This Driver Thinks Mistakes Will Determine NASCAR Playoff Field

Four and four.

The number of races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season and the number of available playoff positions.

Chris Buescher doesn’t believe those numbers translate into an increase in aggressive driving. Instead, he thinks it’s mistakes that will be a key factor in determining the playoff field due to the two weeks off for the Olympics.

“I think it’ll take a little bit to get everybody’s mind back right, whether that’s gonna be hitting pit road in a clean way, restarts,” says Buescher, who’s winless and 10 points above the cutline.

“I don’t know if that’s just a mental thing that everybody’s got to get back in a rhythm of some sort …but I think you will see mistakes made that wouldn’t be very typical of our field.”

Buescher won three of the upcoming four races last year—Richmond, Michigan, and Daytona. However, this year Daytona doesn’t end the regular season. That distinction belongs to Darlington, and that could be a game changer in the playoff field.

Currently, the four drivers in the playoffs via points are Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Buescher, and Ross Chastain. If any driver wins that’s currently below the cutline, that moves the cutline and adversely affects someone who’s in on points.

“Realistically, Darlington has a lot lower chance of producing a new winner,” Buescher said.

That’s not the case with Daytona.

“When you get to that race it typically can become just a very crazy event just for the simple fact that there are a lot of people looking for that last chance,” Buescher said. “I think they are gonna approach it the same way.

“I think there are gonna be a vast majority of winless teams that are gonna see Daytona as their only chance—or by far their best chance—and are not going to feel like they can rely on Darlington for that moment.”