Outside of the three-race increments it operates in, the NASCAR playoffs don't care who a driver is or what he's done, which is what makes each year's playoffs so rife with drama and so volatile in who advances and who does not. A case study in that occurred one year ago -- one that Joey Logano is glad he does not have to repeat.
By winning at Atlanta one week ago, Logano assured himself that he would avoid the Round of 16 fate that befell him in 2023, when a mid-race crash at Bristol knocked him out of the playoffs and made him the first reigning Cup champion to ever be eliminated from playoff contention in the Round of 16. For 12 months -- and even with two Cup championships already on his mantle -- the bitterness of that memory was something that deeply stung for Logano and his race team.
Round of 16 redemption for @joeylogano. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/wbWXCWXUIh
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 9, 2024
"To be honest with you, when we got knocked out of the playoffs last year, it hurt a lot," Logano said in his post-race press conference at Atlanta. "It stings the rest of the playoffs every time you show up to the racetrack and you're not in it. It hurts. It's really frustrating. You just get mad. You just live mad for a little bit.
"That's just what's playoffs are, right? That's what drives you and motivates you to be better -- because you don't want the pain."
Compared to the 15 other playoff drivers, Logano can go to Bristol for this year's Night Race and Round of 16 elimination race stress-free knowing he is already in the Round of 12. And he is also now at the top of the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings, moving into the top spot after Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney's race at Watkins Glen came to an end after just one lap.
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Logano | Logano's secure spot in the Round of 12 frees him up to try and win the Bristol Night Race, something he's done twice having won back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015. Dating back to the days where this race was the Volunteer 500, past back-to-back winners of the Bristol Night Race include Fred Lorenzen, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. | ||
| 2 | Daniel Suarez | On a spectacular weekend for Trackhouse Racing drivers, someone had to have the least-good weekend. Daniel Suarez ended up stuck in the kitty litter mid-race, but he was able to at least leave Watkins Glen with a 13th-place finish. | ||
| 3 | Austin Cindric | They scoffed at me when I said that Austin Cindric was a sneaky candidate to make it out of the Round of 12. Now, Cindric is the only playoff driver to have top 10s in both playoff races and enjoys a 43-point advantage over the cut line. Take that, "they"! | ||
| 4 | Alex Bowman | Alex Bowman has become quite a road racer, as he followed up his Chicago win nicely by earning points in both stages at Watkins Glen. However, he didn't get the finish he was looking for after two quick cautions following his last pit stop spoiled any chances he had at picking off spots in the closing laps. | ||
| 5 | Christopher Bell | -- | Christopher Bell did a nice job rebounding from two different spins at Watkins Glen. Thanks to a 14th place finish, Bell's 46-point advantage over the cut line is the most of any driver not yet locked into the Round of 12. | |
| 6 | Ross Chastain | In a sort of cruel way, Ross Chastain's best overall race of the 2024 season also illustrated just what kept him from being in this year's playoffs: Chastain's fourth place finish was his best since he had the same result all the way back at Las Vegas in March. | ||
| 7 | Kyle Larson | Bristol week is one Kyle Larson should be looking forward to. He has four straight top-five finishes there, including a win in the 2021 Night Race, and he's finished no worse than sixth in each of his Bristol starts dating back to August 2019. | ||
| 8 | Ryan Blaney | NASCAR's Damaged Vehicle Policy works like it should most of the time, but there are certain scenarios where it's a little silly that a car without a lot of damage is considered done for the afternoon due to a procedural issue. Can't say I disagree with Ryan Blaney being upset after the DVP got him at Watkins Glen. | ||
| 9 | Tyler Reddick | Thanks to being the regular-season champion, Tyler Reddick could somewhat afford to have an off day like he had on his way to finishing 27th. What he can't have is another Bristol race like he had in March, where he crashed early and finished many laps down in 30th. | ||
| 10 | Chris Buescher | All the credit in the world to Chris Buescher for the way he drove the final lap at Watkins Glen. He more or less had a license to kill after Shane van Gisbergen moved him out of the way, but Buescher used just the right level of aggression in putting his bumper to SVG in the carousel without outright dumping him. That's how it's done. | ||
| 11 | Ty Gibbs | This weekend is going to be a big opportunity for Ty Gibbs, and more than just because he's above the cut line. Gibbs led 239 laps in his last two Bristol starts, and he had the car to beat there in the spring before running the tires off it in the final 100 laps. | ||
