The NASCAR Cup series has had many different winners, first time winners, and unexpected winners. This has had a major shakeup on the playoffs and the normal expected field. This has truly lived up to the hype that NASCAR is feeding about this being the best season ever.
The best part of this season to watch for me so far has been the playoff bubble. The bubble moved back and forth for a few weeks and is now finally leveling out and we can see who the true contenders are for those final few playoff spots, if there are any left, come playoff time. There are 2 drivers below the 16 driver cutoff line that fans should keep an eye on the deeper we get into the season. These drivers are Matt (I tried to write his full last name at least once but it didn’t work so we are just going to say Dibby and Kurt Busch. Both these drivers have led laps and shown that while they are nowhere near championship contenders, they are both playoff guys and can make decent runs if they can string together a few good races.
Dibby is going to need to point his way in for me, he has not shown race win speed once and has not been able to show that he can punch an instant ticket to the big dance. His last shot to win his way in was Talladega, other than that he really has not run well. I hate to say that Dibby is my long shot choice to make the Cup Series playoffs but as it stands, it is not looking good for Dibby.
Kurt Busch is sitting a little better than Dibby, not points wise, but talent and average running speed. Busch is more poised to get a win and lock himself in, and to get good runs together and get into the playoffs. Busch got into the playoffs on points last year and got a surprising win at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway to advance himself into the round of 8. This year has not gone too well as Busch is running worse than normal and is having some awful luck that was capped off this weekend at Darlington when he hit the wall and caught on fire.
These drivers are not entirely clear either as an unlikely Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has had an amazing start to the season and has driven his way into 18th place and not too far behind the cutline and could be a big surprise to sneak in that last week at Daytona.
The 2021 season has lived up to the hype so far and this playoff cutline drama is going to make it even more fun to watch. Seeing drivers fall in and out of playoff contention is always fun and this year with all the winners this could be the best thing to watch all season.
The Slow Restart 