Only nine more races remain in the 2024 Cup Series regular season and the window to finalize a spot in the playoffs continues drawing to a close. Several key names are yet to find a seat on the postseason plane. Amongst them are those bordering the cutoff line – Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, and Chris Buescher.
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A 2X Cup Series champion, Team Penske’s Joey Logano is yet to find a points-paying win in 2024. He is 6 points below the cutoff line and sits in 15th place on the points table. With two top-5s and five top-10 finishes thus far, he hasn’t lived up to his usual caliber but has plenty of chances to do so in upcoming events. Moreover, the Fords have just begun to find their speed and Logano is yet to visit some of his best tracks.
Ryan Blaney is LOCKED IN to the NASCAR Playoffs.
A look at the unofficial standings after Iowa. pic.twitter.com/lG4WxfzTye
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 17, 2024
A step below him is Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch. He is 31 points below the cutoff line having struggled right from the onset of the season. He is riding the longest winless streak of his career (38 races). Worryingly, he recently spoke to the press and mentioned that he would go back to his old team, Hendrick Motorsports if they welcomed him. Not a pot he wants to stir up being where he is now.
23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace sits six points above the cutoff line. He has finished inside the top 10 in five races and is 14th on the points table. RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher has one-upped Wallace being 27 points above the line. He came ridiculously close to winning a race on several past occasions only to end up getting betrayed by luck. A race win by any new driver can end up consideringly hurting the chances of these four drivers to make the playoffs.
Can one of the four drivers bordering the cutoff line win at New Hampshire?
Joey Logano and Kyle Busch have both won races at the New Hampshire Speedway in the past. However, when the momentum from recent races is taken, Wallace and Chastain jump into the mix despite not having victories at the track. Logano has a recent average finish of 10.0 (Since February 2021) and has secured two top-5s in the last three races.
Wallace has an average of 12.3 with one top-5 and two top-10s. Chastain follows closely behind with a 13.0 average finish rate and two top-10s in the last three races. Should Busch’s misfortune follow him to New Hampshire, he will most probably end up outside the top 10 just like he has since 2020.
