NASCAR playoff picture: Daytona's Coke Zero Sugar 400 will be affected by Watkins Glen

One week out from NASCAR's return to Daytona, how does the playoff picture look? Potentially, very messy.

NASCAR's own Sweet 16

If a playoff-eligible driver, previously winless in 2022, wins Sunday at Watkins Glen, the playoff field is locked up with 16 winners. Unless . . . That would likely be Kurt Busch, who has been sidelined for a month with concussion symptoms. Kurt has a playoff spot awaiting him, assuming he’s ready when the playoffs start and, of course, assuming we don’t get to 17 different winners.

Blaney enters Watkins Glen with a 26-point lead over Truex, but when you consider how quickly a driver can"earn" a 35th-place finish, especially if caught up in an early Big One at Daytona, Blaney can’t rely on running out the clock on Truex. A playoff ticket slipped above the overhead visor would allow a driver to avoid certain risks, especially in those chaotic closing laps, that he now can’t avoid if he wants to race for championship glory.Before moving on, what do we mean by “playoff-eligible” drivers? By today’s standards, that basically means a full-time Cup Series driver.

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