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2020 Xfinity Series Playoff outlook after Indianapolis

With the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series entering its second half of the regular season, the battle for the seven vacant spots towards the Playoffs continues to intensify.

Following the inaugural Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix Circuit, Chase Briscoe holds the most victories of this season with five. He also continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 21 points over Noah Gragson. Through 13 races, Briscoe and Gragson along with Justin Haley, rookie Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones are guaranteed spots in the Playoffs with a victory.

A sixth-place result at Indianapolis leaves Ross Chastain in third in the regular-season standings, 55 points behind Briscoe, with Austin Cindric in fourth in the standings, 61 points out of the points lead, following a strong performance at Indy, where he led 21 laps, won the first stage and settled in fifth after rallying from a Lap 29 penalty for jumping the restart and following a late battle between Briscoe and A.J. Allmendinger for the win. Like Chastain and Cindric, Justin Allgaier had a strong performance at Indianapolis, where he led two laps at the beginning of the race and rallied from a late pit road penalty to finish in seventh. Allgaier’s sixth top-10 result moved him from seventh to sixth in the standings as he trails Briscoe by 122 points.

Chastain, Cindric and Allgaier occupy three of the seven vacant spots to the Playoffs. Behind, Michael Annett, Ryan Sieg, rookie Riley Herbst and Brandon Brown occupy the final four vacant spots. After finishing 33rd at Indianapolis, Herbst sits 19 points inside the top-12 cutline to the Playoffs. By finishing 11th at Indianapolis and gaining valuable stage points with a sixth-place finish in the second stage, Brown moved from 13th to 12th in the regular-season standings and holds sole possession of the final spot to the Playoffs by six points over rookie Myatt Snider, who finished fifth in the second stage before finishing 16th when the checkered flag flew.

With his eighth-place finish at Indianapolis and his third top-10 finish of this season, Quebec’s Alex Labbe trails the top-12 cutline by 32 points. Jeremy Clements trails the cutline by 49 points after finishing 13th at Indianapolis while gaining two valuable stage points in the first stage, and Josh Williams and rookie Jesse Little trail by 57 points after finishing 22nd and 18th at Indy.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return for a doubleheader feature at Kentucky Speedway on July 9-10, where each race will air at 8 p.m. on FS1.

July 4, 2020
Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Saturday’s qualifying session proved why the eight remaining Playoff drivers are fighting for the last remaining transfer positions for next weekend’s championship race. Kyle Busch earned his first Busch Pole Award of the season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at ISM Raceway.

He set a pole-running pace on his first lap, then ran even faster on his second lap around the one-mile circuit at 140.116 mph (25.693 seconds). He edged fellow Playoff driver and defending Cup champion Joey Logano (139.752 mph) by .067 seconds, as only two points separate the two drivers that currently hold the last two transfer positions.

“I think this is actually the first race all year we made a mock (qualifying) run in practice,” said Busch. “Maybe there’s something to that. The guys did a great job. We fight hard every week trying to figure out what we need to do to continue to improve and get better, and a lot of others guys have certainly done that over the year.”

Denny Hamlin, the first driver below the cutoff line in the championship, qualified third ahead of Martin Truex Jr., the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 after winning at Martinsville Speedway. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will make up the third row of Sunday’s starting grid.

Last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick, will start seventh. The first non-Playoff driver was Kurt Busch who will start alongside Harvick. Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney round out the top 10, as all Playoff drivers will start in the top 10.

With points being tight and a big potential shuffle if a driver below the cutoff line wins, Busch understands the importance of getting the pole and starting strong with valuable track position.

“Hopefully today bodes well for tomorrow,” he said. “Overall, proud to start out front in this very important race and very important with track position and such.”

Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 will be the penultimate race of the 2019 season. Four drivers will be eliminated as the others will head to Miami to race for the Cup championship. Coverage for tomorrow’s race will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

November 9, 2019
Harvick wins AAA Texas 500, will race for championship in Miami

Kevin Harvick had the dominant car at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday night, leading 119 laps from the pole and winning his third-straight AAA Texas 500 for a spot in the championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick held off Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola at the checkered by 1.594-seconds.

“Our car was just so fast through [Turns] 3 and 4, as long as I could keep my momentum up, I could get up beside [Almirola],” Harvick said of his late-race battle with his teammate. “So it was definitely fast, and speed made up for our Ducks Unlimited Busch Beer Ford Mustang in what we lacked a little bit in our handling.”

