NASCAR's final three playoff berths will hinge on final three races

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Three races left, three spots to fill.

That’s the scenario as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Thirteen drivers have qualified for the playoffs with victories, and three vacancies remain on the 16-driver grid.

Those spots will be filled either by new race winners or by non-winners with the top point totals. After Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, only events at Darlington, S.C., and Richmond, Va., remain on the regular-season schedule.

Entering Saturday’s race, Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth sit in the 14th, 15th and 16th positions in playoff points and will make the playoffs if they stay in those spots and — a big if — there are no new winners in the three races.

Elliott, McMurray and Kenseth are relatively comfortable in their points spots. Elliott is 62 points in front of Clint Bowyer, the first driver on the bubble. McMurray leads Bowyer by 52, and Kenseth has a 31-point margin.

No one in the trio can depend on the Bristol-Darlington-Richmond stretch not producing new winners, however.

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“That is not a comfortable position to be in because there is always an opportunity for a guy on the outside to win a race and bump you back another position,” Elliott said Friday. “So it’s tight for sure where we are at. We feel like we need a victory to feel good about it.

“We are not many from having a full playoff list (16) of winners. So we aren’t real comfortable with it just because in that position you are not really guaranteed anything.”

Kenseth said his approach doesn’t change because of the circumstances. He hunts the checkered flag.

“I’ve never been in a race I didn’t want to win,” he said. “I’ve never been in a race where I didn’t feel like I needed the win. I don’t know that it really changes. You’re going to race as hard as you can and try to get that win any time you can.”

Kenseth has four wins at Bristol. Elliott and McMurray are winless at the track but have had solid top-10 runs on the half-mile.

McMurray, hoping to join Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson in the playoffs, said he isn’t comfortable with his position, mainly because “another first-time winner would change it quite a bit. I feel more comfortable than I did the last couple of years, but there have been unique winners this year.”

The best route to the playoffs for Bowyer and Joey Logano, who trails Bowyer in points, is a race win. Both drivers like Bristol. Bowyer has three top-10 runs in the past four races here, and Logano has a pair of Cup wins at the track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs a win to make the playoffs in his final full-time season. He has won at Bristol only once.

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