NASCAR’s 2nd season is upon us. While I’m still not convinced it’s the best way to find a champion, we can still have some fun and make our March Madness style picks to get in on the fun. As the oldest man on TheSlowRestart crew, I’ve got the most experience and of course will make the most accurate picks screw most of this up based on old timey logic. Anyway, let’s get right to it and cut the bottom four from the first round.
Round of 16: (Darlington, Kansas, Bristol)
The wildest memory of last year’s first round was the seemingly systematic dismantling of the 18 of Kyle Busch who blew two engines in the first round before closing out the year and setting sail to RCR. While I don’t think anything quite so inexplicable will happen this time around, I think we unfortunately lose some of our feel good stories and hangers-on that shuffled into the Playoff picture.
Out: Blaney, McDowell, Stenhouse Jr, Harvick
Round of 12: (Texas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval)
The Round of 12 is where a lot of the feelings get hurt, and the fan favorite narratives tend to fall apart. While I think Bubba Wallace will clear into this round from some gutsy round 1 performances, the grind of these three particular tracks may end up costing the 1st time Playoff driver here. Still, with Talladega in the mix there’s almost no way to tell for sure, and with three tracks fully within Wallace’s wheelhouse coming in the next round, there’s nothing off the table here at all.
Out: Bell, Chastain, Keselowski, Wallace
Round of 8: (Las Vegas, Homestead, Martinsville)
This is the round where I see a changing of the guard start to visualize itself in Cup racing. While we say goodbye to Kevin Harvick both in this Playoffs and in the Cup series in general, more of the old guard will fall off in this round. While I’d love nothing more than to guarantee 4 “new blood” members of the Championship round, I think Martin Truex Jr’s year has been too good to ignore, and his experience will play well going into Phoenix.
Out: Hamlin, Busch, Reddick, Logano
Championship Race: (Phoenix)
Despite all the talk we’re going to hear about a record number of race teams entering the Playoffs and the promise of some of those drivers making good on those opportunities, there’s one thing we can’t see around. This has been William Byron’s year. As noted firmly during the Watkins Glen race, the dog days of summer were a challenge to Bryon in previous seasons, leaving him pretty much out of the conversation this time of year. In 2023 however, there’s no signs of weakness, and with at least one track to his liking in each round, I think the year of the Bryon is upon us, and a new driver lifts the Cup in November.
Champion: William Byron
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