NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 Preview

The battle for the NASCAR Cup Series championship became a bit clearer as 16 playoff drivers became 12 after the cutoff race at Bristol last Saturday.

Defending Cup champion Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick in his final Cup season, 2023 Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and this year’s Indianapolis Road Course winner Michael McDowell were the four drivers eliminated from playoff contention.

The Round of 16 saw three different drivers from three different teams take victory.

Kyle Larson added another marquee win to his name in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington. At Kansas, Tyler Reddick outran the field on a late-race restart to advance to the Round of 12 for the first time in his career. Finally, at the Bristol Night Race, Denny Hamlin led the final 135 laps en route to his third win of the season.

The next three races that make up the second round of the playoffs consist of three unique tracks that the drivers must navigate.

The one-and-a-half-mile intermediate track of Texas Motor Speedway was the site of numerous tire failures last year, and temperatures projected to be in the mid-90s will create a grueling environment for teams and drivers alike.

The second leg of the Round of 12 is at the Talladega Superspeedway, a drafting-style circuit where staying out of trouble and avoiding “the Big One” are the ultimate goals to conquering one of NASCAR’s most feared tracks.

The cutoff race takes place at the tight and technical Charlotte Roval, which has played host to some of the playoffs' most memorable moments.

The NASCAR Cup Series will visit Texas and the Charlotte Roval for the first time this season. Kyle Busch, who currently sits 6th in the standings in his debut season with Richard Childress Racing, won the first Talladega race back in April.

In 2022’s Round of 12, Tyler Reddick took the win at Texas, Chase Elliott took the checkered flag at Talladega, and Christopher Bell punched his ticket to the next round at the Charlotte Roval.

Both Reddick and Bell have a shot to advance further in the playoffs this year while Chase Elliott missed the playoffs entirely in 2023, missing six races due to a snowboarding accident in March.

As of today, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron leads the points standings at 3036, with Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, and Bubba Wallace sitting below the cutline to advance.

Byron sits even on points with regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr., with the tiebreaker coming from Byron’s five wins to Truex’s three.

Alongside Reddick’s second-round breakthrough, his 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher both secured their first appearance in the Round of 12.

Wallace is hungry for his first win of the season, especially since Talladega gave the Mobile, Ala., driver his first Cup win back in 2021. Buescher looks to capitalize on his momentum after winning three of the final five races of the regular season.

This year’s Round of 12 provides a lot of excitement and surprises as the remaining drivers look to secure their spot in the Round of 8.

The quest for the Bill France Cup continues on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m. at Texas Motor Speedway.

Jack Rachinsky is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jjr6682@psu.edu