Fellow SHR driver Daniel Suarez finished third after leading 25 laps.

“That was a very solid night, and I’m very happy with the performance and speed that we brought from the shop,” said Suarez. “Everyone back at the shop did a great job. We knew we would be fast here.

“We had a solid perfomance here last time. We did a good job. We had good execution and a good clean day. I’m very happy for Stewart-Haas Racing and the No. 41 Ford Mustang was pretty sporty. I am very happy for Kevin getting his ticket for Homestead.”

Playoff driver Joey Logano finished fourth and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five. Playoff drivers Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and Ryan Blaney finished sixth through eighth, with Kurt Busch and Erik Jones rounding out the top-10.

Playoff driver Kyle Larson had a quiet day as well, finishing in 12th after starting 13th.

The race was slowed 11 times for 56 laps, with Playoff drivers Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin finding trouble with the wall or the frontstretch grass early in Stage One. Elliott would finish 32nd, several laps off the pace, while Hamlin would finish six laps down in 28th, despite winning at TMS in March.

Seven-time Texas winner Jimmie Johnson also found the wall after leading 40 laps. The No. 48 was running in second when he spun off the second turn and slapped the wall, relegating his Hendrick Motorsports team to a 34th-place finish.

There were 26 lead changes among 11 drivers, with 2,957 green flag passes (10.6 per green flag lap).

The next race will be at ISM Raceway for the Bluegreen Vacations 500, the final race in the Round of Eight. The race will air on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET and will also be streaming on MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90 and the NBC Sports app.

November 3, 2019
Christopher Bell wins O’Reilly 300, Chastain takes second at Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas — Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, punching his ticket to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks. Bell started third and took the checkered by 5.561-seconds over Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain.

“I can’t wait to go to Phoenix,” said Bell. “I love that race track. Now we get to go there and focus on one thing and that’s winning the race.”

“I don’t know if Jason [Ratcliff, Crew Chief] was thinking points tonight, but we’re definitely not going to have to think about points next week.”

Runner-up Chastain used pit strategy to lead 29 laps before spinning his tires on a restart late in the race.

“It was an up-and-down race,” said Chastain of his final start with Kaulig in 2019. “Up at the start, we ran fifth in that first stage. Then we got caught in that dirty air and couldn’t pass anybody, but then we got track position again and took control of the race for a little while.”

“The car was incredible. I made one pretty big mistake on that final restart and spun my tires, and from there we just had to run hard to finish second.”

Austin Cindric, Brandon Jones, and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top-five while Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Cole Custer, Jeb Burton, and Ryan Sieg rounded out the top-10.

Cindric also had a strong run on the night, leading 38 laps on the way to his third-place finish.

“Yeah, we’re in a must-win situation as far as points go, and when you’re leading in the third stage and a caution comes out your heart kind of sinks a little bit,” said Cindric. “But I thought we had a Discount Tire Mustang good enough to win in clean air.”

“We had 50 or 60 people from Discount Tire come out today and was hoping we could get them in Victory Lane and get in the Final Four. But we got next week in Phoenix. It’s a bummer when you’re pissed at finishing third, but I guess that’s the sign of a good night, being able to execute on some of those restarts.”

The biggest incident of the night occurred on Lap 162 when contact between Playoff drivers Chase Briscoe and polesitter Tyler Reddick sent Reddick’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet hard into the backstretch wall.

Despite hitting the wall, Reddick still holds a 36-point edge over Briscoe heading into Phoenix. Meanwhile, fellow Playoff driver Noah Gragson scored his first DNF of 2019 following an incident on the frontstretch. Gragson finished 30th and is 57 points below the cutline heading into Phoenix.

There were nine cautions for 51 laps, with nine lead changes among four drivers.

The series makes its next appearance at ISM Speedway on Nov. 9 for the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino 200.

November 3, 2019
Harvick wins pole for AAA Texas 500, Jones to start second

Kevin Harvick wheeled his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang to a 28.465-second lap at 189.707 mph around the Texas Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. The pole was Harvick’s second at the speedway in 34 races and sixth overall of 2019.

“I think the key to the lap was knowing that you had to be wide open and kind of did a halfway qualifying run yesterday and worked most of the day on race runs and making sure we ran enough laps to know where our car was,” said Harvick.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones put his No. 20 Toyota on the outside of Row 1 with a lap of 28.588 at 188.890 mph. Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five.

