2022 NASCAR Playoff preview

Story posted September 2, 2022 in Sports by Evan Smith

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Darlington Raceway. 16 drivers enter the field, with 10 races deciding the NASCAR champion.

Racers qualify for the elimination races by winning a race during the regular season. All 16 spots were tentatively taken by winning racers this season, until Kurt Busch chose to remove himself from the field due to injury. Ryan Blaney, who finished the season seventh in points despite not winning a race, took Busch’s playoff spot.

The introduction of the Next-Gen car within the sport led to enhanced parity, causing the league to host 16 different winning cars throughout the year. However, this parity has opened the door for some playoff racers who seemingly don’t have a real chance to make an impact in this run.

The public views these non-contenders in Daniel Suárez, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, and Alex Bowman.

Bowman had the pedigree of a contending driver but struggled his way to a 16th place position.

Cindric began his rookie season by winning the Daytona 500, but has done little to impress since.

Dillon and Suárez are two smaller team drivers who walked their way into the round of 16 with wins, but would be unlikely candidates to win their way through each round.

The top half of the field is loaded with drivers who could make their names known throughout these playoff races.

2020 champion Chase Elliott cruised his way to the regular season championship, holding the points lead since March. His playoffs will be run in a rivalry with last year’s champion, Kyle Larson, who didn’t replicate his dominance of last season, but remains one of the top drivers in the world.

Another former champion prepping to make a run is Joey Logano, who is arguably the best bet to push for the title at this current moment. Logano placed top 6 in four of his last five races. He also has a track record of success at each of the final four playoff courses, with enough playoff points accumulated to be confident in his chances of reaching that mark.

Kevin Harvick also has a track record of success on playoff courses, with his marks held in Darlington, Kansas, Bristol and Texas Motor Speedway. His inconsistency has been his slight this year, but he has the speed to make it deep in the playoffs.

The real wild card this year is the winless Ryan Blaney. Coming into the year with champion level expectations, Blaney had a consistently good year, simply failing to cross the line first. His talent has never been in question though and he certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to break out over the next ten weeks.

The final spotlight driver is Kyle Busch, who has spent his season in a contract dispute with Joe Gibbs Racing. Although he hasn’t performed up to par recently, the racing great can never be counted out.

This field will begin their battle for the NASCAR Cup in Darlington.

Evan Smith is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ers5828@psu.edu.