2018 Bubble Watch: Indianapolis

Twenty-five races down, one to go. The regular season ends at the Brickyard on Monday, and the playoff field will be set following the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman remain in line for a playoff spot, but plenty of drivers below them could upset the field by winning their way in -- and those below the Hendrick teammates MUST win to qualify for the playoffs. Here is a detailed look at every driver on the bubble.

Jimmie Johnson

Regular-season standings: 14th
Wins at Indianapolis: 4
Top fives at Indianapolis: 6
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 7
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 15.4
Note: Sitting on the playoff bubble is an unfamiliar feeling for Johnson, but if there is a track for him to lock up a postseason berth, it is Indianapolis. He leads all active drivers in wins and laps led at the Brickyard.

Alex Bowman

Regular-season standings: 15th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 41.5
Note: Bowman will make his first start at Indianapolis since 2015, though neither was remarkable with a best finish of 40th. Worth noting, however, is that those starts came not with his current team, Hendrick Motorsports, which is well familiar with what takes to win one of NASCAR’s biggest races.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Regular-season standings: 16th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 26.2
Note: Surprisingly, Roush Fenway Racing has never visited Victory Lane at Indianapolis despite fielding multiple entries in every Brickyard 400 race. As for Stenhouse, his best result in this race was a 12th-place finish two years ago. He'll have to win to make the postseason.

Ryan Newman

Regular-season standings: 17th
Wins at Indianapolis: 1
Top fives at Indianapolis: 3
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 4
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 16.8
Note: Newman won his home state race in 2013, giving him the distinction of being the third Hoosier native to win at Indianapolis. It's an illustrious club that features Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart as its other members.

Paul Menard

Regular-season standings: 19th
Wins at Indianapolis: 1
Top fives at Indianapolis: 1
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 2
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 18.6
Note: Of the 14 drivers who have won a Monster Energy Series race at Indianapolis, Menard is the only driver whose win also represented his first in NASCAR's premier series.

Daniel Suarez

Regular-season standings: 20th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 1
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 7.0
Note: Suarez finished seventh a year ago in his first Brickyard start. And he is someone to watch this weekend considering he finished second at Pocono a few weeks back, a track that shares similar characteristics with Indianapolis.

Jamie McMurray

Regular-season standings: 21st
Wins at Indianapolis: 1
Top fives at Indianapolis: 3
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 5
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 15.0
Note: McMurray has an Indianapolis win on his résumé, having won here in 2010. And his 15th-place average finish represents his personal best of any track currently on the schedule.

William Byron

Regular-season standings: 22nd
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 0.0
Note: Although Byron has yet to make a Monster Energy Series start at Indianapolis, he is knowledgeable about getting around the 2.5-mile speedway. Witness last year's Xfinity race where, despite being a series rookie, he outdueled Cup veterans Menard and Joey Logano to take the win.

Chris Buescher

Regular-season standings: 23rd
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 1
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 11.5
Note: Buescher has two career starts at Indianapolis and performed well in both, finishing 14th as a rookie in 2016 and ninth last season.

AJ Allmendinger

Regular-season standings: 24th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 2
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 19.9
Note: A pair of 10th-place finishes represents Allmendinger’s best result in nine Indianapolis starts. One of those finishes occurred last year, even though Allmendinger started 39th after never turning a lap in qualifying.

David Ragan

Regular-season standings: 25th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 26.4
Note: Ragan is a former polesitter at Indianapolis (2011) and also qualified third in this race three years ago. Finishing well is a different story, however, as he’s placed no higher than 14th in 11 starts.

Michael McDowell

Regular-season standings: 26th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 30.4
Note: McDowell has eight Brickyard starts with his best finish occurring last season when he placed 18th.

Bubba Wallace

Regular-season standings: 28th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 0.0
Note: This weekend marks Wallace's Monster Energy Series debut at Indianapolis, a track on which he's raced twice in Xfinity with a best finish of 14th.

Ty Dillon

Regular-season standings: 29th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 19.0
Note: Indianapolis is the site of Dillon's lone Xfinity win (2014). He finished 19th in the Cup race last season.

Matt DiBenedetto

Regular-season standings: 30th
Wins at Indianapolis: 0
Top fives at Indianapolis: 0
Top 10s at Indianapolis: 0
Career average finish at Indianapolis: 26.7
Note: DiBenedetto has made three starts at Indianapolis with his results quite divergent. The best is an eighth-place effort achieved last season, with his two other finishes a 40th and 32nd.