NOTE: Two pre-race posts today—the final part of my “Nascar for Newbies” series will be up later today!
You’d be hard-pressed to find a Nascar Cup season as bizarre as this one—race postponements and cancellations, no qualifying or practice, even Austin Dillon winning off a plate track. But with a crazy regular season, there is likely to be a relatively sane post-season—just look at the sixteen playoff drivers and you realize there’s really no outliers. Here’s where we at Spade Racing thinks we’ll see these sixteen survivors wind up over the next few months:
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| There's no metaphorical storm clouds over the Playoffs--just literal ones with Nascar's rain luck this season! |
FIRST FOUR ELIMINATED—they’re “just glad to be there” and avoid losing their rides
Matt DiBenedetto—well, MOST of them are unlikely to lose their rides.
Cole Custer—a dream rookie season comes to an early end, but he’s done miles better than his predecessor.
Clint Bowyer—a dull 2020 season comes to an early end, but he’s done miles worse than his predecessor.
William Byron—he finally got the monkey off his back, and an early Playoff departure could lead to a breakout 2021. Or another one-win season where he argues with his crew chief.
NEXT FOUR ELIMINATED—they prove that they belong, but they barely miss the cut
Austin Dillon—still, a pretty good run for RCR, which is depressing to type.
Alex Bowman—quietly becoming a Ward Burton/Jeremy Mayfield type of driver, minus the thick accent and the meth problem.
Kurt Busch—…and thus the speculation on who gets the 42 ride…begins!
Chase Elliott—hmmm, any pattern? Nah…
PENULTIMATE FOUR ELIMINATED—two exceed expectations, while two fall far short of their goals
Aric Almirola—every year there’s one winless driver who quietly advances, and this year its AA.
Joey Logano—the most-disappointing driver since the return to the track. Maybe they could change crew chiefs? Oh, wait…
Martin Truex Jr.—quiet success leads to a loud THUD at being eliminated from the Playoffs.
Kyle Busch—he rebounds from a disastrous regular season (by HIS standards) but still falls just a few points short.
THE RUNNERS-UP—three of the four who go to Phoenix with a shot at the Championship
4th Place: Ryan Blaney—sometimes an under-the-radar championship run leads to glory. This is not one of those runs.
3rd Place: Denny Hamlin—a disappointing run in the desert has more and more people calling him The New Mark Martin.
2nd Place: Brad Keselowski—pretty good run for a guy on a one-year deal.
THE CHAMPION: Kevin Harvick—hard to pick against him in 2020 at Phoenix, isn’t it?