NASCAR: Who is going home after Bristol?

After a chaotic finish at Watkins Glen, some championship favorites find themselves in danger of going home early. Playoff drivers encountered hardships left and right in this race in the form of on-track incidents and on-pit roads.

Seeing as how seven of the 16 playoff drivers didn’t finish in the top 20 at The Glen, NASCAR fans can expect a wild race at Bristol full of strategy and the inevitable tempers that come with short-track racing. After this tumultuous weekend, who’s going home after the coming cutoff race in Bristol?

1. Harrison Burton

Burton making these playoffs in the first place was completely unexpected. The Ford driver was last among all full-time Cup Series drivers in the points standing before his upset win at Daytona.

The Wood Brothers Racing driver just hasn’t had the speed to keep up with top teams this season and this really hasn’t changed in the playoffs. There was hope that he’d have some momentum from his first career win, but that just hasn’t come to fruition.

He’s already 20 points in the hole going into the cutoff race, so all that can save him now is another upset win.

2. Martin Truex Jr.

Truex will put up a fight in this race, but it won’t be enough. The veteran driver in his last full-time season has struggled to keep himself in the conversation as a championship contender.

Truex made his way into the playoffs on points, meaning he doesn’t have many playoff points to fall back on. He finds himself 14 points below the cutoff line heading into the Last Great Colosseum and that will ultimately be too much to surmount.

Truex’s finishes of 35th and 20th at Atlanta and Watkins Glen just won’t cut it in this round and therefore, his final bid for a championship will come to an end early.

3. Brad Keselowski

One of the feel-good stories of the season is coming to an end in Bristol. Keselowski, who got his first points win as a team owner earlier this season at Darlington, has just flat out come up short in this first round.

The part-owner of RFK Racing has always struggled at road courses, but there was at least some hope for the first race of the Playoffs in Atlanta. Unfortunately for his team, he couldn’t capitalize on a track that has long been his specialty.

He’s only 12 points out of advancing with the top 12, but he’ll need a lot of stage points and a top-10 finishing position to make it.

4. Ty Gibbs

While Gibbs isn’t currently below the cutline, that’s all changing at Bristol. It’s not that he’s going to have a bad performance at Bristol, it’s more so because just six points behind him below the cutline is Denny Hamlin, a short track wizard.

Hamlin’s won four races at Bristol, including the last two. He will be one of the most dominant cars on Saturday night and if he doesn’t win his way into the playoffs, he’ll easily outscore Gibbs.

Four drivers’ championship bids will end on Saturday in Bristol. Tune in at 7:30 p.m. on the USA network Saturday night to see who’s going home.

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