SPOILER ALERT!

Predicting the 2021 NASCAR season

The NFL’S Super Bowl is in the rearview, but NASCAR’S is right up the road.

The shortest offseason in sports comes to an end Tuesday, with the 43rd Busch Clash at Daytona set to rev up NASCAR’S 2021 season.

The 35-lap Clash on Daytona’s Road Course will kick off two weeks of racing at the Speedway, including the Daytona 500 on Sunday, and another raceon Daytona’s road circuit Feb. 21.

So, with the season set to come to life this week, let’s offer up some spoiler alerts.

It’s prediction time!

First gear

Let’s start off with the regular season. Last year, Kevin Harvick rolled to aregular season championship,winning seven races and clinching those 15 extra playoff points a week before the regular season even ended.

This year, don’t be surprised if Chase Elliott has that breakthrough regular season.

Thanks to NASCAR’S revamped schedule, six of the races during the regular season will be on a road course. Elliott has alreadyestablished himself as the best road racer in the series right now, so don’t be surprised if he wins at least three of those.

Add in a few other wins — Martinsville, Bristol and Talladega come to mind — and your 2020 defending champ could be your 2021 regular season champ.

Second gear

Now, to the playoffs.

Of the 16 drivers who qualify, let’s get the easy ones out of the way: Elliott, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano,

Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney will all make the playoffs. There, I said it!

Now, for the other eight. Let’sgo with... Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and William Byron from Hendrick. Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola from Stewart-haas. Matt Dibenedetto in that pretty No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. Austin Dillon represents Richard Childress Racing. And, for the one newcomer to the 2021 playoff field, let’s go with Bubba Wallace and the 23XI team— his new team’s co-owner knows a thing or two about playoffs.

Third gear

The playoffs begin in Darlington and end in Phoenix, just like last year.

Up until now, we’ve been pretty boring with these picks. So, let’s go nuts (kinda).

The drivers who advance to the third round include: Elliott, Larson, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Truex Jr., Blaney, Dibenedetto, and Bubba.

That’s right. No Logano or Keselowski, and no Hamlin. Something tells me Blaney is in for a big year, and don’t sleep on Dibenedetto. This is his final year in the No. 21 car, so he’ll be racing for his future.

Fourth gear

Time to bring this season home!

The Championship Four this season will include: Elliott, Harvick, Blaney and Busch. So you get the defending champion, twoprevious champions, and a championship rookie in Blaney. I’ll take those storylines for a final race.

In the end, though, it’s the old guy who prevails. Much like Tom Brady did on Sunday, Kevin Harvick proves he’s not done yet, and wins his second NASCAR Cup championship.

Alright, enough of the hypotheticals. Let’s drop that green flag for real. Welcome to the 2021 season!

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO It’s time to start engines on the NASCAR season. Ready or not, here they come!