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As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels to the Dover International Speedway for Sunday’s running of the Apache Warrior 400, several teams are feeling intense pressure to advance into the next round of the playoffs. Following the first two playoff races at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, only 12 drivers will advance to the next round following playoff race number three at Dover this Sunday, meaning four teams are in jeopardy of elimination from playoff contention.
Cup veteran and 2014 Champion Kevin Harvick sits in the tenth position in the playoff standings heading to Dover, 25 points above the cutoff line. He would likely not even have to worry about advancing to the next round if it were not for a mid-race accident at New Hampshire last weekend which left him with a dismal 36th place finish. Harvick’s team, Stewart-Haas Racing, has struggled slightly in 2017 after a switch to Ford and a new in-house chassis program, both new for this season. That hasn’t stopped the Rodney Childers-led team from making the playoffs, thanks to a solid win at Sonoma in June. As they continue to improve and try to find speed in their race cars, all they need is to put together a solid, clean race this weekend and they will advance to the Round of 12.
Jamie McMurray resides 11th in the playoff standings, just 11 points ahead of the cutoff line. The Matt McCall-led team for Chip Ganassi Racing has been consistent this entire season and scored enough points through strong finishes to earn a playoff berth. This is a team, that needs to put together a strong run this weekend at Dover. In the first two playoff races, McMurray has finishes of tenth at Chicagoland and 16th at New Hampshire. If they are to advance to the next round of the playoffs, they will need to duplicate the seventh-place finish they earned at Dover in June.
Roush-Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr now sits as the last driver eligible to advance to the next round of the playoffs. This is a team that desperately needs a strong performance this weekend, following finishes of 25th at Chicagoland and 15th at New Hampshire. The Brian Pattie-led team has had a good season following two wins at Talladega in the spring and at Daytona in July as well as strong performances on the short tracks. Dover, however, is a downforce intermediate-type track and that’s where this team has struggled this season. The team finished 39th following an accident in the June race at Dover, so they will need a complete turnaround if they expect to advance to the Round of 12.
Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon is tied with Stenhouse at the cutoff line in 13th. Dillon earned a playoff berth by virtue of his win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May. Despite the win, this is a team that has struggled throughout the season, despite an early crew chief change from Slugger Labbe to Justin Alexander. Dillon’s first two playoff races have yielded results of 16th at Chicagoland and 19th at New Hampshire. The team is looking to turn things around with a strong performance at Dover or they may otherwise be on the outside of the playoffs looking in.
Another Richard Childress Racing driver, Ryan Newman, sits 14th in the playoff standings, but only one point back from Stenhouse and Dillon. Newman earned his playoff berth through a win at Phoenix early in the season and has shown consistency throughout the year. The playoffs have been a struggle so far though, with finishes of 23rd at Chicagoland and 13th at New Hampshire. In order to advance, they will have to show improvement similar to their fourth-place finish, earned at Dover in June. Ryan Newman is a veteran driver with the experience necessary to make it to the next round of the playoffs, as he did in 2014 when he made it to the Round of Four. In order to do that this year, his team by the Luke Lambert-led simply must yield a strong result at Dover.
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kurt Busch is now 15th in the playoff standings, 17 points back of the cutoff line. Busch finds himself in this precarious position as a result of a 19th place finish at Chicagoland in playoff race number one and a 37th place finish at New Hampshire in playoff race number two. A speeding penalty at Chicagoland and a vibration led to the disappointing finish there and an accident at New Hampshire took him out of the race. When teammate Kevin Harvick spun off turn two at New Hampshire, Busch had nowhere to go and plowed into the side of Harvick’s machine, thus ending both of their days. Busch has been fast in recent weeks and the Tony Gibson-led team will have to use that speed and put Busch in a position to win on Sunday if they are to advance to the Round of 12. As this year’s Daytona 500 winner and a former Cup Champion, Undoubtedly, Busch has enough experience to put together a clutch performance this weekend.
Finally, Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports rounds out the playoff drivers at 16th, 21 points back of the cutoff line. Despite winning the Brickyard 400 and thus earning a playoff berth, Kahne has struggled much of this season. He finds himself on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs as a result of a 21st-place finish at Chicagoland, due to an ill-handling race car, and his 35th-place finish at New Hampshire due to a broken part in the rear of the car. The team made a crew chief change following Chicagoland in favor of veteran Darian Grubb and the change brought about a fast car for Kahne at New Hampshire last weekend. Kahne and his team, unfortunately, weren’t able to turn a fast car into a strong finish and he now finds himself in a must-win position entering Dover.
Race number three of the playoffs at Dover will test the strength and endurance of these playoff teams and has put several of them in a situation where they must improve to advance. When the checkered flag flies on Sunday, four teams will find themselves eliminated, only to wonder what may have been. So now the question becomes, who will rise to the occasion to advance and who will find themselves on the outside looking in?