Aric Almirola A Longshot Despite Best Qualifying In Years

Although Aric Almirola qualified 10th for tomorrow's Southern 500, expecting even a top five may be a tall task for the Ford driver. In the three Darlington races with the NextGen car, he has ranked 14th, 17th, and 17th in speed and he has never finished better than 7th at Darlington or even led a […]

Blaney An Unlikely Contender Despite Qualifying Speed

After barely qualifying for the NASCAR playoffs last year in a year he performed much better, Blaney easily qualified this year with a dominant win at Charlotte last spring. However, he is unlikely to contend for tomorrow's crown jewel event at Darlington despite qualifying 4th ahead of all the other Fords. Darlington is notoriously one […]

Joey Logano's History Bodes Well for Darlington and Playoffs

Although Joey Logano was mediocre over the summer, he still qualified for the 2023 NASCAR playoffs by virtue of his win at Talladega. Sunday's Southern 500 should be one of his best opportunities to end his winless drought. Logano has a history of performing better in the playoffs. He has a 6.5% winning percentage in […]

Daniel Suárez A Longshot For Playoffs Despite Being Eligible

Daniel Suárez is still mathematically eligible to make the NASCAR playoffs on points if he doesn't win since he trails Bubba Wallace by 43 points for the last playoff spot with a maximum of 55 points available to the second-place finisher. However, that is unlikely since Wallace is one of the best drivers on this […]

Ty Gibbs A Bigger Longshot To Make Playoffs Than He Seems

Although Ty Gibbs has had a consistent rookie season he's unlikely to make the playoffs. Gibbs trails Toyota stablemate Bubba Wallace by 32 points for the final playoff transfer spot. Furthermore, Wallace is unlikely to be overtaken on points as he is one of the best drivers on drafting tracks in the series. Gibbs would […]

Bubba Wallace's Playoff Bid Likely If No New Winner

Despite winning in each of the last two seasons, Bubba Wallace has not yet made the playoffs since both wins happened in playoff races after he was eliminated. This year he has been more consistent despite not winning. The 23XI Racing driver sits on the playoff bubble with a 32-point lead over Ty Gibbs. It's […]

Erik Jones One Of The Likeliest Longshots To Win At Daytona

After having his breakout season for Legacy Motor Club last year, Erik Jones has struggled to match those results this year, likely because Chevrolet has withdrawn funding from the team after it switched to Toyota. Although he can't point his way into the playoffs, Jones is still one of the likeliest drivers to win his […]

Brennan Poole One Of The Best Underdog Picks For Daytona

Brennan Poole is making his first NASCAR Cup Series start on a drafting track since 2020 at Daytona for Rick Ware Racing on Saturday. Although the team isn't fast enough to be competitive on most tracks, it has collected at least one top ten finish in the past four Daytona races. Last year, they placed […]