Harvick and Hamlin were the only Playoff drivers to qualify in the top-10, as the other six drivers in the Round of 8 will start in the top-20. Joey Logano will start 11th, with a lap of 28.755 seconds, while Kyle Busch will start on the outside of Row 6 with a lap of 28.764 seconds.

Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney will start in positions 13-15, while Martin Truex Jr. will be starting from the 17th spot with a lap of 28.863.

The AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will start at 2 p.m. CT on NBCSN/SiriusXM Channel 90.

November 2, 2019
NASCAR must find way to bottle their superspeedway package following Talladega

Superspeedway racing, chaos be thy name.

Gone are the days of incident-free events. Gone are the day of overly-dominant drivers mastering pack racing and the draft. These days it’s now a matter of carnage, mayhem, and wild, wild finishes. What’s more important, though, is that NASCAR finds a way to maintain this package. Ergo, leaves it alone and absolutely does not tweak it in any way, shape, or form.

Case in point: Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event. There were 46 lead changes among 19 drivers, nine cautions, a few major scrapes (including a sick kickflip from the No. 62 of Brendan Gaughan) that thankfully yielded zero injuries, and an astounding 11,564 green flag passes (which equated to 79.8 passes per green flag lap).

On top of that, with NASCAR’s Playoff season in full effect, there were several storylines coming into the race that the NASCAR community were paying close attention to, such as whether or not Chase Elliott could rebound from his last-place finish at Dover, whether Ford drivers Clint Bowyer or Ryan Blaney could finally get a win this season, or if Elliott’s Hendrick teammate William Byron could seal the deal and score his first win. In the end, it was Blaney who advances to the Round of Eight by a 0.007-second win over Ryan Newman.

Of course, considering Talladega’s nature, it’s only fitting that the Playoff’s current storylines played a role in Sunday’s race. But with regards to the chaotic nature of superspeedway racing, it’s a must that NASCAR maintains the status quo when it comes to Talladega and Daytona. That isn’t to say that every race on the schedule needs to be full of chaos and anarchy from green flag to checkered flag. But Talladega and Daytona are both revered as some of the best racing all season long – they carry that weight of providing the best action in NASCAR.

That carries more weight when it’s taken into consideration that of all the races of season, the majority of which are held on mile-to-mile-and-a-half race tracks where Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas regularly dominate, superspeedway racing feels like the last bastion of equality in the sport. Literally anyone who is anyone can win, from David Ragan to Justin Haley. For years NASCAR has been looking for a way to keep that aspect in the sport; with this current superspeedway package they may have found that sweet spot.

However, NASCAR has a way of fixing what isn’t broken. It’s something the NASCAR community is used to and in some cases expects, but ultimately it isn’t welcomed that often. So when the NASCAR world spoke up to say that Sunday’s race was nothing short of amazing, they can only hope that NASCAR heard them well enough to go on and act on their critiques. And by act, they really mean not act at all.

NASCAR has something with the new package and the tapered-spacer engine. Therefore, once again, NASCAR should not work to change that. Unless cars are regularly being launched into the crowd, stop trying to fix what isn’t broken. The fans loved it, the NASCAR community as a whole loved it. Sure, there were some angry faces in the crowd, but that’s every superspeedway race; pack racing is known to be very unforgiving in nature. That’s been the story for years.

Sunday was how Talladega was supposed to be run, and NASCAR did a fine job. So until further notice, the superspeedway product is fine as it is.

October 15, 2019
Hendrick Motorsports Playoff drivers are likeliest to advance following Talladega Playoff event

Despite being behind in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup win column, Chevrolets face the likeliest chance to succeed at Talladega for Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 Playoff event. The 2.66-mile superspeedway is no stranger to upset winners, but if the April event is any indicator then not only do the Hendrick Chevrolets face the likeliest chance of winning, they’re also the likeliest to carry on the recent Bowtie winning streak but also advance to the Playoff Round of Eight.

Chase Elliott – His Daytona results notwithstanding, Elliott is showing to be a steady performer on the superspeedways. Along with his April victory in Alabama, he holds three top-fives and three top-10s. It may not seem like much in seven starts, but in the races where he held a dismal finish including his two DNFs in 2017, he has always run near the front including leading 26 laps before a hard crash in the Fall 2017 event.

