Chase Briscoe’s win in Phoenix was among the unexpected things to happen this season(Getty Images)
The easy thing to do going into the first round NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs would be to pick four drivers near the back of the standings and predict that those drivers will be the ones to be eliminated after the first three races. However, the 2022 season has shown itself to be one in which the easy thing to predict doesn’t actually come to fruition very often.
So Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric and Daniel Suarez will be eliminated from championship contention following the first cutoff race at the Bristol Motor Speedway, right? Instead, however, the virtual certainty based on how this season has played out so far is that such will not in fact be the case.
As everyone who follows the NASCAR Cup Series knows, sixteen drivers are initially included in the title hunt with those who won races during the “regular season” taking precedent over those who have scored more points without a victory.
While there is speculation with the coming of each new season as to whether or not sixteen drivers can win their way into the Playoffs but such never seems to actually happen, but this year it did. And with all the craziness of the 2022 season, one of those drivers who won a race to make himself eligible for the Playoffs was unable to actually participate because of an injury.
Unpredictability has proven to be the most predictable aspect of this year. With that being the case, it would seem more likely than not that something, in any other season, would seem unexpected will happen.
Surely then, one of those who isn’t, at the beginning of the Playoffs, being thought of as a legitimate contender will get off to a good start by scoring a win or piecing together three solid finishes to emerge out of his bottom four position in the standings and into contention. At the same time, it would seem likely that, during this unpredictable campaign, one of the pre-Playoffs favorites will run into early trouble and be eliminated after the third race.
During a NASCAR Media availability earlier in the week, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson seemed to agree that simply picking the obvious drivers to advance may not be the right strategy.
“I definitely think there’s favorites but there’s a lot of craziness that’s happened all year long,” the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet pointed out. “Even though I’ve got favorites, I’m not confident in any of them just because of how wild and inconsistent the season has been for so many people. I think you look at us as being a favorite. I think you can look at Chase(Elliott), obviously, and in my opinion, Ross Chastain. I would say us three and definitely the Gibbs guys that are in the Playoffs.”
And besides having some unexpected Playoff driver to make a deep run toward the title, there is, of course, the possibility of a non-Playoff driver injecting himself into the mix by winning a race in the same way Bubba Wallace did last year at Talladega Super Speedway. Or, Playoff participant who has been eliminated could win following his elimination in the same way Alex Bowman did last year at Martinsville Speedway.
The bottom line is that expecting the unexpecting is the best way for followers of NASCAR to go into the Playoffs. The way this season has played out so far, something crazy is bound to happen in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Please consider also reading:
Jimmy Owens comes home to earn WoO Late Models win at Smoky Mountain
Richard Allen has been covering NASCAR and other forms of motorsports since 2008.
Respond to this piece on Twitter –> @RichardAllenIDR
or on Facebook –> InsideCircleTrack/Facebook