at the World’s Fastest Half Mile in April.
“That was a completely different kind of race on the dirt surface, but never hurts to get a win there no matter what the surface looks like,” said Busch, who grabbed headlines on Tuesday with the announcement he will move from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing next year.
“There are a lot of unknowns going into this race, since there hasn’t been a race with the Next Gen car on the concrete surface, so a lot of unknowns, for sure. It’s always a great racetrack to circle on the calendar and know it’s a time when we can shine.”
–Two playoff spots up for grabs in Xfinity regular season finale
NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers will get their last chance to qualify for a seven-race playoff in Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Ten drivers already have advanced to the postseason. Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst clinched spots on points last Saturday at Kansas Speedway. After winning an appeal of the L2 penalty imposed after his Daytona victory, Jeremy Clements is back in the playoffs with a guaranteed spot.
That leaves defending series champion Daniel Hemric, his Kaulig Racing teammate Landon Cassill, Ryan Sieg and Sheldon Creed in the thick of the battle for the final two berths. Hemric is in the best position, 37 points above the cut line. Cassill is 12th in the standings, 19 points ahead of Sieg in 13th.
Creed is 32 points behind Cassill and in need of help to claim a playoff spot. Of course, any of those four drivers could earn a spot with a victory, as could Brandon Brown, Anthony Alfredo, Myatt Snider or Jeb Burton.
At the top of the standings, defending race winner AJ Allmendinger can clinch the Regular Season Championship-and the 15 Playoff points that go with it-by scoring 23 points or more on Friday, the equivalent of a 14th-place finish if he scores no stage points.
But Allmendinger knows there are no guarantees.
“With Bristol, you just never know,” he said. “It’s all situational. You could easily get caught up in someone else’s mess early in the race, and you are out of it. Or it could come down to another finish like we had last year where we are all battling in the final laps.
“My team knows that, if we’re in that situation racing for a win at Bristol and a regular season championship, I’m going to do whatever it takes and put it all on the line to get the job done.”
–Truck Series drivers start Round of 8 competition at Bristol
Based on statistics alone, competition should be fierce when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series begins competition in the Round of 8 of its playoff with Thursday night’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Last Friday’s winner at Kansas Speedway, John Hunter Nemechek, has recorded four third-place finishes in seven Truck Series starts at Bristol.
Grant Enfinger, winner of the Round of 10 playoff opener at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, has finished in the top 10 in each of his five starts at the .533-mile high-banked short track. In his last race there (2021), Enfinger was the runner-up.
Then there’s Chandler Smith, who exhibited an immediate affinity for the high-speed venue. A winner at Richmond in the Round of 10, Smith boasts top-five results in each of his three Bristol races.
And by the way, he’s the defending winner of Thursday night’s race.
“It definitely helps having a good notebook and knowing what works good there,” Smith said. “Not only did I win last year, but in 2019 I nearly won. So, it’s a track I’m really comfortable with and looking forward to hopefully starting off the first race in the Round of 8 on a strong note.
“(That’s) extremely important, especially with having Talladega as the middle race of the round. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to make it to (the Championship 4 race at) Phoenix, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Bass Pro Shops Night Race
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, September 17
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $8,338,394
TV: USA, 6:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 266.5 miles (500 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 125),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 250), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 500)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Food City 300
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Friday, September 16
The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,567,510
TV: USA, 7 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 159.9 miles (300 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 85),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 170), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 300)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Next Race: UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics
The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
The Date: Thursday, September 15
The Time: 9 p.m. ET
The Purse: $703,945
TV: FS1, 8:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 106.6 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 55),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 110), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
–By NASCAR Wire Service, Special to Field Level Media