Sometimes, the NASCAR playoffs can be overtaken by a single storyline throughout it.
In 2015, it was Kyle Busch rising to victory in the Cup Series after breaking his legs at the start of the year. The 2021 Xfinity Series championship ended in dramatic fashion with Daniel Hemric finally winning his first and, so far, only national touring series race along with the championship.
This year’s championship seems fit to be a seven-week rivalry between the defending champion Cole Custer and the veteran Justin Allgaier.
Maybe the best aspect of this rivalry is that there seems to be little chance of actual on-track beating and banging. Both drivers are fast but are also respectable racers who should be relatively clean in their battles over the next two months.
Custer was able to come out on top as a preview at Bristol, winning and securing the regular-season championship by just three points over Allgaier, who struggled with damage in the latter half of the race.
In spite of the championship, Allgaier should still be the favorite. He’s set a record for most stages won in the regular season with 14. All of those stage points almost won him the regular season championship in spite of an average finish three full positions lower than Custer.
Custer has put together a remarkably consistent season, with a 10.9 average finish. Outside of four DNFs, Custer’s worst finishes on the year were 21st at Watkins Glen International, 18th at the Chicago Street Course, 16th at Atlanta Motor Speedway 13th at Daytona International Speedway. The rest of the season has been top-10 finishes.
Outside of the top two, the field is wide open. Austin Hill should be competitive, but he hasn’t shown speed recently. He finished fourth at Nashville in June, and outside of his win at Atlanta earlier this month, he’s been unable to finish in the top five ever since.
Chandler Smith won early on in the season and enters the playoffs hot, with just one finish out outside of the top 5 in the last five races. This driver might be clicking at just the right time to mount a championship challenge.
The most interesting driver in the playoffs, and arguably of the entire season, is Shane van Gisbergen. He should be able to clear the first round with how well he does at road courses, and he should know the Charlotte ROVAL very well with his extensive testing there last year prior to his Cup Series debut.
But the round of eight will be a total…
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