As the Cup playoffs get off following an unexpected year that featured 16 regular-season champions and the most competitive playoff field in five years, there are many things to consider.
Here are some important questions for each of the 16 playoff drivers before the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday at 6 p.m. on USA Network.
Is he going to lose this title?
The regular season championship, most laps led, and top-five finishes in seven of the last ten races were all won by the 2020 Cup champion. When it comes to these playoffs, nobody is better.
The regular season champion has won the series championship three times in the past five years.
Elliott has gone no more than three races without finishing in the top ten in a season where many teams have struggled. He won or placed second in five consecutive races.
Elliott, aiming to qualify for the championship race for a third consecutive year, said: "I'm excited about these next (10) weeks and the chance ahead for us as a team. "I think our group is unique... We must ensure that we deliver our finest work when it counts and that time is rapidly approaching.
Will he continue his unusual streak?
Logano has advanced to the championship race four times since the playoff format was introduced in 2014 — in 2014, '16, '18, and '20.
Have you seen the pattern yet?
Every year with an even number, he succeeds. Therefore, it stands to reason that the 2018 Cup champion will participate in the championship race in Phoenix this year. We'll see, but it's encouraging that Darlington is where the playoffs begin.
Logano took the lead for a race-high 107 laps there in May, winning after pushing William Byron aside. If he wins again, he will already be qualified for the second round. Therefore it won't matter what happens in Kansas and Bristol in the first round.
Remember that Logano ranks third this season in terms of laps run. Only Michael McDowell (98.40% laps run) and Martin Truex Jr. (98.04%) have completed more laps this season than he has (98.02%). In these playoffs, consistency is going to be crucial. That is just another element in Logano's favor.
Who will prevent him from winning the championship?
The line is lengthy. The way people treat him based on race could affect Chastain's first postseason experience.
Following contact in the race in August, Kyle Busch claimed to have been "Chastained" at Richmond.
When questioned about the necessity for compromise to win a championship at Daytona, Busch responded, "Absolutely, sure. To succeed in a championship, compromise is necessary.
When it comes to the finale of the playoffs and traveling to Phoenix, "Will (Chastain) get the benefit of the doubt? Without a doubt. No way. None at all. People may not pay him back just yet since they are awaiting the appropriate moment.
"He's done a pretty nice job of even when he does get into times where he does have trouble with other drivers in the race, he still recovers from it really well," said Kyle Larson of Chastain. But I think that can only go on for so long. I'm not sure.
The playoffs will feature a fun little plot to follow. The fact that everyone seems to be against him makes me doubt that the playoffs will be simple for him.
In more than ten years, no driver has ever captured consecutive championships. Can he accomplish it?
There hasn't been a driver that has won back-to-back championships since Jimmie Johnson won the final of his five straight titles in 2010. The 11-year absence of a driver who won consecutive championships is the longest in NASCAR history.
The current Cup champion, Larson, has failed to finish six races this year. His 13 top-10 performances include ten top-five finishes. It simply requires being more consistent.
Larson remarked, "I don't know if it did for anybody, but I think our regular season didn't go very well, to our standards. Despite Chase (Elliott). Even if his regular season met their requirements, I don't even know. Simply put, the regular season this year was very inconsistent.
"With three blown engines already in the regular season, we experienced DNFs. But also my errors or poor pit stops. Yes, we had a few victories, which was good, but we also probably lost a few.
If the execution were better, Larson might have a chance to win the championship twice in a row.
Does forward motion matter?
In any case, Byron hopes not. In the 18 races since his victory at Martinsville in April, he has only achieved one top-10 finish, which came in ninth place at Sonoma. This season, he has only five top-10 finishes.
This is not a championship team's resume. There is some chance that the playoffs will start at Darlington, where he was in the lead before Joey Logano shoved him aside with two laps. However, Byron pointed out that the group performed well there in May and was a "top-six car."
Byron says Kansas and Bristol are the remaining two teams in the first round.
I'm somewhat anxious about Kansas. We got the lead there, but after that, we had a flat tire, damaged the undercarriage, and had a difficult day. Because Bristol is similar to (Martinsville) and because we had a strong showing there last year, Bristol is exciting.
The fact that Byron is only nine points above last place in the playoff standings is also worrying. The competition is close. Therefore, any problems could prevent this team from making it past the first round.
How many playoff points will he miss?
Many clubs could reflect on the playoff points they've lost throughout this unexpected season.
Hamlin, though, finds that looking back is more traumatic. Despite driving the most powerful vehicle in Dover, he lost the race and five playoff points when a wheel came off. His car failed the post-race inspection, costing him five additional playoff points, and he was disqualified despite winning at Pocono.
According to Hamlin, who is aiming to make his fourth consecutive appearance in the championship race, "We've left an incredible amount of playoff (points) on the table from DQs to lack of execution (and) given our opponents playoff points that we know are going to be competing for cutoff slots." It has affected us. We have agreed to this.
"The entire year has been frustrating. I could never have predicted that the Next Gen car would likely bring us five or six victories. I anticipated that it would take some time for me to adjust.
Hamlin, however, still has positive feelings about a few of the postseason schedule's tracks. Even if Hamlin or any Toyota has some difficulties at other tracks, there is a road for them to qualify for the championship event thanks to Darlington (a 1.366-mile circuit) and four races on 1.5-mile tracks, which have seen success for Toyotas.
Can he make the most of his second opportunity?
By placing 15th at Daytona last weekend, six laps behind the leaders, he managed to advance to the playoffs.
Blaney shouldn't be disregarded, even though he is the lone driver without a victory in the playoffs. His 195 stage points placed him third among playoff drivers, behind only Joey Logano and Chase Elliott (235 stage points) (203).
