Joey Logano earned the pole for Game 1 of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Darlington Raceway.
the NASCAR Cup Series opens its 10-race playoff on Sunday, September 4 at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500 race. Sixteen (16) drivers are eligible to compete for the championship, a number that will be reduced to four by Phoenix Raceway later this year. of November.
Related: Cook Out Southern 500 Prediction and Preview
Here are the 16 drivers who qualified for this year’s postseason, broken down by the team they drive for.
Hendrick Motorsports (4): Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson
Joe Gibbs careers (3): Christopher Bell Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin
Team Penske (3): Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano
Richard Childress careers (2): austin dillon, tyler reddick
Stewart-Haas Racing (2): Chase Briscoe Kevin Harvick
Trackhouse Racing Team (2): Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez
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In the owners’ championship playoff, the No. 45 Toyota (now driven by Bubba Wallace in the last 10 races) replaces Team Penske’s No. 12 and Ryan Blaney in the 16-car field. Kurt Busch, the full-time driver of the No. 45, forfeited his playoff eligibility after being sidelined with a concussion at Pocono Raceway earlier this month.
The drivers have a challenging postseason debut at Darlington, a uniquely shaped 1,367-mile oval that hosted the sport’s first 500-mile race in 1950. The Southern 500 is one of NASCAR’s crown jewels, a true test of rider skill and tire handling around the world. this egg-shaped track.
The different radii of turns 1 and 2 versus 3 and 4 mean your car never handles perfectly here. Hitting the wall is almost a certainty over the course of 500 miles; it’s only if you can stop the Darlington Stripe from hampering your race car’s speed.
May Darlington winner Joey Logano took pole in this race, his second of the season. Eight of the top nine qualifiers are eligible for the championship, while ninth-place Bubba Wallace is fighting for the ownership title.
Only 36 cars showed up to attempt this year’s Southern 500, all of which had a guaranteed spot in the field. That put the Cup Series within four of its maximum 40-car field for the first time since Richmond Raceway in mid-August.
1. Joey Logano (L)
2. Christopher Bell (S)
3.William Byron (S)
4. Tyler Reddick (P)
5. Kyle Busch (P)
6. Austin Cindric (right) (right)
7. Kyle Larson (L)
8. Bubba Wallace (runs for the title of owner)
9. Ryan Blaney (P)
10.Michael McDowell
11. Denny Hamlin (P)
12. Ross Chastain (P)
13. Austin Dillon (P)
14. Justin Haley
15. Erik Jones
16. Alex Bowman (P)
17. Martin Truex Jr.
18. Kevin Harvick (L)
19. Chase Briscoe (P)
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21. Ty Gibbs (me)
22. Aric Almirola
23. Chase Elliott (P)
24. Daniel Hemric
25. Brad Keselowski
26. Landon Cassill (me)
27.Chris Buescher
28. Harrison Burton (right)
29. Ty Dillon
30. Cole Custer
31. Todd Gilliland (right)
32. Cody Goods
33. JJ Yeley (me)
34. Corey LaJoie
35. BJ McLeod (me)
36. Daniel Suarez (L)
(D) – Rookie
(i) – Not eligible to accumulate Cup Series points
(P) – Playoff Driver
Rating Notes
- Joey Logano (first) took the pole and looks to sweep the season at Darlington Raceway. Logano has never won the Southern 500.
- Christopher Bell (second) was the highest rated Toyota. Bell was the only Toyota driver to finish in the top 10 during the May race at Darlington.
- William Byron (third) is looking for his first top 5 finish since Martinsville in April. The highest-rated Chevrolet driver was leading late in the May event before Logano swung Byron’s No. 24 car out of the way to win.
- Austin Cindric (sixth) was the highest-rated rookie driver in the field. He is also the only freshman to make the playoffs this year.
- Kyle Larson (seventh) has never won at Darlington despite three second-place finishes in his last four starts at the track. He has 686 career laps led by him in nine starts.
- Bubba Wallace (eighth) replaces Kurt Busch in the No. 45 car at 23XI Racing. Wallace changed numbers to compete for the owners’ championship as the team’s only remaining full-time driver.
- Ty Gibbs (21st) continues to fill in for the injured Kurt Busch at 23XI Racing, but his number has been changed to 23.
- JJ Yeley (33rd) replaces David Ragan at the wheel of the Rick Ware Racing Ford. Ragan earned a ninth-place finish for the team at Daytona, but he only has a limited schedule this season.
- Daniel Suarez (36th) was not allowed to qualify after failing pre-race inspection three times. He must also take a passing penalty early in the race for the infraction, losing to chief driver Eddie D’Hondt Jr.
Related: Darlington Raceway’s Best Drivers For DraftKings
NASCAR career breakdown
The race: cook south 500
Clue: Darlington Race Track (Darlington, South Carolina)
Date: Sunday, September 4
TV: USA Network, 6 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 367 laps (500 miles)
Level 1: 115 laps
Stage 2: 115 laps
Stage 3: 137 laps
Pre-race preview
adam stern of the Sports business magazine it stops The Frontstretch Podcast with Bryan Nolen to talk about the latest rumors from NASCAR’s goofy season. Dalton Hopkins then joins host Bryan Nolen to dissect Daytona and find out which of the 16 Cup Series playoff drivers has the most momentum ahead of this weekend’s postseason opener at Darlington Raceway.