Why This Year's NASCAR Playoffs Might Be Most Wide Open Ever

• The championship-deciding series opens this weekend with the Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
  

• Kyle Larson won last year’s title with five Playoff victories and three other top-10s.

• Chase Elliott won the 2020 Cup with three Playoff victories and four other top-10s.

This time, they may be wrong. After saying NASCAR’s annual Playoff Series has become fairly predictable in recent years, the “self-styled experts” may want to consider that this year’s 10-race series may be more wide-open than ever.

For example:

Kyle Larson won last year’s title with five Playoff victories and three other top-10s. Chase Elliott won the 2020 Cup with three Playoff victories and four other top-10s. Kyle Busch, the 2019 champion, won only one Playoff race, but had five other top-10s. During every recent Playoff one driver has been so dominant the outcome hasn’t been a great surprise.

Raise your hand if you see anyone capable of repeating what the last three champions have done. That’s why serious NASCAR-watchers think at least a half-dozen drivers are capable of taking the Cup rather than two or three.

Who's In?

A reminder: the 16-driver field includes rookie Austin Cindric; winless Ryan Blaney; former champions Larson, Elliott, Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Joey Logano; five first-time NASCAR winners: Cindric, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, and Daniel Suarez; and four in the Playoffs for the first time: Cindric, Chastain, Briscoe, and Suarez.

Half the drivers race Chevrolets, five others are in Fords, and only three are with Toyota.

Where Are the Playoffs?

The championship-deciding series opens this weekend with the Cookout Southern 500 at mean and treacherous ol’ Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

The tour then goes on consecutive weekends to Kansas City and Bristol to complete Round 1 of the four-round series. Round 2 includes Fort Worth, Talladega, and the Charlotte Roval, followed by Round 3 at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville.

The championship race among the Championship 4 finalists is scheduled for Nov. 6 at Phoenix Raceway.

Who Are the Big Winners This Season?

Elliott leads the field with four victories, but none in the past five races. Still, that’s twice as many as former champions Larson, Logano, and Kevin Harvick. Relative newcomers Chastain and Reddick also have two victories, plus veterans Denny Hamlin and William Byron. (Hamlin was disqualified after he “won” at Pocono in July; the unexpected victory went to Elliott).