How the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Contenders Will Line up at the Charlotte Roval

After a manic race weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway, the NASCAR Cup Series paddock heads to Charlotte. For the coming weekend, Talladega winner, Denny Hamlin will start on pole. Right on his tail will be Chase Elliott, along with Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.

Hamlin enters this race weekend with nothing to lose, as he has already qualified for the next playoff round. Similarly, Kevin Harvick has built up a healthy lead in the standing and is relatively safe. Kurt Busch’s Las Vegas win also secures his own slot, leaving only five seats up for grabs.

How does the NASCAR Cup Series field line up behind the top 4?

Just behind Harvick are Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon. The former comes into the race weekend on the back of news of his Hendrick Motorsports recruitment. Completing the playoff line-up are Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, the Busch brothers, Clint Bowyer, and Aric Almirola.

Heading into the weekend, Elliott, Keselowski, Truex Jr., Bowman, and Logano will be under quite a lot of pressure. Even Kyle Busch, Bowyer, and Almirola will be keen to stay alive in the competition for as long as possible.

Last weekend’s race at Talladega was fast and furious, quite literally, as there were multiple wrecks. This is likely due to the extremely competitive nature of the playoffs. Many have even warned that the aggression would rise and some were not too thrilled about it.

With this race being the final one of the Round of 12, things could swing two ways. First and foremost, drivers could turn up the aggression in their scramble to reach the playoffs. On the other end of the spectrum, they could also try and take things very gingerly and survive the race. Another option for most of the drivers would be to gun for a win and an automatic playoff berth.