LAS VEGAS – Since the NASCAR Cup Series elimination-style postseason was introduced in 2014, 16 different drivers have advanced to the Championship 4. Never have the same four drivers battled for the championship in the final race in consecutive years.
That could change in 2024.
For just the third time in 10 tries, all four Championship 4 drivers from the previous season advanced into the Round of 8. The other years that the Championship 4 drivers from the previous season advanced were 2019, when defending champion Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch snuck through to the Round of 8. More recently, it happened in 2021 with Logano, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin all reaching the final eight drivers.
This time around, defending Cup champion Ryan Blaney, who enters the Round of 8 with a pair of victories in 2024 has a shot to make it through. As does the series wins leader Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell.
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“I think the cream has risen to the top,” Bell said on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “Everyone in this room and everyone that pays attention is going to be in for a treat because I’m sure these three races are going to be a war for the race wins and a war for that final transfer spot to make it to Phoenix.”
The Round of 8 consists of tracks — Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville — that are more familiar to Cup drivers. After two rounds that drivers considered wild cards, the majority of the best teams, statistically, advanced, including the top seven in the regular season standings. The outlier is Joey Logano, though he’s the only multi-time champion remaining.
Don’t expect last year’s Championship 4 drivers to be surprised that the quartet is reunited in this year’s Round of 8. Collectively, they have combined to win 14 of the opening 32 races in 2024 and know how strong each team is.
“I feel like at any point of the year, one of the four of us has been the dominant car,” Byron said. “I feel like the teams and drivers are really stout and those teams know how to get the most out of their weekends. We’ve had our ups and downs, and I feel like each team in that four have had our ups and downs.”
Three of last year’s Championship 4 pointed to limited turnover amongst their teams and rules remaining the same from year to year. While there has been parity in different winners and how close the field runs, the same teams step up to the plate come crunch time.
“It shows that a handful of teams are in the groove the last couple of years and shows the strength of them,” Blaney said.
Blaney’s crew chief Jonathan Hassler backed up his driver’s thoughts, believing that the best teams excel when the pressure ramps up.
“It definitely just highlights which guys are the best,” Hassler said. “I think in this format, throughout a lot of the year, it can be certainly misleading at times. Once guys get a win, I think at that point, they really start to try some different things and experiment. And some weeks they hit it, and some weeks they don’t. But you get to this point in the year and everybody’s bringing kind of what they know is the best and I think you see kind of the best groups rise to the top.”
Larson, the only driver to have multiple playoff wins this year, knows that it’s going to be an intriguing round. He enters Las Vegas with a 33-point buffer over the elimination line.
“It’s going to be an ultra-competitive round, just like every time the Round of 8 comes about,” Larson said. “It comes down to the final few laps at Martinsville, so this year will probably be no different.”
Blaney’s Round of 8 got off to a rough start in practice, when the No. 12 Ford spun after running a single lap.
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