There’s just one race left in the NASCAR regular season, with the final spots in the Chase on the line as the Cup Series heads back to Daytona this weekend.
Once the checkered flag is taken in Daytona, the race for the title will be down to just 16 drivers, all of whom will have 10 races to score as many points as they can in an effort to be crowned champion.
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So far this season, it has been a year of runs in the Cup Series, with different drivers dominating different stretches of the season. As Kyle Petty noted on a recent episode of Inside the Race, it feels like the Chase has timed up perfectly to allow for one more hot streak to define the season.
“What I find interesting about the whole year, as I look at the year in its totality, is how hot Tyler Reddick was when the year started, the run in points that Denny Hamlin made to get to where he’s at. Now the run from Joey Logano,” Petty said. “Who in the fourth quarter is going to make that run for the championship? It is a year of streaks. To me, that is what this year has played out as.”
Petty noted that Logano’s latest hot streak allowed him to jump from outside the postseason picture to true contender status, but that the final 10 races of the year offer the chance to take the gauntlet to any driver in the field.
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“Who’s going to get hot right here?” Petty asked. “Is it going to be a Ryan Blaney? Is it going to be a Ty Gibbs? Is it going to be someone like that, who gets hot, who is really pretty good at all of these race tracks, and pretty consistent? Is it going to be Denny Hamlin who makes his second streak?”
Given its NASCAR’s first year back using the Chase as the postseason, the race for the title does carry an extra bit of intrigue.
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Past wisdom suggests that drivers need to be in the top six or top seven heading into the Chase to contend for a title, but after all of the hot streaks we’ve seen already this year, it really does feel like any one of the 16 drivers who qualify could lift the trophy if everything breaks their way.
The first race of the Chase is set for Sunday, September 6 at Darlington Raceway.
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