We’ve only got three NASCAR Cup Series races left in the best time of year for sports.
As I’m writing this on Thursday (Oct. 20), it’s the Sports Equinox, in which all four major American sports (the MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA, plus MLS) are all in action. NASCAR was a part of the Sept. 10, 2020, equinox, where, although COVID-induced, there were at least eight major pro sports unfolding. This time of year, MLB and NASCAR are in the thick of playoff action, NFL is almost halfway into its regular season and both hockey and basketball have gotten underway within the past 10 days.
It’s a good time for sports.
A few weeks ago, I likened the NASCAR playoffs to a slasher movie. It felt appropriate, given the time of year and the prevalence of horror movies. The metaphor in this scenario, the NASCAR playoffs, have delivered beyond expectations and have been wildly unpredictable. Hell, Chase Briscoe, who I (and likely many others) had as a first-round out, has made it twice as far as I expected and is a couple very solid races (or, more simply, a win) away from a Championship 4 berth.
The guy who’s already into the final four is Joey Logano, who pulled off a win after battling fellow title contender Ross Chastain late at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 22 may have had his road to the victory made a little easier by seemingly dominant teammate Ryan Blaney spinning late, but he’s also won before at all three of the Round of 8’s tracks, so it’s a good bet he might’ve made the final round regardless.
Chastain might be the weirdest oddity in this, not because he hasn’t had a good season — he has — but he hasn’t won in what feels like ages. Yet the No. 1 team has quietly made its way into the third round of the postseason, a recent stretch of events devoid of wins but also devoid of drama, which is shocking given Chastain irking quite a few competitors earlier in 2022.
Something easy to overlook given last week’s unfortunate goings-on in Sin City is Chastain’s second-place position in the standings. Everyone’s talking about Blaney, who seemed on track for a potential win, Briscoe, who did quite a bit to help his case toward pointing his way into the next round, Chase Elliott, whose subpar performance didn’t drop him below the cutline but didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the No. 9 team or Christopher Bell, who was caught up in the Bubba Wallace/Kyle Larson fracas and suffered race-ending damage, a hit in the points and a…
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