| 12 | Chase Briscoe | After a crash in Atlanta, Watkins Glen played out exactly the way Chase Briscoe needed it to for him to get back in the playoff picture. After being the highest-finishing playoff driver in sixth, Briscoe went from well below the cut line to six points above it entering Bristol. | ||
| 13 | Chase Elliott | This is a bad time in the season for Chase Elliott to be going through a lean stretch, but it's not like no one saw it coming. A 19th-place finish at Watkins Glen marked Elliott's fifth finish of 18th or worse since New Hampshire back in June. | ||
| 14 | Carson Hocevar | From the time the team entered the Cup Series in 2019 to 2023, Spire Motorsports' No. 77 team had only had five top-10 finishes in its existence. In 2024, Carson Hocevar has already matched that total with five top 10s this year. | ||
| 15 | Kyle Busch | That'll sap all the good feelings that Kyle Busch's post-break stretch had generated. The two-time Cup champ was pinballed from start to finish at Watkins Glen on his way to finishing 30th, his worst result since Pocono. | ||
| 16 | William Byron | As was mentioned on the USA broadcast, it's a good thing there was a third rail of Armco barrier there to catch William Byron's car when it launched off Brad Keselowski's. If it wasn't for that and a catchfence, Byron likely would've taken the Jimmy Horton line right out of the ballpark. | ||
| 17 | Brad Keselowski | Thankfully Brad Keselowski was uninjured in that late-race accident, because that could've been very ugly. From the initial angle it was difficult to see where William Byron's right front fender was and if it was perched at Keselowski's window net or not. | ||
| 18 | Michael McDowell | It didn't pay off, but Michael McDowell made a valiant effort to try and advance to the Round of 12 in last year's Bristol Night Race. McDowell was outstanding all weekend, starting fourth and finishing sixth. | ||
| 19 | Corey LaJoie | Two weeks ago, Corey LaJoie finally earned a top-10 finish at a track that isn't Daytona, Talladega or Atlanta. Now, he's got two of them and also has three top-15 finishes in his last three starts. That's considerable progress as LaJoie is trending toward perhaps ending his Spire Motorsports tenure on a high note. | ||
| 20 | Denny Hamlin | One year after declaring "I beat your favorite driver," Denny Hamlin enters the Bristol Night Race needing a big night to get back above the cut line and avoid elimination. Elimination which, by the way, the Bristol crowd would certainly let him know about. | ||
| 21 | Bubba Wallace | Something curious that happened at Watkins Glen was that Bubba Wallace gave up a ninth-place finish in Stage 2, coming to pit road before the end of the stage under caution and giving a point to car owner Denny Hamlin, who moved up to 10th. Makes you wonder. | ||
| 22 | Martin Truex Jr. | If Martin Truex Jr.'s playoffs come to an end in Bristol, it'll mark the second year in a row that a retiring Cup champion has failed to advance from the Round of 16. That's the fate that befell Kevin Harvick in his final playoff appearance a year ago. | ||
| 23 | Harrison Burton | The clock looks like it's about to strike midnight and Harrison Burton is about to turn back into a pumpkin. After a cut tire late in the going at The Glen, Burton is in a deep 20-point hole below the cut line and likely needs something massive to happen to avoid being one-and-done in this year's playoffs. | ||
| 24 | Todd Gilliland | Todd Gilliland doesn't get enough credit for being a good road racer, as he demonstrated by just missing out on a top 15 in 16th at Watkins Glen. I must say, though, that I'm floored he was sponsored by something called "Boozy Jerky," which I had to spend considerable time figuring out if it contained alcohol or not. | ||
| 25 | Justin Haley | It's going to be interesting to see how Justin Haley performs at Bristol after he ran so well there in the spring. Haley was running inside the top 10 midway through the race in March before fading to 17th at the finish. | ||
| 26 | Zane Smith | Zane Smith's second half turnaround continued at Watkins Glen, as he earned his second top five of the year with a fifth-place finish. Wherever he ends up, it's going to be very interesting to see if/how Smith carries over the growth he's shown at the Cup level into 2025. | ||
| 27 | Ryan Preece | Very nice job by Ryan Preece and his team overcoming significant nose damage to earn a top-10 finish. Preece now has three top-10 finishes on the year, more than he had in all of 2023. | ||
| 28 | Daniel Hemric | A top 10 at Daytona for Daniel Hemric was followed by a 29th-place finish the next week. Now, an 11th-place finish at Atlanta is followed by a 31st-place finish at Watkins Glen. The rollercoaster continues for Hemric and his team. | ||
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | After getting collected in the opening lap pileup, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was left with his seventh DNF of the 2024 season. For comparison, he had nine DNFs in 2022 and only three all of last season. | ||
| 30 | John Hunter Nemechek | John Hunter Nemechek just missed out on a top 20 at Watkins Glen, which will allow him to carry a touch of momentum into a much-awaited return trip to Bristol. Back in March, Nemechek left Bristol with a career-best sixth-place finish. |
