Who Are The Drivers
No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
Driver: William Byron Born: Nov. 29, 1996 Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle Noteworthy: Byron has career-best five wins this season and leads the Cup Series in wins, laps led, stage wins and playoff points. Three of Byron’s wins this season – Darlington, Las Vegas and Phoenix – are also playoff tracks.
No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
Driver: Martin Truex Jr. Born: June 29, 1980 Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey Crew Chief: James Sma Noteworthy: Truex last year failed to win a race or make the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and rebounded this year with victories at Dover, Sonoma and New Hampshire. He is the regular season champion and showed tremendous consistency with a series-high 15 top-10 finishes.
No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
Driver: Denny Hamlin Born: Nov. 18, 1980 Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia Crew Chief: Chris Gabehart Noteworthy: Hamlin is missing a Cup title from his resume despite annual playoff and four trips to the championship round. Hamlin would have made it to the finale five times but was bumped out of the championship four by Ross Chastain’s lastlap wild video-game style heroics. Hamlin is in a contract year with Gibbs and wants his future plans locked down so he can focus on a title run.
No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Keselowki Racing
Driver: Chris Buescher Born: Oct. 29, 1992 Hometown: Prosper, Texas Crew Chief: Scott Grave Noteworthy: Buescher’ win in the regular-season finale at Daytona gave him three victories over the final five before the playoffs. He could be a playoff sleeper and last year won at Bristol, which is the elimination race of the first round.
No. 8 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
Driver: Kyle Busch Born: May 2, 1985 Hometown: Las Vegas Crew Chief: Randall Burnett Noteworthy: Busch has certainly lifted the RCR organization in his first season with the team, but it remains to be seen if he can lead RCR to its first title since 1994. Even so, Busch is a two-time Cup champion who has raced in the final four five times, so he’s got the experience his RCR team lacks.
No. 5 Chevrolet, HendrickMotorsports
Driver: Kyle Larson Born: July 31, 1992 Hometown: Elk Grove, California Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels Noteworthy: Larson wil need to flip a switch to outrun his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron if he’s going to win a second Cup title. He has two wins this season, but none since midApril and never ranked higher than fourth in the standings. But, his 10 top-five finishes are a series best.
No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
Driver: Christopher Bell Born: Dec. 16, 1994 Hometown: Norman, Oklahoma
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
Noteworthy: Bell twice last year won elimination races to earn a spot in the championship four. His run was proof that the playoff format can reward teams who get hot at the right time. But Bell has just one win this year – on the dirt at Bristol – and hasn’t scored a top-five finish on an oval since April.
No. 1 Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
Driver: Ross Chastain Born: Dec. 4, 1992 Hometown: Alva, Florid Crew Chief: Phil Surgen Noteworthy: Chastain showed last year that he can’t ever be counted out. He used a vid eo-game style move on the final lap at Martinsville to steal the fourth and final berth in the championship race. The move has since been banned by NASCAR. Chastain finished second in the championship finale.
No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing
Driver: Brad Keselowski Born: Feb. 12, 1984 Hometown: Rochester Hills, Michigan Crew Chief: Matt McCal Noteworthy: Keselowsk has yet to win a race since joining RFK last year as a part-owner. But he’s led a significant turnaround and joined Buescher to give RFK both of its Fords in the playoff field. If Keselowski can advance through the first round, the 2012 champion is a sixtime winner at Talladega.
No. 45 Toyota, 23XI Racing
Driver: Tyler Reddick Born: Jan. 11, 1996 Hometown: Corning, California Crew Chief: Billy Scott Noteworthy: This is Reddick s third appearance in the playoffs, first in his new 23XI Racing ride, and he’s yet to advance past the first round. Although 23XI has shown speed this year, the young team has made mistakes that could stop Reddick from advancing.
No. 22 Ford, Team Penske
Driver: Joey Logano Born: May 24, 1990 Hometown: Middletown, Connecticut Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe Noteworthy: Logano and Busch are both trying to become the only active threetime champions in the series, and Logano is trying to win back-to-back titles for the first time since Jimmie Johnson won five straight. But the Fords haven’t had the same pace this year and Logano didn’t string together more than two consecutive top-10 finishes during the regular season.
No. 12 Ford, Team Penske
Driver: Ryan Blaney Born: Dec. 31, 1993 Hometown: High Point, North Carolina Crew Chief: Johnathen Hassler Noteworthy: Blaney hasn’t run well enough during the regular season to be considered a true contender, and, the Fords and Penske in general have lagged behind their counterparts. It would take a real late-season spark for Blaney to make a run at his first title.
No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports
Driver: Michael McDow Born: Dec. 21, 1984 Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Crew Chief: Travis
Peterson
Noteworthy: McDowel is back in the playoffs for the second time in his career, this time behind a win on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His only other career victory was the Daytona 500. McDowell has helped Front Row Motorsports take huge strides, but the team is not a championship contender.
No. 47 Ford, JTG-Daughtery Racing
Driver: Ricky Stenhouse Jr Born: Oct. 02, 1987 Hometown: Olive Branch, Mississippi Crew Chief: Mike Kelley Noteworthy: This is only Stenhouse’s second time in the playoffs, and first s earned the berth for JTG-Daughtery Racing by winning the Daytona 500. And while there are tracks in the playoffs that are good for Stenhouse, advancing out of the first round would be a solid goal.
No. 4 Ford, Stewart-Haas Racing
Driver: Kevin Harvick Born: Dec. 8, 1975 Hometown: Bakersfield California Crew Chief: Rodney Childers Noteworthy: Harvick is retiring at the end of the season and starts the playoffs still seeking his first win of the year. But like all the Ford drivers, the speed hasn’t been there this year and Harvick is going to be hard-pressed to advance his way through the elimination rounds. Should he make it to the finale, Harvick is a nine-time winner at Phoenix.
No. 23 Toyota 23XI Racing
Driver: Bubba Wallace Born: Oct. 8, 1983 Hometown: Mobile, Ala Crew Chief: Bootie Barker Noteworthy:Wallace earned the first playoff appearance of his career in the 16th and final qualifying spot. He’s winless this season and carried no playoff points into the reset for the first round. Wallace has won before at Talladega and Kansas, and he’ll likely need to win some playoff races to have a shot at the title.