Few spots remain for drivers to reach playoffs

For those drivers who haven’t yet qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, time is growing short.

There are four races left in the regular season, and 14 different drivers presumably are going to race in the postseason on the basis of victories in the first 22 events.

Realistically, that leaves two playoff berths still available, and those spots currently are held by Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. on points, as the series heads to Michigan International Speedway for Sunday’s Cup race.

But that could change if the next four events produce one, two or even three unique winners. Blaney and Truex are two of the marquee drivers who haven’t been to Victory Lane this year.

That group also includes Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Aric Almirola and Bubba Wallace, all of whom are below the playoff cut line. With the lone exception of Harvick, all drivers in that group won races last year but have failed to scratch in 2022.

Harvick currently is 96 points behind Truex in the race for the final playoff spot, but the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford has an excellent record at Michigan.

Harvick is a five-time winner at the track, and four of those victories have come after a repaving in 2012. Before last year’s race, when he finished 14th, Harvick had won three straight races (and four of five) at the 2-mile speedway.

The “X” factor, however, is NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which will race at Michigan for the first time. Harvick doesn’t know whether the notes he and crew chief Rodney Childers have accumulated over the last few years will maintain significant relevance.

“You can have a baseline interpretation,” Harvick said, “but it seems to have migrated in a number of different directions at different race tracks and different scenarios this year, just because of the different characteristics that come with the car.

“Places that we haven’t been, you just don’t really know where it’s going to go. You go to some of these places, I think Darlington is a good example, where California, Darlington — places that have been super rough — have been really difficult to navigate in traffic, and even by yourself sometimes, because of the way that the cars bounce around.”

Austin Hill, a two-time winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year, will make his Cup Series debut at Michigan in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.