Still, with two of his three teammates also in the Playoffs as well as the performance of teammate Alex Bowman in the Spring, Elliott could be leading the charge to get out of the Playoff rut his last-place finish at Dover has left him in.

Alex Bowman – 2019 has become the defining year of Bowman’s Cup Series career. It has been a breakout in every sense of the word – one win, six top-fives, 10 top-10s, and a comfortable spot in the seventh slot in the standings. Bowman isn’t satisfied, however, and with Talladega around the corner, a track where he finished second to teammate Elliott in April, he could be kicking his Playoff campaign into high gear and showing the rest of the field that the No. 88 Greg Ives-led crew could be the team to beat in the Playoffs.

Bowman and Elliott proved themselves to be a formidable duo in the Spring, not unlike the early 00s’ when Dale Earnhardt Incorporated drivers Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were winning every other race at Talladega. Should Bowman or Elliott win at Talladega, then it could be the dawn of a new era in NASCAR.

William Byron – Byron’s 2019 Playoff campaign is showing zero signs of a sophomore slump. If anything, it shows that Hendrick Motorsports is catching up in leaps and bounds with the rest of the field, currently led by the Team Penske Fords and the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. He’s scored five poles already, with three top-fives (including a second at Daytona in July) and 11 top-10s to boot.

He’s only in his second full-time Cup Series campaign, so his previous Talladega results can be chalked up as educational experiences. Same thing goes with his Daytona results, although he has led 56 laps at the 2.5-mile Superspeedway. But one thing to take into account for the Chad Knaus-led No. 24 team is momentum. Byron has been quietly consistent, having finished in the top-25 in every race this season. Granted, that doesn’t equate to wins, but still, quiet consistency is better than no consistency. He could be a sleeper at Talladega, if not in the Playoffs overall. He could have a run equivalent to Ryan Newman’s in 2014 if the could just keep up with the consistency.

Although those drivers are the only Hendrick Chevrolets in the Playoffs at this moment, there are other drivers to consider for the win in Sunday’s race. Talladega is well-known for upset winners, and although rookie Ryan Preece is not a Playoff driver, he’s been stout on the superspeedways in 2019. He was in contention to win the Daytona 500 late in the going before being shuffled back to eighth, for one.

But it was his Talladega performance in April which could translate to a win on Sunday, as the No. 47 was able to latch onto the Hendrick Motorsports train of Elliott and Bowman en route to a third-place finish in the final order. His JTG-Daugherty Racing No. 47 is also powered by Hendrick engines, and given their proclivity for running up front on the superspeedways, he could very well put his car at the front in Sunday’s event. Preece is definitely the dark horse pick for the 1000Bulbs.com 500.

The 1000Bulbs.com 500 will be on NBC on Sunday, October 13, at 2 p.m.

October 10, 2019
Jones Confident with 2019 Playoff Contention, Focused on Results and Not Luck

A month and a half ago, Erik Jones was in the conversation for being “on the bubble” when it comes to making the postseason of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series. With multiple top five finishes and a victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the No. 20 team is focused on making it further into the Playoffs this year.

“We DNF’d in Vegas and that was really the end of it,” said Jones, reflecting back on his 2018 Playoff run. “We never could make that point deficit back up at Richmond or Charlotte.”

Leaning on his experience from last year, Jones understands the pressure is still on to perform; not just with securing a spot in the Playoffs, but continuing to progress through each three-race round. When NASCAR introduced elimination rounds for the postseason, there has been less and less mistakes allowed, if any. Jones very much so recognizes this.

“It’s not easy. You have to have a perfect run,” Jones expressed. “You have to have 10 perfect weeks. There’s no room for error at any of these races. You can’t go in and DNF, you can’t go in and run 25th, you can’t not get stage points in a race. You have to have 10 perfect races of running up really past the Round of 16 in the top-five. You can’t have mistakes, you can’t have things that take you out.

“Last year, Vegas, the race we got taken out of was nothing of our doing. We just got caught up in a wreck that was unfortunate and took us out of the Playoffs. Maybe there is some luck in there — I’m not a big believer in luck — but sometimes things just have to go your way.”

But maybe luck has a role in it all. With the Southern 500 earlier this year, a solid pit stop by his team put him in position to claim the lead where he went on to win his second career Cup race. However, Jones was quick to identify his team’s effort to get them where they are now.

