Uncle Max’s Playoff Predictions (Mike’s will come on Sunday):
ELIMINATED IN ROUND OF 16:
Obvious ones: Michael McDowell (of course), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (spinning his way out), Bubba Wallace (too emotional)
Surprise elimination: Ross Chastain (two bad races and a wreck—the melons go bad)
ELIMINATED IN ROUND OF 12:
Obvious ones: Brad Keselowski (still no wins), Kevin Harvick (too good to be true)
Surprise eliminations: Ryan Blaney (just a point or two short), Tyler Reddick (too many sponsors, not enough top-fives)
ELIMINATED IN ROUND OF 8:
Obvious one: Chris Buescher (RFK reaches its ceiling)
Surprise eliminations: Christopher Bell (payback from Ty Gibbs for Daytona?), Kyle Busch (and he’ll pout about it too), Martin Truex Jr. (no home track for Martin)
ELIMINATED IN CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND:
Joey Logano (rough day at Phoenix), Kyle Larson (good day, but not great), Denny Hamlin (comes home second)
AND THE 2023 CHAMPION IS:
William Byron!
TRUCK SERIES (2 wins)—off
Saturday Afternoon XFINITY SERIES (2 wins) Hire a Hero 200: John Hunter Nemechek—…and the cosmic ballet, goes on.
Saturday Night CUP SERIES Crown Royal Southern 500: The Tarot Deck (1 win) selects the Nine of Swords, 29th in points Austin Dillon. FAVORITE: Wiliam Byron—in which he goes from constant contender to championship favorite. NEXT FAVORITE (1 win): Kyle Busch—tough to do it as a single car team—oh, wait, he has a teammate. DARK HORSE: Chase Elliott—as always, all Dark Horses in the playoffs must be non-participants or have been eliminated.
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