Five to Watch: Taunts and tempers take on Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Time in the NASCAR Playoffs is dwindling down. Half of the original 16 postseason drivers have already been eliminated, and just two races separate the Round of 8 from the Championship 4. As the Monster Energy Series prepares to tackle Texas Motor Speedway, non-playoff drivers are still racing to win, playoff tempers are starting to flare and those locked in don't plan on holding back.

Here are five story lines to watch in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Beware of Byron: William Bryon may have been eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs, getting the boot after the Round of 12, but the young driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is still looking to get his first career win this season. He has come close, too. Bryon has finished second twice, most notably last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and previously at Daytona International Speedway. The whole playoff vs. non-playoff racing doesn’t faze last year’s Rookie of the Year, who came in sixth here this spring.

“I would be a spoiler for one guy,” Byron said. “But the other guys would probably be pulling for it because they don’t want to see another playoff guy win. They want to have as many spots available as possible. I think it would be kind of a welcome sight for some of those guys.”

Tempted to tussle: The fight between Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin has remained a hot topic in Texas, but they weren’t the only two stirring up drama last weekend. Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola have beef, too. Almirola was unhappy with how aggressively Busch raced him at Martinsville Speedway – spinning and wrecking them both – so much so, with three races remaining in the season, Almirola vowed to “make it hell” for Busch, which Busch didn’t seem concerned about, and that threat still stands. Almirola may even follow through this weekend.

“If I’m fast enough, yeah,” said Almirola, who had a seventh-place run here in March. “I think the easiest way is to put a dagger in and for me to go win. Go win and make everybody mad. … I understand he’s sour. I know his teammates are outrunning him, and he doesn’t like it, and he was getting outrun at the moment. He was frustrated, and I feel like he took the frustration out on me. I’m still not over it.”

Winning to winless: This season has been split for Busch. The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver won four races in the first 14 races and hasn’t returned to Victory Lane in the 19 events since. Texas, though, could be his ticket back and into the Championship 4. He has tallied three wins at the 1.5-miler, most in the postseason field, along with 12 top-five and 14 top-10 runs. Busch, who finished 10th here earlier this year, sits third in the NASCAR Playoffs standings and 17 points above the cutline with two races left until elimination.

“We don’t have to win, but a win would certainly be nice and take some pressure off,” Busch said. “You know, 2015 playoffs looked a lot like this year’s playoffs, and you know we made it through in that year and ended up winning. It’s just a matter of getting there and hopefully being able to be one of the top-four guys.”

Fun with family: For the first time 14 years, a father-son duo will race in the Cup Series. John Hunter Nemechek is making his first career start in NASCAR’s premier leaguer with the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford, and his dad, Joe Nemechek, will be out there on the track with him in the No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet for Texas. The last pair to do this was Bobby Hamilton and Bobby Hamilton Jr. at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Oct. 30, 2005; they finished 30th and 39th, respectively. The Nemecheks have already competed against each other in the Xfinity and Gander Trucks Series.

“When you think about your kids playing sports, not many parents get to do anything,” the elder Nemechek said. “For me, it’s a very, very special moment.”

The younger Nemechek said: “You know when you pass him, that’s for sure. We’re pretty competitive. We’re a competitive family. We love to push each other to the next level.”

Safe to sail: The only driver truly safe in the NASCAR Playoffs is Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota wheelman solidified his spot in the Championship 4 last weekend with a victory at Martinsville Speedway. So, he has two races between him and the final in which his finish doesn’t technically matter. Only, that’s not the mindset for Truex, who has never won and has just four top-five showings at Texas in 28 starts. He came in 12th here earlier this season and averages a 13.8 finish in his career.

“I prefer not to piss anyone off,” Truex said. “Honestly, we are going to race hard and try to win, but we don’t need any enemies. So, we will just do our normal deal to be honest with you. … We always do the best we can for everyone on our team and all of our sponsors and again ourselves. We want to win. We have a lot of confidence, and we have great equipment and a great team. Why not take advantage of it?”