BREAKING NEWS: NASCAR driver Kyle Larson has reached a significant agreement with the owner of Hendrick Motorsports regarding the Indianapolis 500 event.
There are 15 drivers set to battle for the remaining 11 spots in the round of 12 of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs during Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
With non-playoff driver Chris Buescher of RFK Racing having won at Watkins Glen International this past Sunday afternoon, only Team Penske’s Joey Logano is locked into the quarterfinal round of the four-round, 10-race postseason.
The two-time series champion, who has never failed to qualify for the Championship 4 in an even-numbered season, clinched his round of 12 spot by winning the round of 16 opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
With the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval, also known as the “Last Great Colosseum”, being a short track, the single-car qualifying session is set to feature two-lap runs for each driver instead of one-lap runs.
The drivers are split up into two groups, with the qualifying order determined by a four-variable metric that NASCAR has used since 2020. A full breakdown of that formula can be found here.
Non-playoff drivers slot in before the playoff drivers in each group, ensuring that there are eight playoff drivers in each group. The fastest five drivers in each group advance to the second round to battle for the pole position.
Unlike when Bristol hosted the Cup Series back in March, the second round is also group-based.
