Pistone: Playoff Predictions

Here’s my annual swing at predicting the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs that begin Sunday with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

A field of 16 drivers is now set after last week’s regular season finale at Daytona. There are a few surprises among the group including rookie Cole Custer, who scored a win at Kentucky Speedway to earn a berth, Austin Dillon, a Texas Motor Speedway winner in July, and Matt DiBenedetto, who was able to secure the final spot on the grid at Daytona.

While last year’s Playoff story began with the “Big 3” of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., this year’s postseason is about the “Dynamic Duo” of Harvick and Denny Hamlin, who combined to win 13 of the 26 regular season races. Both are the prohibitive favorites to win the title and have at times proven to be more than superior to the rest of the field.

See Also: Darlington Race Info and Lineups

Busch has suffered through a miserable regular campaign and after coming into last year’s Playoffs with a hefty bonus point advantage managed to earn just three such points this year. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver remains winless in 2020 and has never gone this long into a Cup Series season before in his career.

There’s a new look to the Playoff schedule this season with each of the three rounds modified from previous seasons. Darlington slides into the Playoff opener spot for the first time with Bristol, Charlotte’s ROVAL and Martinsville taking over the cut-off dates in the trio of rounds. For the first time in history Phoenix Raceway will serve as the championship venue a spot Homestead-Miami Speedway held since the inception of the Chase/Playoff format.

So, without further ado here’s a look at how the road to the Championship 4 will play out ending November 8 in Phoenix:

2020 NASCAR Playoff Drivers

ROUND OF 16
Darlington, Richmond, Bristol

A pair of short tracks and the “Track To Tough to Tame” is a heck of a way to open up this year’s Playoff run. Daytona provided plenty of action to end the regular season and Bristol under the lights to decide who moves on to the second round has a similar recipe for entertainment.

DROPPING OUT: DiBenedetto, Bowyer, Custer and Dillon

ROUND OF 12
Las Vegas, Talladega, Charlotte ROVAL

Mayhem awaits in the second and third races of this round with Talladega and the ROVAL lurking. But don’t overlook Vegas as a potential destination for the unknown after what happened during the track’s Playoff race two seasons ago.

DROPPING OUT: Kurt Busch, Almirola, Byron and Keselowski

ROUND OF 8
Kansas, Texas, Martinsville

Is this the “calm before the storm” round? A couple of 1.5-mile tracks to open things up at Kansas and Texas gives way to the potential of short track madness at Martinsville, which has been the site of more than its share of controversy during the Virginia track’s Playoff history. This time around Martinsville will decide who gets to go on to run for the title the following week in Phoenix.

DROPPING OUT: Kyle Busch, Bowman, Blaney and Elliott

CHAMPIONSHIP 4

Harvick, Hamlin, Truex Jr. and Logano

Phoenix inherits the honor of crowning the 2020 champion. The magnitude of what’s at stake coupled with the track’s penchant for close racing, something NASCAR hopes will be assisted by a lower downforce rules package in place for the finale, will provide much intrigue to end the season.

2020 CHAMPION: Kevin Harvick

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Motor Racing Network.