Four NASCAR insiders have made their predictions on which four drivers will be competing in the NASCAR playoffs final four in November. On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Tommy Baldwin, Freddie Kraft, Karsyn Elledge and Jeff Gluck predicted the final four drivers for Cup Series Championship race a Phoenix.
Baldwin picked Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and a “toss-up” between Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell. Kraft went with Hamlin, Blaney, Byron and Bubba Wallace since he’s the spotter for the No. 23 car.
Elledge picked Byron, Kyle Larson, Hamlin and Blaney. She then made a switch and put in Briscoe instead of Larson. Gluck went with defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano, Blaney, Hamlin and Briscoe. He then talked about how they all shut out Larson and explained why he doesn’t have any Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the final four.
Can Team Penske make another run in the NASCAR playoffs?
“I think I finally learned it’s about the tracks,” Gluck, who writes for The Athletic, said. “It’s not ever about season performance, and the tracks line up so, so well for Penske. I could even see [Austin] Cindric making it to the final four. …How can you not think they’re going to be a force at Gateway, at New Hampshire? They’re going to be formidable.”
The interesting thing about Penske is that the team has won the last three Cup Series championships. Logano won it in 2022 and last year, while Blaney won it in 2023. All four insiders picked Blaney to be in the final four because he’s arguably the hottest driver in NASCAR. Blaney has recorded top-10 finishes in the last six races, including a win at Daytona last weekend.
Hendrick Motorsports has four full-time Cup Series drivers (Larson, Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman), and all four are in the playoffs. Larson and Elliott have won the Cup Series title before (Larson in 2021 and Elliott in 2020), while Byron won the regular-season title this year. Bowman clinched the final playoff spot after Blaney won the Daytona race. We’ll find out if these drivers can survive the playoffs, which begin at Darlington on Sunday.
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