NASCAR playoff bubble shrinks
Jimmie Johnson knows the type of season he has endured, along with the other three drivers on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series bubble.
It appears four drivers – Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez and Johnson – will battle for the final two berths in the playoffs, and they all have had one thing in common.
“The guys around the cutoff point all seem to be having bad luck,” Johnson said after a 34th-place finish Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. “If one of us could string together some good races, you’d be clear and get away.”
That is a big “if ” for these four drivers attempting to qualify for the 16-driver playoff field.
Newman, at 15th in the standings, is 16 points up on 17th-place Suarez and 22 points ahead of 18th-place Johnson, while 16th-place Bowyer is six points up on Suarez and 12 on Johnson.
NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for its annual short-track under-the-lights fight Saturday night (Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, 7:30 ET), then takes a weekend off before the traditional Labor Day weekend race at Darlington Raceway followed by the regular-season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“You can talk about the bubble and worrying about points, but I am way more worried about getting established and running up front at these types of racetracks,” Bowyer said. “If you make the playoffs and can’t compete in it, then what is the use?”
Thanks to having won a race this year, nine drivers (Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman) have locked themselves into the playoffs. Another five drivers – Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Erik Jones – have at least a 70point edge on Suarez, the 17th-place driver, and appear safe unless there are upset winners who earn automatic berths to the playoffs.
The chances of the bubble drivers stringing together three good races?
Steady: Ryan Newman
Newman’s fate most likely rests with whether his competition can have great days. Newman most likely will put together three respectable finishes.
He has not had a three-race stretch where he has earned fewer than 50
Weekend races
points (the other three have at least one), but he has not had a three-race stretch where he has earned at least 100 points – the other three have done it at least twice.
“I don’t think we’ve done our best,” said Newman.
His to lose: Clint Bowyer
Of the four bubble drivers, Bowyer has shown the most consistent speed but has had a feast-or-famine year.
Bowyer has failed to finish six races and has finished on the lead lap in just 14 of the 23 races. Compare that to Newman, who has finished on the lead lap in 18 and doesn’t have a DNF.
Mystery men: Suarez and Johnson
Good luck trying to predict what these drivers will do. Hendrick Motorsports’ Johnson knew what he was talking about when saying these guys just need to string together good runs.
Suarez and Johnson both have had 11 three-race stretches where they scored fewer than 70 points (two more than Newman, four more than Bowyer).