NASCAR was on a mission to make the 2024 playoffs more thrilling than ever before. As of now, they have managed to do that perfectly after adding two new tracks at the very beginning of the playoffs. Our first debutant was the Atlanta Motor Speedway, which was recently reconfigured and now races like a Superspeedway, similar to Daytona and Darlington. Thus, making things uncertain on the track.

The second race in the round of 16 was at Watkins Glen, a second road course besides the Charlotte ROVAL. Racing on the road course is an entirely different ball game, and with the added uncertainties of the new tire compound, things were bound to become interesting. If you look at the grouping of tracks in the first round, a Superspeedway, a road course, and lastly a short track. Hence Expectedly, the playoffs have been exciting. NASCAR insiders too were blown away by how wild the playoffs have been. They predict the wildness to continue into Bristol!

The Wild round one of the 2024 playoffs

Atlanta was considered anyone’s game. As it generally is with a Superspeedway. Look at the recent Daytona and Darlington races, both had unexpected winners. Harrison Burton, a driver below the top 30 in the regular season, won Daytona and Chase Briscoe who was far away in points bagged the Darlington race. Similarly, the Atlanta race also was about to have Daniel Surarez get a back-to-back win until Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney executed the incredible finish. Blaney pushed Logano ahead of Suarez in the final lap as Chastain failed to do the same for his teammate. The tricky Atlanta race wasn’t a good one for many championship contenders. Kyle Larson crashed out, Martin Truex Jr faced a suspension, and Denny Hamlin finished 24th after starting last.

NASCAR Journalist Kim Coon on the GoPRNlive talked about the wildness of the playoffs so far, she said, “Yes which is a lot of unknowns everybody talked about it before we started the playoffs that it was going to be a wild card round and I think it has fit that description obviously you had the craziness of Atlanta. But then Watkins Glenn ended up being crazier than I even thought. It’s weird you throw it in the playoff mix and all of a sudden all these play off drivers are having trouble.” After Atlanta, Watkins Glen was another upset for many playoff drivers.

The track had several unknowns going on, with added rumble strips on the track and a new tire compound with a claimed wear-off rate of three seconds. As a result, passing was easing, and Chris Buescher who started 24th, won the race. He displayed his prowess against the road course King, Shane van Gisbergen, as they battled to the finish. Also in the conversation was journalist Jeff Hammond, who has loved every bit of the playoffs so far. He said, “Surprise surprise surprise I mean all of a sudden. You know we’ve got people out of you might say out of kilter. Yeah, they don’t you don’t belong down here you belong up. And then this past weekend a great battle between two people who weren’t even in the playoffs.”

According to Hammond, it’s surprising how the race was intense yet clean. According to him, the race was a pure battle between two road course masters. SVG has bagged all his NASCAR wins on road courses. Whereas Buescher in his last nine road course races has finished 8 times in the top 10. Both raced hard but with respect and in the end, the better driver of the day won. So far, we have had two thrilling battles. Now the last one in the round of 16 is Bristol and the Insiders believe it would be equally exciting.

Insiders predict the Bristol race to be just as entertaining

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Because of the craziness of how the playoffs have unfolded so far, we have many veterans struggling to keep their playoff dreams alive. Hamlin is in the 13th position with -6 points below the cutoff line. Brad Keselowski followed him in 14th position with -12 points, MTJ is in 15th with -14 points and Harrison Burton takes the final spot in the elimination zone. If the Bristol race is anything like the previous two, top contenders might get eliminated.

According to Kim, Bristol too brings uncertainties. She said, “Now we go into what’s another little of a wild card round after this weekend at Bristol.” The first Bristol race of the season was proof enough of how intense things can get on this track. Cars were burning their tires so quickly that NASCAR had to issue an additional set at the last moment. The race was between the teams with the best tire management. the race also had the most lead changes (54) in NASCAR’s short-track history, breaking the previous mark of 40 set in 1991 at Bristol. Eventually, Denny Hamlin won the race.

Hopefully, the upcoming Bristol race will be just as thrilling, Denny Hamlin will be eyeing his third consecutive race on the track. Whereas MTJ would be hoping that he can repeat his P2 from last year. And Keselowski too had a 3rd place finish last year at Bristol and would look to have a similar one. However, NASCAR is a game of uncertainties and anything can happen. Which four drivers do you think will be eliminated in round one? Let us know in the comments below.