DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Martin Truex Jr. should feel confident heading to Darlington Raceway for the Cup Series season finale.
The 2017 series champion has a 58-point lead in the playoff standings, which is likely considering the most a driver can gain is about 60. Thirteen of the 16 postseason spots are up for grabs, with Harrison Burton surprisingly claiming the final spot on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Truex has a firm grasp on one of the remaining three spots, so NASCAR essentially has two bids to make on the “track that’s too hard to tame.”
It should be an exciting race next weekend, with Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain battling for a points spot and nearly two dozen others – most notably two-time series champion Kyle Busch – needing to win on Sunday to advance.
Busch had a chance to qualify for the postseason at Daytona, where he hadn’t won since 2008, but Burton passed him on the final lap of overtime to secure his first win in 98 career starts. It was a good story for Burton, who was fired earlier this season and will be replaced by Josh Berry in the famed No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing in 2025.
“I’m struggling to put it into words,” said Burton, whose father Jeff commentated on the race for NBC Sports. “For me, the circumstances and the way the last three years have gone, it just wasn’t the way I wanted to represent myself, the way I wanted to represent this team.”
“When the walls get closer and closer, it’s a very different ending to my time driving this historic car. To find a way to win when the walls get closer and closer is really something special for me. It almost makes the last three years worthwhile.”
Busch closed in on Burton’s bumper as they approached the checkered flag, but Busch didn’t have enough momentum to pass. Now Busch heads to Darlington needing a win to extend his streak of consecutive playoff appearances to 12 years.
“We’ll take it,” said Busch, who finished second, fourth and 12th in August. “We’ve had a good phase over the last three weeks and hope that we can do what we need to do next week.”
Busch has just one win (2008) in 25 Cup starts at Darlington, so he won’t be among the favorites to pull off a dramatic win in the regular-season finale. Here’s a look at the guys who have a better chance of making the playoffs:
TY GIBBS
Gibbs is 15th in the points standings, 39 points ahead. He’s not as confident as Truex, but not far off. To give him even more confidence, he finished second to Brad Keselowski at Darlington in May.
“I think we have the speed to win,” Gibbs said. “I think it would be cool to get my first win in the Southern 500. That would be awesome.”
CHRIS BUESCHER
Buescher won three of the last five races of the regular season in 2023, making him one of the favorites for the championship. He even finished third at Darlington at the start of the playoffs, but faded from there, finishing ninth in the points standings.
He could use another strong run on Sunday.
“We’re going to take a few days, have a breather,” he said. “We’ll arrive in Darlington, then it’ll be time to get down to business.”
BUBBA WALLACE
Wallace is 21 points behind Buescher and must fight his way into the playoffs for the second year in a row. He barely made the field at Daytona last year and has finished in the top 10 four times in his last five races, including sixth on Saturday as team co-owner Michael Jordan watched from his pit box.
Wallace also had one of the fastest cars at Michigan six days earlier before being involved in a late crash. His 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick is one of three drivers battling for the regular season championship at Darlington, along with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.
“One car is fighting for the regular season championship and another car is about to be eliminated. That’s unacceptable,” Wallace said. “I take the entire burden on my shoulders. I should have won several times this year and I didn’t. We don’t even deserve to be here and we are. Next week we have to win. That’s all.”
ROSS CHASTAIN
The “Melon Man” was ninth in the points standings two months ago but has slipped over the past seven races. In that time, he has finished in the top 10 once – at Richmond. He is now 27 points out of the 16th playoff spot and needs a win or a lot of help to reach the postseason for the third consecutive year.
He remained winless in ten Cup starts at Darlington.
“Points are awarded at the stages and at the end of the race,” Chastain said. “If you run well, you get a lot of them. I’m just looking forward to the chance to win the Southern 500.”
FILE – Kyle Busch (18) and Martin Truex Jr. (19) drive during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Brooklyn, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Harrison Burton (21) takes the checkered flag to win a NASCAR Cup Series car race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday, August 24, 2024. (AP Photo/David Graham)
Harrison Burton celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Michael McDowell (34) leads drivers through Turn 4 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Michael McDowell (34) becomes airborne in a collision with Joey Logano (22) between turns 1 and 2 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Josh Berry (4) rolls over his car after being involved in a multi-car collision on the backstretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The car of Josh Berry (4) flips in the air after being involved in a multi-car collision on the backstretch during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Security personnel extinguish flames from Shane Van Gisbergen’s car on pit road during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)
Drivers, crew members and guests line up on pit road to hear the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)