By David Morgan, Associate Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – Game on.
Seven spots in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are still up for grabs in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the second elimination race of the postseason.
When the checkered flag flies, four drivers will be going home with their title hopes having gone up in smoke.
As it sits, William Byron is the lone driver that has already punched his ticket to the Round of 8 on points. Behind him, there are those that are likely safe with enough of a points cushion, those in danger of falling out, and those that will be fighting for their Playoff lives from the drop of the green flag on Sunday.
Christopher Bell has the most breathing room with a 57-point advantage over the cut-off line, meaning he’s all but locked into the next round. He’s followed by Kyle Larson (+52), Denny Hamlin (+30), Alex Bowman (+26), and defending series champion Ryan Blaney (+25), all of whom have enough of a points buffer that they should be safe enough to move on to the next round.
From seventh on back, it’s a different story.
Regular season champion Tyler Reddick holds a 14-point advantage over the cut line in seventh, which gives him some breathing room, but not much. The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota will hope to turn around his Playoff luck and channel his previous road course success to keep his postseason run going.
Reddick has been in this position before, including a year ago when he came in below the cut line, but was able to race his way in with a sixth-place result.
This time around, Reddick has the speed to contend on Sunday, having posted the second-fastest time in qualifying, where he’ll join Shane van Gisbergen on the front row when the green flag drops.
“It’s not great, but it’s better than I think where we were last year,” Reddick said of his situation. “So, I’m pretty neutral on it at the moment. Like if qualifying goes good, we do our part today, we just have many more options as the race gets going [Sunday].”
Reddick added that even with his road course prowess, the unknown of the new layout and the chaotic nature of Cup Series road course racing will have him and his team on their toes on Sunday.
“I think because of the braking zones, at any point, you know, your day could drastically change,” Reddick said. “We saw it happen to a number of drivers last year here, so I wouldn’t say…
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