Who will be next to win and claim a NASCAR Cup playoff spot before regular season ends?
Four of the last five years a driver won in the last three races of the regular season to claim a playoff spot. It happened twice last year with Harrison Burton's dramatic victory at Daytona and Chase Briscoe winning the regular season finale at Darlington.
In 2023, Michael McDowell won on the road course at Indianapolis to secure a playoff spot. Austin Dillon's win in the 2022 regular season finale at Daytona moved him into the playoffs. In 2020, William Byron entered the regular season finale at Daytona holding the final playoff spot and scored his first series win to secure his spot.
The final three races of this season take the Cup Series to Watkins Glen (coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network), Richmond and Daytona.
Dustin Long,
Eight drivers already have clinched playoff spots. They are Byron, Briscoe, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney and Shane van Gisbergen.
The five other drivers with at least a win and in position to clinch a playoff spot as early as this weekend are Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric and Josh Berry.
So, who could take a playoff spot at either Watkins Glen, Richmond or Daytona?
Watkins Glen
— AJ Allmemdinger is one of the first names that comes to mind since he has won at this track (2014) and has placed in the top five in two of the last three years. But the team hasn't been as strong on road courses this season, scoring only a top 10 in the Chicago Street Race in four road course events. Said Allmendinger: 'We'll go do our homework and be ready to go.'
— Michael McDowell has two top-five finishes in the four road course races this year, placing fourth at Sonoma and fifth at Mexico. He has led laps each of the last three years at Watkins Glen, scoring two top-10 finishes in that span.
— Chris Buescher won last year's race at Watkins Glen, passing Shane van Gisbergen on the final lap. Buescher enters this weekend holding the final playoff spot. That could play into his team's race strategy. Buescher is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all three Cup races at Watkins Glen in the Next Gen era.
Nate Ryan,
— Ty Gibbs seeks his first career Cup victory. He challenged van Gisbergen at Mexico until a caution came out before he had pitted, ending any hopes of a win there. Gibbs finished 11th at Mexico and followed that with a runner-up result in the Chicago Street Race and a seventh-place finish at Sonoma. He finished fifth at Watkins Glen in 2023.
— Kyle Busch has scored both of his top-five finishes this season at a road courses, placing fifth at Circuit of the Americas and fifth at the Chicago Street Race.
— Tyler Reddick — While he could clinch a playoff spot this weekend via points, he still looks for his first victory of the season. Reddick finished in the top six in three of the four road course races this year, scoring third-place results at COTA and the Chicago Street Race and finishing sixth at Sonoma.
— Alex Bowman — His most recent victory came in the 2024 Chicago Street Race and he's placed in the top 10 in three of the four road course races this season.
Richmond
— Austin Dillon won this race a year ago but the victory didn't count toward playoff eligibility due to a penalty for wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap. Overlooked is that Dillon was in position to win that race until a late caution sent the race into overtime. Dillon is coming off a 10th-place finish at Iowa in the most recent short track race.
— Alex Bowman is a former winner at Richmond, taking the checkered flag there in April 2021. Bowman has six top-10 finishes in the last eight races this season, heading into Sunday's race at Watkins Glen, so the team is making progress. He was seventh at Iowa, matching his seventh-place result at Phoenix in another short track race.
— Brad Keselowski is on a roll. After having no top 10s in the first 12 races of the season, he's scored seven top-10 finishes in the last 11 races, including a third-place result last weekend at Iowa.
— Ryan Preece enters Watkins Glen outside a playoff spot but has had a pair of top-five finishes. He finished seventh at Martinsville and was fifth last weekend at Iowa. The challenge is that he's not started in the top 20 at a short track this season.
— Carson Hocevar has had speed this season but it's a matter of execution for a full race. He has started in the top 10 in three short track races. He started third at Phoenix, ninth at Bristol and seventh at Iowa.
Daytona
— Everybody has a shot at Daytona on Aug. 23. Three of the last five winners of the summer Daytona race claimed a playoff spot with a victory.
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