Nascar Playoff Preview: Is this Hendrick’s Championship to Lose?

The dominance of Hendrick Motorsports during the regular season cannot be ignored and has taken the NASCAR world by storm. With all four of their drivers finding victory lane at least once, the legendary team seems poised for another championship from drivers Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.

The playoff field this year is full of drivers who experienced various successes in the regular season. You have Harrison Burton, whose win at Daytona sprung him from outside the top 20 in points to the playoffs, and you have drivers like Larson, whose four wins lead all drivers this season.

And while those four wins were huge for the Chevy driver during the regular season, it still wasn’t enough to keep 23XI driver Tyler Reddick from claiming the Regular Season Championship and the playoff points that go with it.

So with the 16-car fieldset, who are the contenders, and who are the pretenders?

For the pretenders, I have Austin Cindric, Burton and Chase Briscoe. Each has one win apiece on the season and hasn’t been what many would call a model of consistency. With the exception of Cindric, all those listed above are already in danger of being cut after Bristol.

Burton’s first career win that propelled him to the playoffs came at a track that is known for producing upset winners: Daytona. The close-pack racing there allows cars not normally seen at the front of the field to rise to the top, and you only need to lead that all-important last lap to make the playoffs.

I see these drivers struggling to keep pace with the drivers at the top of the bracket here, and their lack of playoff points will ultimately come to hurt them in the first round.

The four drivers I see making up the Championship Four at Phoenix include Larson, Reddick, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. The drivers currently sit first, third, sixth and second in the standings respectively, and have a combined 12 wins.

These four drivers have shown they have the ability to win at pretty much any track on the schedule, a skill they’ll need in these playoffs after NASCAR added some more diverse tracks including Watkins Glen and Atlanta.

Out of the four, Larson is in the best shape right now as he holds a 35 points cushion over the cutoff line, which will ultimately be an asset for him to fall back on if he has a bad day at some of the more unpredictable tracks in these playoffs like Talladega.

If any of those four are to challenge Larson come Championship Weekend, it’s Hamlin. The season veteran is still seeking his first Cup Championship and is as hungry as ever, not to mention he’s one of NASCAR’s best on smaller tracks, like the one hosting the championship race.

The playoffs kick off this Sunday in Atlanta at 3 p.m. on USA.

Ethan Ellis is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ece5133@psu.edu.