“I think Chris (Gayle, crew chief) and I are a good balance for each other,” Jones praised his crew chief when asked about the relationship with his team corresponding with the results they have produced throughout the past year. “Chris has a lot of energy and is an amped up guy, but during the race he is really good at keeping things calm and low key, Chris has worked with me long enough now to really understand me and get me, he knows that I’m not necessarily a guy that needs to be pushed. I don’t need to be pushed to run or work hard during a race.

“I would say this is probably the best communication or chemistry we’ve had since our Cup career started with him just really being able to dive into my feedback and make really good adjustments. He’s just really been on top of what we need to do to be fast.”

Whether it’s luck, hard work, talent or a combination of all the above, Jones knows he needs to avoid one drastic situation: must-win races.

“We were in a must-win situation at the Roval and we don’t want to be there again,” he recalled from the 2018 season after his DNF last year here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “We know what we have to do and that’s just have smooth, calculated races, running and getting stage points and running in the top-five. Really doing what we’ve done the last month-and-a-half, two months and just getting those good finishes.”

This year, Jones has high goals that he believes are achieveable and that he could be one of the dark horses. His team is taking one race at a time, but if the cards fall right, they know they have the speed to make it deep into the 2019 Playoffs, including sneaking into Homestead.

“For us, my goal at least and I think Chris (Gayle, crew chief) is on the same page is just to get to that Round of 8,” Jones declared with confidence. “In that round, Texas and Phoenix are two great tracks for me. Martinsville is a little bit of a struggle sometimes, but Texas and Phoenix are two places I feel like we can go and win races at. If we can make it there, I feel like we’ve got an opportunity to sneak one out between Texas and Phoenix.

“You never know from there, it can be a wildcard.”

So far, Jones has nine top five finishes and 13 top 10 finishes, with a similar average finish compared to last year. He currently sits as the 10th seed, as he seeks to take the No. 20 car to Homestead to compete for his first Cup series title.

September 13, 2019
Win or bust for Cup Series drivers on the bubble
This weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will mark the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale for the second consecutive year. Last year we had to wait until the last race to determine the regular-season champion. But Sunday, in the wee hours of the morning at Darlington Raceway, Kyle Busch claimed that title after his third-place finish in the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

It came as no surprise as Busch has been on fire this year, racking up four wins, 13 top fives and 21 top-10 finishes. Busch is now locked into the Playoffs and gained 15 bonus points to carry into the 10-race playoff series that begins Sept. 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Other drivers, however, are fighting possible elimination from competing for the championship, including seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

Here are the playoff-clinching scenarios for this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1. Clint Bowyer – Bowyer currently sits 15th in the playoff points standings with a little bit of a buffer above the cut line. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver will likely need a win to compete for the championship but also can clinch if he leaves Indy with 48 points and a new winner is seen. Bowyer can also clinch with 46 points should there be a repeat winner or a win by Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron or Aric Almirola. However, Indy has been a tricky track for the Kansas native. He has zero wins, three top fives and four top-10 finishes with 43 laps led and an average finish of 14.2, with one DNF in 2017. The pressure will be on Bowyer and his No. 14 team to excel this weekend.
2. Daniel Suarez – Like Bowyer, Suarez would also clinch with a win and with a repeat winner. It’s been a tough season for Suarez and the No. 41 team who has only earned three top fives and nine top-10 finishes. Suarez will need a lot of help this weekend as he only has one top-10 finish at Indy that came in the 2017 race. Suarez sits 16th on the bubble in a tie with Ryan Newman.
3. Ryan Newman – Newman is tied with Suarez and sits 17th in the standings. The Roush Fenway Racing driver can get lucky by pointing himself way into the Playoffs by being tied with Suarez. Newman needs 54 points to clinch and help from Suarez. He has won at Indy, but that was in 2013 when Newman started first and finished first. Since then Newman has finishes of 11th twice, 31st, third and 10th.
4. Jimmie Johnson – It’s been a rough season and summer stretch for the No. 48 Ally Racing team. Other than the exhibition win at Daytona, Johnson has not scored a win and has only amassed three top fives and eight top-10 finishes in 2019. The frustrating finishes this season have placed Johnson below the cut line in 18th. The seven-time champion likely needs a win at this point to lock himself into the Playoffs.
  
