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After 26 races of a hard fought grind to the postseason we are finally here. There are now only 16 drivers left to win NASCAR’s grandest prize, the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Today what we are going to do is look at theses contending drivers briefly and see what the outlook may be for each of them, what their Playoff ceiling and Playoff floor could be in the form of what rounds they can make it to and what ones they could be eliminated at. This is the complete 2023 NASCAR Playoffs preview.
Video Credits:
Black Flags Matter
CBell20Rheem
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dirty Mo Media
EA Sports
FOX Sports
Greg Engle
Joe Satriani
Motorsports on NBC
NASCAR
NASCAR Classics
NASCAR on FOX
NASCAR Productions
NascarAllOut
NBC Sports
RFK Racing
Skewcar
Turner Sports
Thumbnail Credits:
Getty Images
NASCAR Images
Outro Song:
Strange Animal (Crowder Remix) by Gowan
Songs:
Screaming Fusion by Joe Satriani on NASCAR 06
Speed Natives by Joe Satriani on NASCAR 06
Smokin’ Joe by Joe Satriani on NASCAR 06
37 comments
What are your Final Four picks for the 2023 Playoffs?
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Chris Buescher
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Busch, MTJ, William Byron, Christopher Bell
Truex Jr, Hamlin, Buescher & Bell
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr.
William Byron
5, 11, 19, 24
MCDOWELL SUPREMACY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!! LET’S GO!!!
It would be amazing to see McDowell win the championship
Not enough road courses for him
LETS GOOOOOOOOO
McDowell W
I’m guessing Larson, Hamlin, Byron, and keselowski for my sleeper pick
If Brad Keselowski were to win the championship, he would be this generation’s Terry Labonte.
13:27 One correction: McDowell also made the playoffs in 2021, though he didn’t perform too good so don’t blame you for missing that fact.
Yeah, he won the Daytona 500.
As a blaney fan the first round worries me, but if he makes it through I like his chances in the final 7 races especially Texas & Talladega
Not a KB fan, but this season it would be cool to see him win again, purely for the joy of seeing Richard Childress win another championship.
They’d break an almost 30 year drought
Even though I’m not the biggest Kyle Busch fan, I wouldn’t be annoyed if he won a third championship.
I am a KB fan, and it’d be great for him to win cause it’d be a giant middle finger to Joe Gibbs for not only screwing over Kyle, but all the others Joe has screwed over the years.
Nah you sound like a KB fan already. Say no more.
it would be cool cause its the year right after Joey… again which is funny since they are probably the longest lasting Rival so back to back
I expected Stewart-Haas to have better equipment this year, but things just seem to get worse, too bad for Harvick, he’s extremely conscientious but you can’t always do miracles
I think there will be some surprises this year, so here we go.
Round of 16 exits: 12, 23, 45, 47
Round of 12 exits: 1, 4, 8, 34
Round of 8 exits: 6, 11, 20, 22
Championship 4: 5, 17, 19, 24
Champion: William Byron
I’m of course rooting for Busch for a nice run, we’ll see what happens. His fall off after the string of top 10’s is worry sum. Truex I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins it. I am hoping Bubba makes a showing, is able to at least advance to the round of 12. Steinhouse Jr just sounds like that team in the NFL playoffs that wins their divison with a losing record but due to the playoff format, still gets in. I’d be shocked if he makes it past the round of 16. I do like how this year has a few different names of drivers we wouldn’t normally see so it changes things up.
Despite being an RFK fan i dont know if they’re ready for the championship 4 yet. I’d think they would want to be seeing 4-5 wins between both drivers before that happens. Emphasis on “both” and Brad hassnt picked up that win yet but, we still have races to go.
In all, i just want to see Brad, Chris, and Michale do well. As in no 3 race in a row heart breakers caused by catastrophy.
As far as the championship goes. Honestly id like to see a Kyle Busch win. If only to smesr it in Joe Gibbs face and make Austin Dillon seem like a 4d cheese buisnessman for bringing him on.
Anything to piss off Joe Gibbs.
Yes you may be right, but I think that they are Championship 4 capable team. If so, I only see Buescher finishing 4th of the championship 4 contenders.
That was the best speed I’ve seen out of him at daytona in years…
I think you underestimate chastain being able to turn it on in the playoffs. He finished the regular season quietly as well last year, and we all know how he did in the playoffs.
Yeah but last year he shown speed throughout the regular season. Not doing that this year
Given the tracks, I’d put McDowell at a ceiling of Round of 8. He has been consistently decent at all forms of track pretty much this year. If he makes it to the round of 12, with Talladega and the Charlotte Roval, I would be shocked to see him out of the round of 8.
That being said, that relies on Talladega not being a wreck fest, and Michael making the round of 12.
Buescher is def my dark horse favorite to win it. He’s too talented to even be a dark horse candidate but the RFK team not being quite ready to be a write in for final 4 this year
I think out of everyone, Bubba is the underdog which puts him in a fairly decent position. The only thing in his way is himself (and sometimes his team) but hopefully he’s able to keep himself going.
I’m just glad Bubba made it into the playoffs, anything more is a bonus
Once you get past the 19 and 24, the rest of the pack this year should be very interesting. So many hot-and-cold drivers that for various reasons seem just as likely to challenge for the the championship 4 as they are to bomb out in the first round.
As a Bubba fan I’m so pumped to see what he can do in his first playoff. He did great running for the 45 team last year in the owners championship and I think I’d the pit crew performs he has every opportunity to make the round of 8 as long as he gets through the Roval and Dega alright, which the last two years he’s finished 7th and 14th at the Roval and he got his first win at Dega so he’s got the tools as much as he’s improved at RC racing this year. The first round are all tracks that he’s run really well at and really play to his strengths so I can’t wait to see what he can do, Just stay focused BW!
William Byron and Chris Buescher honestly surprised me this year. They’re dominating.