With the first portion of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs over and done with, a new set of drivers is now set up for the hot seat.
After Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton found themselves on the wrong side of the cut line following a snoozefest of a Bristol race, the Round of 12 could be the most pivotal point in this year’s Playoffs. It’s still wide open.
However, there are some results to key in on. From former champions to fan favorites, everyone has a different hand to play this round, especially this weekend at Kansas. These are the drivers with the most heat on them coming into the Round of 12.
Daniel Suarez
Daniel Suarez limped across the cut line following a 31st place finish at Bristol, which resulted in him making good on every single point he gained with a second -place Atlanta finish earlier in the round.
Atlanta might be turning into a favorite for Suarez, but this weekend’s venue certainly is not. Suarez has only managed a pair of top-10 finishes in 15 starts at Kansas. Suarez comes in behind the 8-ball, and it will take arguably the best Kansas race of his career to move him beyond that point if he wants to change those circumstances (plus a little luck).
William Byron
The summer from hell has rolled into the fall for William Byron, and no amount of throwback paint schemes or honoring Jeff Gordon is going to fix it. Byron is reeling off of a 17th-place finish at Bristol.
Similarly to Suarez, Byron has the tough task of needing to get the monkey off of his back at a track where he’s had little recent success. In last year’s Kansas Playoff race, Byron came home in an utterly mundane 15th place. That might get the job done in the Round of 16, but not this go around.
His Hendrick teammates are finding speed all over the place (see Kyle Larson last week for reference), so why can’t Byron? Something hasn’t been clicking all summer long, and despite the belief by some fans the team would hit itself out of the cold streak, that day hasn’t come yet, and there are no signs of it doing so any time soon.
Austin Cindric
On paper, Austin Cindric has had a solid playoff run so far in the No. 2 Ford Mustang. He notched back to back 10th-place finishes at Atlanta and Watkins Glen before coming home 13th at Bristol, which is still a plenty respectable number.
He even comes into this week’s race in the ninth spot in the standings with plenty of upward mobility up for grabs. The problem, though? Kansas, again.
It can’t be stressed enough how important it is to start off these rounds in a good place. One early crash-out at an inopportune time could and has been the difference between racing the next few races from a place of security versus running from a place of desperation, which typically does not yield good results.
Cindric came home 37th at Kansas earlier this year and 35th in last year’s playoff race. If Cindric can improve upon his record at the track and outhustle some of the drivers behind him in the standings, he should be OK. He just can’t afford a repeat result.
Kansas has provided NASCAR fans with some of the sport’s best finishes in recent years, and similarly to Atlanta, the track is beginning to become known for playoff shakeups and close calls. The unpredictability plays right into what NASCAR has envisioned for its playoff format, for better or worse.
No matter how you slice it, these three drivers will have to break patterns this week in order to keep their championship hopes alive.
About the author
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s Cowbell Corner, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.
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