  For anyone else including Paul Menard, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto, among all other drivers inside the top 30, it’s win or go home as the points difference is too much to make up even if they win the stages and lead the most laps.
September 5, 2019
Analysis – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs
It’s hard to believe that the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs are already here. It seems like not too long ago we just began the year at Daytona International Speedway in February and saw the dawn of a new season.

With the Playoffs beginning at Bristol, let’s take an in-depth look at how we got here and the drivers who have a chance at the title. For some, it will be their first time chasing the title in the Truck Series while others will have the experience and understand the pressure they will feel when the points get tight.
1. Brett Moffitt – Seeded in the first position is 2018 Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt. Moffitt returns for another chance to defend his title, something that rarely happens in the Truck Series. The last time someone went back-to-back in the Truck Series was Matt Crafton in 2013 and 2014.
  
  How he got here – Moffitt was awarded the win at Iowa after Ross Chastain failed the post-race inspection and had his win taken away. This automatically gave Moffitt another chance at the title. However, it wasn’t until Chicago when Moffitt earned his win the hard way. With the new team switch, it seemed as though the Grimes, Iowa native had a slow start as do most drivers when they switch to new teams at the beginning of the season. Still, despite the 26th place finish at Daytona, the GMS Racing driver has been solid all season with the exception of Fort Worth in March, Charlotte in May and the 29th place finish at Eldora. Otherwise, Moffitt has had nine top fives and 11 top-10 finishes with only one DNF and an average finish of 9.1. He hasn’t won as much as he did last season at this point in the year but Moffitt has quietly been a contender week-in and week-out and sometimes being quiet is a good thing.
  
  Chances – I give Moffitt a 90% chance of winning the title. Very few drivers have been able to win back-to-back titles in their career in the Truck Series. Ron Hornaday is the only driver to win four titles but that was over a span of years. In 2017, Johnny Sauter had the chance to win the title again after winning in 2016 but he never really had the truck to compete in the race for another title.
  
  Concern – I don’t have any concern with Moffitt going back to these tracks that he was really successful at last year. During the 2018 Playoffs, Moffitt had an average finishing position of 5.4 and won at ISM Raceway and Homestead. I think Moffitt will be fine since GMS Racing does have experience in winning the championship with Sauter in 2016.
  
  Notable – Moffitt has 22 playoff points and has led 96 laps during his playoff run.
2. Grant Enfinger – The Alabama native has been on a roll this year even without winning a race. It has been a career year so far for the No. 98 ThorSport Racing driver who is making his second appearance in the Playoffs.
  
  How he got here – Consistency. Enfinger got to the Playoffs based on consistency throughout the season. Rarely has a race fan found him in the DNF column with only one to date and it was a freak occurrence at Kentucky. Enfinger comes into the Playoffs with seven top fives, 13 top-10 finishes and two poles. By winning the regular season title at Michigan, this gave the ThorSport Racing driver an automatic lock for the Playoffs and an additional 15 points that will come in handy down the road. Enfinger has an average finishing position of 7.6 with four stage wins in 2019. This gives Enfinger 19 points heading into the Playoffs, just three points behind first.
  
  Chances – 80%. The Playoffs are based on winning and advancing although sometimes a driver can get lucky and make it into the next round on points. This is the second time Enfinger has made the Playoffs. While he did have one win in the Playoffs at Las Vegas last year, I would like to see more out of him in terms of wins.
  
  Concerns – As I previously mentioned, I would like to see more wins out of the No. 98 team. If it wasn’t for the automatic lock for the series points leader after Michigan, Enfinger would find himself seeded lower in the Playoffs and quite possibly missing the Playoffs, which he did in 2017 and wound up 11th in the standings. In 2018, he was only able to earn three top fives in the Playoffs and failed to advance to the championship race at Homestead. But there is one encouraging stat. At the championship race in Homestead in 2018, Enfinger won the pole and wound up second after winning Stage 1 and leading 53 laps. While there are many years left for Enfinger, I believe this will be his best chance to win his first championship.
  
  Notable – In 2018 the Alabama native led 114 laps and had an average finish of 9.8.
3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen has had a strong season for the most part. Similar to 2018, he had multiple opportunities and put himself in position to win before finally getting that elusive first victory at Eldora. Friesen comes into the Playoffs with 14 playoff points and is seeded third.
  
  How he got here – Friesen posted his first career series win at Eldora a few weeks ago. He also has nine top fives and 11 top-10 finishes and one pole at Martinsville earlier this season. With those numbers, the Canadian native has an average finish of 8.9 with 203 laps led.
  
