For the primary time ever, Round 16 will feature a draft track and street race, just like Round 12. This will likely be a consider what will probably be probably the most unpredictable playoffs yet, and drivers are fearful of what lies ahead.
In the spring, as many as 16 cars were involved in a crash late in the primary lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which opens the 2024 playoffs. By the top of the race, 75% of the sector was within the wreck. This weekend’s race will probably be held in the warmth of the day, which increases the issue because your entire field is racing close together.
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, MoneyLion Toyota Camry, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, BREZTRI Chevrolet Camaro and Noah Gragson, Stewart-Haas Racing, Black Rifle Coffee / Ranger Boats Ford Mustang and Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Accident Ford Mustang on turn 1
Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
“The first round definitely has to be respected because it’s not a piece of cake by any means,” said Chase Elliott, who won the title in 2020. “That’s what you get when you have these short rounds and every year we add another track there and it’s crazy. You keep reinventing it and that’s what you’re going to get.”
His Hendrick Motorsports teammate and Cup champion Kyle Larson wasn’t thrilled to see Atlanta as the primary race of the primary round. In addition to the chaotic nature of the race, Larson is a driver with a poor track record. He’s been out of the race in 4 of the last five Atlanta races, but after the restart he’s atop the points list, so he has the advantage.
“Yeah, I don’t like watching Atlanta in the playoffs at all,” Larson admitted, but “I’d rather they were in the first round than the second or third round. So yeah, I think the bonus points and the playoff points that we got during the regular season are nice. But that’s not a guarantee. You still can’t have any problems, especially in the coming weeks, and hopefully you can just get through.”
Atlanta isn't the one wild card
Larson can be uninterested in the track that follows Atlanta — Watkins Glen International. Suppressed by the Olympic break, it’s now also a part of the playoffs. “They’re just questionable places,” Larson said.
“You can completely go off the corner and drop to 20 or worse and never recover. But yeah, we were good there. From what I've heard coming back, I think our tires will be a lot softer, so the drop should be a lot bigger. So I don't think you can rely on past results completely. I don't know… we might not be as dominant as we were there. Yeah, it's just a bit of an unknown going into Watkins Glen.”
The unknown appears to be the theme of the opening round. Bristol Motor Speedway is the elimination race for the Round of 16. While that track is all the time an unknown, it’s going to be made worse by the tire that caused a commotion within the spring race — one which NASCAR officials celebrated. The tire wear caused a record variety of lead changes on the short track, 54 in total.
Watch: Race Replay: The Cup Series returns to concrete racing at Bristol
“The Bristol thing in the spring was just a weird thing and it sounds like they really wanted to recreate it, from what I’ve heard,” Elliott explained. “And I don’t know if we knew why it happened in the spring, but if they can create some kind of craziness in the spring, then yeah, it’s going to be wild. But I don’t know if you’ll really know until you get there and you’re kind of in the moment. So I think in the scenarios that you’re asking about, you just have to be there and get in there and try to figure it out. Because some of these things are going to be hard to plan for.”
Another Hendrick driver who isn’t sure what to anticipate at Bristol is William Byron. He damaged his automobile just 20 laps into the 500-lap race earlier this 12 months. “I don’t know what to expect yet. I think we’ve got a few things to figure out and learn, but we haven’t really thought about it too much. It all depends on how the resin reacts to the track and how the tires wear, or whether the rubber on the track is the same as it’s been in the past. I’m not really sure. We’ll see.”
One driver who might be really enthusiastic about this round is Daniel Suarez. Trackhouse Racing’s only playoff berth secured his spot in a dramatic three-wide victory at Atlanta earlier this 12 months. He was even involved in a crash early within the race, but bounced back to win by just 0.003 seconds.
Race winner Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Photo: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images
“You never know,” Suarez said when asked what to anticipate. “It’s going to be about 20 degrees warmer than last time, so we’ll have less grip. So if you’ve seen the cars moving around, you’ll see it even more. I think we had a great car last time and hopefully we’ll have an even better one this time. We just have to keep pushing, keep working hard and focus on one race at a time.”
Martin Truex Jr. is dead last within the playoff standings after the reset and believes Atlanta “will be tough” for all drivers.
“Racing during the day, the track is getting older, the cars won’t handle as well,” he explained. “It’s going to be a lot harder than in the spring. And the risk of chaos is greater.”
He later added: “I mean, as crazy as it might be in some places and has been in the past, whatever you do, just race one at a time. Take it one at a time and hopefully have a good race, go home and say you nailed it in one and we'll focus on the next one. That's all you can really do.”
Round 16 “the hardest round”
It feels like much of what happens over the subsequent three weeks is out of the driving force's control. Ty Gibbs, who’s making his first playoff appearance, believes this will probably be the hardest round of all of them.
“Atlanta is certainly not in our control. There's a whole lot of avoiding disasters and getting there and ending the race, but Watkins Glen and Bristol – I don't know much concerning the tires. Bristol was pretty tricky. I feel it's going to be an interesting round. I feel it's probably the toughest round, to be honest. I mean – I'm last within the playoffs – so me ending eighth is about 4 points. If you win each stages and don't finish, you're still a loser at the top of the race. You should finish the race. I might be unsuitable, but I'm pretty sure should you don't finish the race you're in trouble.
“A lot depends on consistency and avoiding disaster.”
