Dale Earnhardt Jr. is taking a closer look at the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture as the regular season winds down. On the latest episode of theDale Jr. Download, Earnhardt broke down the drivers who are on the bubble.
“Joey Logano‘s win does shake up the playoff race,” Earnhardt said about Logano’s victory at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday. “Now, Alex Bowman is in the 16th position just barely behind Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain. All those guys are at 51, 56 and 66 plus to the cut line. Bubba Wallace is now 51 back in 17th, [Chase] Briscoe 78 back, Kyle Busch, because of the Joey Logano win, now Kyle is 104 points out.
“Josh Berry was sitting around 70 points during points of this race, and now he’s -131. The Joey Logano win really busted up the battle and didn’t really help anybody in those positions from 13th down to 20th. It actually put everybody in a tougher spot and a steeper hill to climb. Martin Truex Jr. +143 is comfortably in 12th position. As long as we don’t have a rash of new winners, I think Martin gets in on points.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. says the playoff race is ‘compelling’
Earnhardt continued: “I think a full race is actually a pretty good place to be. Even Alex Bowman, barring a rash of really bad bad performances, I think is in a pretty good spot as long as nobody else wins. But again, I think Bubba Wallace, Briscoe, Kyle Busch even, I know everybody’s giving this guy a hard time, they’re running like s***. But I’m telling you, Kyle Busch and that team if they can just get it to click one day, they could pop off and win a race. There’s a handful of guys sitting there that could get a win and knock themselves into the playoffs. It’s still compelling.”
The drivers who are on the bubble are running out of time as seven races remain before the playoffs begin in Atlanta on Sept. 8. The drivers who have clinched a playoff spot are Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski as they have won a race this year. Busch will be a driver to watch as he’s looking to win a race to keep his streak alive. Since becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in 2005, Busch has won at least one race each season. His last victory came last year when he won the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway.
The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaks down the NASCAR Playoff bubble ahead of Chicago appeared first on On3.