  Chances – 75 %. Friesen has been great this year and the stats reflect that. He has tied the top fives that he had last year. The only area where he is down is top-10s as he has 11 this year compared to his 16 last season. Other than that, he has improved his average finishing position from last year’s 9.1. It’s hard to believe that just two years ago in 2017, he withdrew from two races and is now competing in his second Playoffs.
  
  Concern – DNFs. I am concerned about the DNFs that Friesen has accumulated. He has three, at Daytona, Texas and Pocono. Last year he only had two DNFs. While Friesen has been strong during the season, it seems it has been top five or bust for the No. 52 team. One week, it’s a second place finish while another week it’s a 12th place finish at Dover or 15th at Kansas. From Iowa through Chicago, he was able to get top five finishes before wrecking out again at Pocono. I’m not sure if we would be talking about Friesen in the Playoffs had he not won at Eldora. I would like to see a little more consistency out of the No. 52 Halmar Racing team in order to provide more of a threat for the championship.
  
  Notable – During the 2018 Playoffs, Friesen scored just two top fives and five top-10 finishes but was eliminated in the Round of 8. He wound up seventh in the championship standings. His average finish was 8.2 and he led 29 laps. The Playoffs are all about winning and that’s what Friesen needs to do more of if he wants to advance and move on.
4. Austin Hill – Hill is making his first Truck Series playoff appearance this season driving the No. 16 Hattori Racing Toyota. The Georgia native comes in with 12 playoff points and is seeded fourth.
  
  How he got here – By winning at Daytona and Michigan, Hill was able to lock himself into his first playoff appearance. Throughout the season, Hill has no stage wins, has led 121 laps, has four top fives and eight top-10 finishes along with two poles. This gives him an average finishing position of 14.2.
  
  Chances – 70%. Hill has never competed in the Playoffs but does have experience at the upcoming tracks which could help him. What could help him, even more, is driving for the team that won the championship last year with a team that was strong and consistent in the Playoffs.
  
  Concern – The only thing I am concerned about is Hill not having the playoff experience in order to help him throughout the eight-race chase to the championship. The Hattori Racing driver has never had the opportunity to get a feel for what it’s like to compete in the Playoffs. However, he will have a championship winning crew chief and a team to help him learn and to lean on which will give him a fighting chance to make it to the championship finale in November. So far, Hill has been able to prove that he is worthy of a championship but will need some work to do in hopes of winning the championship.
  
  Notable – Hill finished 11th in the 2018 Truck Series standings. He failed to make the Playoffs in 2016 and 2017 after competing on a part-time schedule.
5. Ross Chastain – What a season it has been for the Florida native Ross Chastain who switched his points in the middle of the season and it has worked out well so far for the Niece Motorsports driver who has three wins in what is quite possibly his best season yet.
  
  How he got here – Chastain won at Kansas, Gateway and Pocono in order to give him his first chance at a Truck Series title. The Florida native has six top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes along with 305 laps led which gives him an average finishing position of 9.2. With the strong season, Chastain has 12 playoff points to work with in the Playoffs.
  
  Chances – 75%. I think Chastain has a good shot at winning the title. He has been consistent all season long with only two DNFs. Other than Eldora, he has been able to finish in the top-10 in every race. Chastain has three stage wins and is making his first ever Truck Series Playoffs. He does have experience competing at the upcoming tracks. Chastain even competed in the 2018 Xfinity Series Playoffs and won at Las Vegas, which is a playoff race in the Truck Series. He and Austin Hill are tied, having the same amount of playoff points.
  
  Concerns – This is the first time that Niece Motorsports is competing in the Playoffs. I’m concerned with the small notebook they have to lean on in order to help them with what they need in order to survive and advance. So far Niece Motorsports has been able to prove people wrong every week by running up front and winning races. If they can keep that up I see no problems with them advancing through the Playoffs, especially when points get tight later in the rounds.
  
  Notable – Chastain has finishes of 10th at Las Vegas earlier this season and fourth at Martinsville in the Spring, both tracks that are in the Playoffs.
6. Matt Crafton – Seeded sixth in the playoffs, Matt Crafton comes in with 12 playoff points and is making his fourth consecutive playoff appearance. It has been an up and down season for the two-time Truck Series champion who had critical comments about the playoff system after Saturday’s race in Michigan.
  
