Hendrick stars face playoff elimination at Bristol

A surprisingly strong start to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for

Joe Gibbs Racing — two races, two wins and two drivers locked into the second round — has put Hendrick Motorsports in a precarious position headed into the first elimination race.

Alex Bowman and William Byron start Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway below the cutline, and reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott isn’t breathing any easier than his Hendrick teammates.

Elliott is only 19 points to the good, which means a poor finish could make for a fast ending to his attempt at repeating as Cup champion. Four drivers will be cut from the 16-driver field after the race, and only Hendrick driver and regular-season champion Kyle Larson, as well as Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. on consecutive playoff-opening JGR wins, have secured spots in the second round.

But the field is at least tight — only 30 points separate Kevin Harvick in sixth from Tyler Reddick in 14th — and Bristol is the kind of track that can flip the standings. The half-mile concrete bullring in northeast Tennessee can be a beast with progressive banking that goes from 24 to 28 degrees on a racing surface just 40 feet wide.

Byron called Bristol a playoff track with “the most opportunity for mistakes and the biggest opportunity for success.”

Bowman is 13th in the standings, the first driver below the cutline, but technically tied with Kurt Busch for 12th.

But he’s not been good enough through the first two playoff races.

Still, Bowman said he’s confident at Bristol and has faith in the No. 48 team.

“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency, (but) I don’t think we expected to be in this situation,” Bowman said. “We know we need to go execute and go have a good day. We know it’s not going to be easy by any means.

“But we also know that if something goes wrong and we don’t make it to the next round, there are still more opportunities for us to win races this year.”