Thursday March 28th, 2024 4:06PM

NASCAR quartet of first-timers eager for playoff experience

By Pete Iacobelli - AP Sports Writer

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Austin Cindric has had more than six months to think about NASCAR's playoffs. The rookie racer thinks he's got a winning plan: maintain his steady, head-down approach when the 10-race postseason begins Sunday at Darlington Raceway.

Cindric is among a group of four first-timers in the field of 16, along with Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez. All are excited — and filled with questions about how things will unfold when the green flag waves for the Southern 500.

“I want to do my job. The only expectation I have is to have a team that all the resources and capability to do that,” said Cindric, who won the season-opening Daytona 500. “We've certainly delivered on a lot of occasions.”

Cindric will start 14th on the playoff grid. Chastain, with two wins and eight other top-five finishes, starts the playoffs in third behind regular-season champion Chase Elliott and No. 2 seed Joey Logano.

Defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is the fourth seed. Briscoe is seeded 12th and Suarez right behind in 13th.

Logano, who won the May race at Darlington, took the pole Saturday and will lead seven playoff racers on the grid. Christopher Bell was second, followed by William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Larson.

Elliott will be the playoff racer furthest back in the field, starting 23rd.

Darlington starts the three-race opening round. Chastain said his week has been “surprisingly normal” after all he'd heard about playoff anxiety.

“It's wild. I thought there would be differences, I thought I would feel different or wake up and not be able to sleep,” Chastain said. “I'm really happy that it's been a normal week.”

Suarez, of Trackhouse Racing, also has felt this was a regular week, no matter that a Cup Series trophy awaits at the end of the next 10 weeks.

“I think if we can stay calm, relax and continue to do exactly the same thing we've been doing the last few months, we're going to be in good shape,” said Suarez, NASCAR's first Mexican-born race winner.

PLAYOFF PRIMER

The Southern 500 kicks off the three-race first round, which continues at Kansas and Bristol. The Darlington winner, as long as he's in the playoffs, advances to round two among the final 12 competitors.

The second round consists of Texas, Talladega and the Charlotte infield road course, after which the playoff field is cut to eight.

The top four after the third round of Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami and Martinsville advance to the playoff finale on Nov. 6 at Phoenix, where the title will be awarded.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR KYLE BUSCH?

Kyle Busch, the NASCAR series champ in 2015 and 2019, said he sees an end in sight to discussions about his future in racing.

Busch's longtime sponsor, Mars, Inc., is pulling out of NASCAR after this season. Busch said this week that he's got multiple paths in front of him, including a return to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Still, “time is a ticking,” he said. "There’s a lot of other options and a lot of other dominoes that need to fall. Talking amongst others, I’m the first one that needs to go.”

Busch said Thursday he expected to have decision about next year in seven to 10 days.

WHEN WILL KURT BUSCH RETURN?

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, said Kurt Busch is still recovering from a concussion and doesn't know when Busch might come back to the car.

Hamlin said the recovery had “plateaued” at about 80% and Busch needed more time before returning to the track.

Busch was hurt during a qualifying crash at Pocono in late July. He missed the final six races of the regular season and gave up his playoff spot when he was not cleared to return for the Southern 500.

Bubba Wallace was switched to Busch's No. 45, which is in contention for the owner's title. Wallace will run that machine the rest of the season.

ODDS AND ENDS

Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are the oddsmakers' picks to win the Southern 500 at 6-1, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were next at 7-1 with Ross Chastain at 7.5-1. ... There are several playoff regulars not in the field of 16 who've had success at Darlington and could throw a wrench into the plans of those contending for a title. Martin Truex, Jr. and Brad Keselowski, both past NASCAR series champions, have a combined three Darlington wins over the past six years. ... Kyle Larson, who won the series title in 2021, thinks the chase this year is wide open as the Next Gen car has evened expectations of all playoff hopefuls. ... The winner of the opening playoff race has gone on to win that season's title four times, Kurt Busch in 2004, Tony Stewart in 2011, Brad Keselowski in 2012 and Martin Truex Jr. in 2017. ... Darlington announced its first Southern 500 sellout since 2019. The listed capacity of the facility is about 47,000. Officials said all infield spots and suite space are full.

WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway beginning at 5 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.

NASCAR Cup Series
Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC
Cook Out Southern 500 – September 4, 2022

Sunday's Starting Line Up

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 29.181 168.521
2. 20 Christopher Bell (P) Yahoo! Toyota 29.190 168.469
3. 24 William Byron (P) Valvoline Chevrolet 29.239 168.186
4. 8 Tyler Reddick (P) Lenovo Chevrolet 29.297 167.853
5. 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M’s Toyota 29.323 167.705
6. 2 Austin Cindric # (P) Discount Tire Ford 29.336 167.630
7. 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 29.350 167.550
8. 45 Bubba Wallace (P) ROOT Insurance Toyota 29.435 167.066
9. 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Moen Ford 29.447 166.998
10. 34 Michael McDowell Fr8Auctions.com Ford 29.467 166.885
11. 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 29.189 168.474
12. 1 Ross Chastain (P) Worldwide Express Chevrolet 29.227 168.255
13. 3 Austin Dillon (P) BetMGM Chevrolet 29.371 167.430
14. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 29.391 167.317
15. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 29.412 167.197
16. 48 Alex Bowman (P) Ally Chevrolet 29.452 166.970
17. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 29.457 166.942
18. 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Busch Light Retro Ford 29.476 166.834
19. 14 Chase Briscoe (P) HighPoint.com Lady in Black Ford 29.511 166.636
20. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet 29.522 166.574
21. 23 Ty Gibbs(i) Monster Energy Toyota 29.582 166.236
22. 10 Aric Almirola Renegade Insurance Ford 29.603 166.118
23. 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet 29.646 165.877
24. 16 Daniel Hemric(i) AG1 by Athletic Greens Chevrolet 29.647 165.872
25. 6 Brad Keselowski Kohler Generators Ford 29.660 165.799
26. 77 Landon Cassill(i) Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet 29.676 165.710
27. 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 29.686 165.654
28. 21 Harrison Burton # Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 29.686 165.654
29. 42 Ty Dillon EG3 Technologies Chevrolet 29.753 165.281
30. 41 Cole Custer Feeding America/Wow Wow Ford 29.801 165.015
31. 38 Todd Gilliland # Southeastern Equipment Ford 29.834 164.832
32. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 29.859 164.694
33. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Jacob Companies/Parts Plus Ford 29.863 164.672
34. 7 Corey LaJoie Built.com Chevrolet 29.893 164.507
35. 78 B.J. McLeod(i) Blaster Ford 30.104 163.354
36. 99 Daniel Suarez (P) Jockey Chevrolet 0.000 0.000

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

  • Associated Categories: Sports, NASCAR News, NASCAR Cup
  • Associated Tags: nascar, motorsports, Auto Racing, Stock Car, Asphalt, Motorsports Live On WDUN, Southern 500, Darlington, NASCAR Cup Series
© Copyright 2024 AccessWDUN.com
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.