The Round of 12 Preview
Recap of the Round of 16
For the first time, the championship contenders did not win a race in the Round of 16. Instead, it all started with Erik Jones winning at Darlington, Bubba Wallace at Kansas, and Chris Buescher winning at Bristol. The 16 drivers contending for a championship all relied on stage points or advanced with points from this season.
Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher battling at the 2022 Bass Pro Shops 500 (Getty Images)
Eliminated Drivers
Two surprising eliminations from the round are Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. These two drivers won championships under this format, with Harvick winning back in 2014 and Busch winning in 2015 and 2019.
Harvick experienced a nightmare in the Round of 16 as his car caught on fire at Darlington, and he crashed at Kansas Speedway. The lackluster performances put Harvick in a must-win situation at Bristol. However, a 10th place finish at Bristol was not enough points to advance him to the Round of 12.
Harvick’s car caught on fire at Darlington (USA Network)
Busch experienced a playoff nightmare as well. To start, Busch lost his long-time sponsor MARS, who then affected the free agency talks during the summer. Would Busch stay with Joe Gibbs Racing or go to a different Nascar team after this season?
Before the race at Bristol, Busch announced that he would be piloting the No. 8 car for Richard Childress Racing in one of the most shocking moves in recent Nascar history.
In the Round of 16, Busch experienced a blown motor late in the race at Darlington in one of his most heartbreaking moments. For the first time in his cup career, Busch was eliminated in the Round of 16. With the move of Busch going to RCR, are JGR and Toyota secretly sabotaging Busch for not re-signing for next season? Or did JGR and Toyota give up supporting Busch?
Kyle Busch engine expires at Bristol (Getty Images, MRN)
Speaking of RCR, both of their drivers in the playoffs were eliminated in this round. Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillion will not advance to the Round of 12. Reddick has been a surprise this season, with his only two wins coming from the Road America and the Indy Road Course. The campaign Reddick’s best at the Cup Series level since he joined in 2020. It was Reddick’s first playoff experience as well. It’s a tough pill to swallow for Reddick, but he can learn what it is like to race in the playoffs at the Cup Series level.
On the other hand, Dillon did not have enough points to advance to the next round. He failed to advance due to the lack of insurance points for the Round of 16. To know his championship run was over is when he did not finish the cutoff race at Bristol.
The Round of 12, The Wild Card Round
The three races in this round are unpredictable. The first race of the Round of 12 is at Texas Motor Speedway. The 12 drivers competing in this round want to win because the next two races after Texas are the danger tracks. Talladega is the 2.5 Super Speedway track where all the big wrecks happen, and it’s a lottery race followed by the cutoff race at Charlotte Roval. Both of these tracks in the Round of 12 are unpredictable and can ruin a championship hopeful.
Kyle Larson’s Charlotte Roval Win Circa 2021 (Getty Images)
Playoff Standings After Bristol
Chase Elliott (3040)
Joey Logano (-15 off lead)
Ross Chastain (-20)
Kyle Larson (-21)
William Byron (-25)
Denny Hamlin (-27)
Christopher Bell (-27)
Ryan Blaney (-27)
Chase Briscoe (-31)
Alex Bowman (-33)
Daniel Suarez (-33)
Austin Cindric (-34)