  How he got here – He was able to advance into the Playoffs based on points and had help with no new drivers winning at Michigan. Crafton remained second in regular season points throughout the season and had a chance to challenge his ThorSport teammate Enfinger for the regular season title, but fell short. The California native has posted six top fives and 14 top-10 finishes and earned two poles at Kansas and Charlotte. He was able to win three stages and led 34 laps that equaled to a 7.2 average finish.
  
  Chances – 65%. Crafton has been strong for the most part and had a runner up finish at Texas to Greg Biffle. The team does have speed but they need some wins to their credit if they want to be at Homestead in November fighting for the championship. Crafton is hungry for a win and has been winless for two years now.
  
  Concern – I would like to see more wins from the No. 88 driver before considering him a championship threat. However, if the championship was still decided by a full season, Crafton would have that chance as he sits second in regular season standings.
  
  Notable – In the 2018 run for the championship, Crafton only earned two top fives and four top-10 finishes before being eliminated in the Round of 6. With those finishes, the California native earned an average finish of 10.7 in the 2018 playoffs. Crafton did compete in the Championship 4 in 2016, before finishing second to Sauter.
7. Johnny Sauter – Sauter comes into the Playoffs as the seventh seed with nine playoff points. It has been a struggle for the Wisconsin native who quite possibly is having his worst season. This is the fewest top five and top-10 finishes he has had to date especially for someone who is otherwise a contender week-in and week-out.
  
  How he got here – Winning at Dover gave Sauter the chance to compete for the Playoffs once again. He has made every one since it started in 2016 and was the first ever playoff champion. On the other hand, however, Sauter has only managed three top fives and seven top-10 finishes, the lowest he has ever had in his career. This is possibly his worst season since 2012 when Sauter earned six top fives and nine top-10 finishes that year. The ThorSport Racing driver has only been able to lead 76 laps and won three stages with an average finish of 7.2 so far this season.
  
  Chances – 55%. It seems that since winning Dover Sauter has fallen off and hasn’t been able to regain what he had at the beginning of the season. Outside of getting an eighth place finish at Pocono, Sauter has finished outside the top-10 seven times.
  
  Concerns – Speed. I think one of the issues Sauter and his No. 13 team face is the lack of speed which the team will need in order to advance throughout the Playoffs. Until Sauter finds what he had at the beginning of the season, I can’t really take Sauter as a serious threat for the championship.
  
  Notable – In 2018 Sauter had two top fives and four top-10 finishes with a win at Martinsville giving him a chance at the Championship 4 once more. He led 187 laps and had an average finishing position of 8.7. During his 2016 championship playoff run Sauter had two wins at Martinsville and Texas, four top fives and seven top-10 finishes before winning the title.
8. Tyler Ankrum – Ankrum is perhaps the most surprising driver in the Playoffs, driving for DGR-Crosley, he is seeded eighth.
  
  How he got here – The win at Kentucky gave Ankrum the chance to compete for the championship in what will be his first playoff appearance. He had another chance to win at Michigan before being taken out with four laps to go. Otherwise, Ankrum has only competed in 13 races due to age restrictions. He’s earned three top fives and six top-10 finishes with 52 laps led and an average finish of 14.3.
  
  Chances – 40%. Ankrum has never competed in the Playoffs and neither has the team. However, he has been working with an experienced crew chief, Kevin Manion, who used to work at Kyle Busch Motorsports and won championships with Martin Truex Jr. in 2004 and 2005.
  
  Concerns – As mentioned, the California native doesn’t quite have the experience in order to get a feeling for what competing for the championship is like in the Truck Series. It’s a completely different feel than the K&N Pro Series or CARS Late Model Series in which he has competed. For most of these tracks coming up, Ankrum will be competing at them for the first time other than Martinsville and Phoenix. Since winning at Kentucky, however, Ankrum has finished second and ninth, respectively with the exception of crashing out last week at Michigan. The DGR-Crosley driver will also have to work on his DNFs after having four of them this season.
The Round of 8 begins this Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. The round will feature a variety of tracks by going to a half mile on Thursday, a road course in Canada that has featured exciting last lap finishes before heading to Las Vegas to end the Round of 8.

The Round of 6 will feature the tracks like Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway and the penultimate race at ISM Raceway.

The championship crowning race will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway that will see four drivers competing for the chapmionship.
August 14, 2019