Welcome to the Round of 16 elimination race: The NASCAR playoff field will shrink to 12 following the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday in Bristol, Tenn.
What better place to knock out four drivers than Bristol? The short track has a long history of putting racers out of contention and ending their visits with battered cars skidding down the concrete, half-mile bullring.
Austin Dillon (-11 points), Shane van Gisbergen (-15), Alex Bowman (-35) and Josh Berry (-45) lurk below the cut line and need a big Saturday night in the Blue Ridge Mountains in order to advance to the Round of 12 and keep title hopes alive.
It’s a terribly tall task for all four.
Of the quartet, Dillon, Bowman and Berry have the short-track background to perhaps work their way to a clutch victory that would propel them to the next round, whereas SVG’s problems have occurred on ovals, superspeedways and anything other than road-course layouts.
Dillon has a pair of victories at Richmond in his No. 3 Chevrolet, while Bowman has also won at Richmond and Martinsville, so the possibility exists for more short-track checkers if one hits on the right setup.
Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon hasn’t written off his driver Bowman and the No. 48 team, saying, “They’re going to have to get a gift at Bristol. I’m not counting them out yet.”
After notching career win No. 59 outside St. Louis on Sunday, 44-year-old Denny Hamlin said on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast that he doesn’t need to reach the 60-win mark this season because he has 80 races left to drive the No. 11 on his contract that runs through 2027.
But the Joe Gibbs Racing star, a four-time victor at Bristol, may be better off winning that 60th race and not having it hang over his head — especially as it can help him score that elusive first Cup title.
Taking the checkers first in two of the past four Bristol races, including the lone event in 2023 and the first of two last season, Hamlin cruises 11th in modern-era Cup wins, one behind Kevin Harvick and four behind Kyle Busch. After that, it’s a baker’s dozen to catch Dale Earnhardt.
In last summer’s Bristol 500-lapper under the lights, Bowman topped 34 circuits, but Kyle Larson completely dominated by pacing the way for 462 laps to beat teammate Chase Elliott by over seven seconds.
However, the 2021 Cup champ might be looking over his shoulder at times Saturday night.
In Illinois last weekend, Larson clearly spun out Ryan Blaney as the pair of former title-winners were racing together off Turn 4 with nearly 100 laps to go, though Blaney’s No. 12 Ford rallied to finish fourth.
The top-five showing didn’t soothe the Team Penske racer.
“I just wanted to know what I did to deserve it,” Blaney said after speaking with Larson. “He just said he made a mistake. That’s fine, make mistakes, but at the end of the day I still got turned. … That’s just one I gotta remember.”
And Bristol surely ranks first in the standings of speedways that are a place of remembrance for past grievances.
