BRISTOL, Tenn. — The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the iconic Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday night, with four drivers being eliminated from the playoffs. Here’s what to watch for.
A Non-Playoff Winner
While many championship contenders had issues last week at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l, non-playoff driver Chris Buescher capitalized.
Restarting with the lead in NASCAR Overtime, Buescher surrendered the top spot to Shane van Gisbergen entering turn one as he nudged his way inside from the second row. Pressuring him down the backstretch on the final lap, van Gisbergen made a mistake entering the Bus Stop, nearly losing his car and allowing Buescher to catch him.
Using his car’s bumper, Buescher made quick work of the Kiwi in turn five and held on for the win as van Gisbergen made a valiant effort entering the final corner.
The win was bittersweet. Had Buescher made the playoffs, the victory would have propelled him into the second round. He had opportunities to win races in the regular season, such as Kansas Speedway in May — where he lost to Kyle Larson by .001 seconds in the closest finish in NASCAR history.
But at the same time, it was gratifying. The victory marked the sixth of his career and his fifth in the last three years, dating back to Bristol in 2022.
“For me, I have spent a lot of time in situations that would be underdog situations or just in an era where our team was not in its best place either, but none of that time was wasted,” Buescher said after the win. “It was a learning experience. It’s focusing on how ‘do you get better?’ It’s breaking the mindset of having an 18th-place day and saying, Man, that was great progress. It was not. You know what, that was 18th place. That was a terrible day.
“But it got to the point where it had been there for so long that you almost tried to find tiny victories in it. You look back at it now and say that was a lot of learning experiences through the years, a lot of realizing that complacency may have struck you at different times, but you’re not happy with that. We’ve turned a massive corner at RFK.
“To have both our cars in the playoffs last season, we’ve found a massive increase in speed, and that’s helped me as a driver really enjoy coming to the racetrack a lot more. It brings me back to the good old days of short-track racing where you love to be that hauler that rolled into a speedway and the rest of the teams or drivers looked up and said, ‘Crap, we have to race them today.’
“We’re in that spot now to where we are a factor at a lot of these different styles of race tracks. It’s more fun for me. It makes it more enjoyable. It makes me think back on the harder days and what was good about them and certainly what was bad about them and how do you fix some of that and get your mindset right to make sure we’re battling to be happy with wins and disappointed with second.”
Hamlin Sinks Below The Cutline
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs haven’t gotten off to a strong start for Denny Hamlin.
In the opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart elected to ride in the back with an ill-handling race car, shooting to record 20 points. The team fell short of that, scoring only 13 markers as he got caught in a wreck on the final lap. He finished 24th.
At Watkins Glen last week, Hamlin didn’t even make it a lap. After qualifying in the 20s, Hamlin got caught up in a mess the first time through the Bus Stop, slamming the Armco barrier. His car was repaired and he returned to the lead lap, but crashed again during the final stage. Hamlin ultimately finished 23rd, somewhat salvaging the day.
Heading into the round of 16 finale, Hamlin is six points below the cutline. Bristol has treated him kindly as of late. He’s won the last two races at the .533-mile concrete track and four in 34 career starts.
Playoff Surprises
Including Hamlin, there has been no shortage of surprises to start the playoffs.
Three drivers who may have flown under the radar — Austin Cindric (+43), Alex Bowman (+41) and Daniel Suárez (36+) — occupy spots three through five on the playoff grid. Cindric dominated much of the race at Atlanta, scoring 10th-place finishes there and at Watkins Glen. Bowman finished fifth at Atlanta, anchoring his playoff effort to this point, while Suárez finished second there and 13th at Watkins Glen.
On the other side of the coin, Chase Briscoe, who won his way into the playoffs at Darlington (S.C) Raceway, is six markers above the cutline after scoring the most points of all playoff drivers at The Glen. Former champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. are 12 and 14 points below the cutline, respectively. Retiring at the end of the season, Truex’s hopes for a second title lie in the hands of a dominant performance and victory on Saturday night.
What Will The Tire Do?
One of the biggest unknowns going into Saturday’s race is how the tire will react.
In the spring, Goodyear brought back the same tire as last fall but the tire responded much differently. It fell off significantly, leading to many tire failures and increased emphasis on tire management. It was a surprise to all as the tire didn’t wear nearly as much last fall.
However, the difference seemed to be how the track was prepared. Last fall, the surface was sprayed with PJ1 while it was sprayed with resin in the spring. Saturday’s race will also have resin.
After a six-car tire test in July, teams had an extended 45-minute practice session Friday to experiment. Overall, the tire didn’t seem to wear as much, but the spring practice played out eerily similarly.
Race Information
Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. Stage breaks are after laps 125 and 250. The purse is $9,222,417.