With just four races left in the regular Cup Series season, getting into the postseason Playoffs for a shot at the overall championship is at the forefront of every driver’s mind. While several NASCAR Ford drivers have secured their slots on the Playoff grid by winning a regular season race, there are still a couple that aren’t out of the woods yet, and they don’t have much time to sort things out if they want a chance to take the title.
As per a report from NASCAR.com, a series of simulations show how the NASCAR Ford drivers “on the bubble” can race their way into the 16-car Playoffs field over the next four races. As a reminder, the field of 16 championship drivers will be set after the next events at Richmond, Michigan, Daytona, and Darlington.
Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, is in a precarious situation if he wants to make the Playoffs. While he’s currently 15th, he’s far from safe, just 17 points ahead of the 16th-place cutline. What he needs is a strong run at Richmond and to avoid catastrophe at Daytona. Even better, if he wins, he gets an automatic pass into the Playoffs, and Richmond has been a good track for him. In simulations where Buescher pulls off a top 10 at Richmond, he makes the playoffs 88 percent of the time.
Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mustang, is also in danger of being left out of the Playoffs. He’s 18th, 83 points below the cutoff, and quite simply, he needs to win to get in and “hope for chaos.” In the simulations where Briscoe doesn’t win a race, he only has a 0.7 percent chance of making the Playoffs, meaning the pressure is on for his NASCAR Ford team to perform over the next few races… or hope that the rest of the field does not.
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