Behind Michael Elliott (10.538 average finish) and Kevin Harvick, Blaney has the third-highest average finish among playoff drivers (13.308).
Blaney has indeed prevailed. He won the All-Star Race in Texas in May, and Texas will also host the first race in the second round.
He will eventually need to win in the playoffs to keep moving forward.
Can he and his crew ignore the outside noise?
He has a contract to compete in 2024 for 23XI Racing. After hearing the news, car owner Richard Childress was not pleased with Reddick, and the two did not speak again until Reddick had triumphed on the Indianapolis road course.
At Daytona, Reddick demonstrated his ability to work well with others by following Austin Dillon to the finish line, ensuring Dillon the victory and advancing both Richard Childress Racing vehicles to the playoffs.
Reddick and RCR are in an uncommon circumstance, given that they know when their time together will end. Reddick has demonstrated his dedication to the company. Childress claimed that the team is also dedicated. This might be one squad to keep an eye on in the playoffs.
Has the team improved sufficiently to contend for a championship?
What some could consider the back-to-back victories revived a sleeping behemoth against Michigan and Richmond in August.
The crew still has work to do, but Harvick might be set for a strong start in the opening round after finishing fourth at Darlington in May and coming close to winning at Bristol in the playoffs last year.
Harvick failed to advance past at least the third round of the playoffs for the first time last season. After the second round, he was out. Harvick has competed for the championship five times, winning in 2014. But in 2019, he last qualified for the championship event.
He might turn out to be the unexpected postseason hero.
Joining Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch as Toyota drivers in the playoffs is him. On the 1.5-mile tracks, the Toyotas have performed admirably.
That makes it possible for Toyotas to compete for the title. The playoffs feature four 1.5-mile tracks. In the first round is Kansas. Texas is in position two. In the third round, Las Vegas and Homestead are competing.
Bell asserted, "I believe the racetracks definitely work to our advantage. "I would anticipate that we perform well at racetracks like Darlington, Kansas, Homestead, Texas, and Vegas. We have identified The Roval as a place where we need to focus our attention to improve. It is not a secret. The tracks are there, so maybe we can succeed on the ones we excel at and put in strong performances.
Will off-course distractions hinder him, or will he triumph to win three championships?
The only active driver who has won two Cup championships has not yet revealed his 2019 racing schedule.
At Watkins Glen in August, he recognized the toll the procedure had taken on him while he was off the track. He now enters the playoffs with an unsolved issue and a team that has occasionally struggled. He has 13 top 10 finishes, which would be his fewest in the previous six years.
Busch last competed in the championship in 2019. It would be the sixth time he reached the last four competitors in a championship race.
After a challenging regular season, will he and his turn rebound?
Similar to Byron, Briscoe has only finished in the top 10 once in the previous 18 races. That isn't championship-level play. That might not be enough to advance Briscoe, who is participating in his first Cup playoff game, past the opening round.
According to Briscoe, "I feel like we've had pace every week, but... we run anywhere from seventh to 12th for a much of the race, and then we finish 18th to 23rd the last 60 laps, where other teams have kind of done the reverse."
They spend most of the day between positions 17 and 21, and towards the end, they are between positions 7 and 12. It's kind of convenient for us to have a reset button. I'm confident in our speed; now, we simply need to coordinate the entire race.
Can he win a championship after going two years without a single top-15 finish?
It's simple to overlook how far Daniel Suarez had fallen in 2020, given the success he has experienced in his second season with Trackhouse Racing.
Despite driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019, Cole Custer took his seat after the season. Suarez drove for Gaunt Brothers Racing because he had few other options and never placed better than 18th in a race. After that season, he left to join Justin Marks' endeavor at Crackhouse Racing, transitioning from a low-budget squad to a new business.
Suarez will have the chance to compete for a championship two years later. If he succeeds, he might receive proposals to turn his life's journey into one of those motivational sports movies. To get there, though, there is still a lot of work.
Will the Daytona 500 winner finish the year with a title?
The winner of the Daytona 500 has just twice since 1998 and also won the series championship in the same year. Jimmie Johnson was the culprit both times (2006 and 2013). Austin Cindric wants to follow in their footsteps.
Cindric, playing in his first Cup playoff game alongside Briscoe, Suarez, and Chastain, claims that the crowded field is to his advantage.
You may think, "Oh, I'm three below (the cutoff for the first round) and have some of the fewest playoff points," Cindric said, "but I can also think, 'Oh, eight points put me fifth.'" Consider how simple it is to gain and lose eight points throughout three races.
Can a bad summer lead to a good postseason season?
Bowman was seventh in the standings and had seven top 10 finishes, including a victory, in the first 11 races when the series previously visited Darlington in May.
He hasn't won since and has only finished in the top ten three times in the last 15 races.
For us, the summer has been awful, Bowman said. Kind of expected, but we've proven that we can also have successful playoff runs.
Darlington is my largest area of uncertainty right away because we performed so poorly in the spring. You are not allowed to test, but we are reasonably confident that we know the reason. You must arrive at the racetrack with the conviction that you are doing the right thing, and ideally, we are when we unload because if you are not, you cannot change it.
"I think we'll be extremely good if we can get through some of those race circuits that have been sort of hard on us this year."
Does he have another Hail Mary to throw?
Dillon, in 16th place, claimed the lead at Daytona when the top 15 vehicles collided in the rain. After being passed, he waited more than three hours for the race to resume before taking the lead. In his final opportunity, he did so and prevailed, making the playoffs.
He would be the first driver in NASCAR history to win championships in the Truck Series (2011), Xfinity Series (2013), and Cup if he were to win the Cup title.
To get through the first round, Dillon remarked, "We're just going to have to get to work and really rely on the sim at Chevrolet and at RCR." It won't result from a lack of effort over the following three weeks to advance and strive to secure another victory.
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