2017 NASCAR Playoffs start this weekend, and to be honest, without Tony Stewart racing I’ve followed less this year.
That doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on. Danica leaving Stewart-Haas, me rooting for Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick to win it all.
But the biggest stories are the way Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson have absolutely dominated this year, each winning four races during the regular season.
16 Drivers. 10 Races. 4 Rounds. 1 Champion.
The drivers who will be competing for the NASCAR Sprint Cup are:
- #78 Martin Truex Jr. – The speeds that Harvick showed in his winning year is now under Truex’ hood
- #42 Kyle Larson
- #18 Kyle Busch – 2015 Champion – Started 2017 slow, but has gotten hot of late
- #2 Brad Keselowski – 2012 Champion – He has major up and down swings, and the start in Chicago may help him
- #48 Jimmie Johnson – 7-Time Champion – He may have had a fairly light season, but it would be foolish to count him out
- #4 Kevin Harvick – 2014 Champion
- #11 Denny Hamlin
- #17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – First playoff appearance, but his best track doesn’t come until Round 2…too little, too late?
- #21 Ryan Blaney
- #24 Chase Elliott
- #31 Ryan Newman – Newman tends to surprise, and I wouldn’t count him out for a long run
- #41 Kurt Busch – 2004 Champion – This years’ Daytona 500 winner, followed by a fairly terrible year
- #5 Kasey Kahne
- #3 Austin Dillon
- #20 Matt Kenseth – 2003 Winston Cup Champion
- #1 Jamie McMurray – Finished in 13th the last two years, his best finishes, hoping to make it out of the first round this time, but hasn’t won a race yet this year, which he’ll likely need to advance
Schedule:
Challenger Round
9/17 3PM – Chicago
9/24 2PM – New Hampshire
10/1 2PM – Dover
Contender Round
10/8 2PM – Charlotte
10/15 2PM – Talladega
10/22 3PM – Kansas
Eliminator Round
10/29 3PM – Martinsville
11/5 2PM – Texas
11/12 2:30PM – Phoenix
NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship
11/19 2:30PM – Homestead-Miami
Aviously 