Chase drivers all left with plenty to race for with cutoff races left in the past

In any of the past 12 years, this weekend’s trip to Bristol Motor Speedway would have come with a clear playoff focus. As the third race of the Chase, it would have been a cutoff race, leaving the bottom four drivers desperate to point or win their way into the next round.

But without the eliminations that came with that format, the focus has shifted. And instead of the industry focusing largely on the bottom four drivers in the current Chase grid, the full field of 16 has something to race for.

Carson Hocevar “sadly” knows where he’s at in the standings after catching a glimpse of the standings in a team debrief.

“I’ve been trying not to,” he joked on Friday in a media appearance.

The Michigander sits mid-pack in the Chase standings, having risen to ninth after many of his fellow contenders fell victim to the high attrition at World Wide Technology Raceway. After driving much of the weekly chatter through the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Hocevar has enjoyed the storylines created by the full field of Chase contenders early in the format’s return.

“From the fan’s perspective, I think everyone’s enjoyed it,” Hocevar said. “As everybody’s started to crash or have struggles, you’re looking at the top of the pylon and how that’s switching, and not the bottom. I think that’s a good thing for fans to follow, understand and enjoy. The goalpost isn’t moving and confusing who you should be following every three weeks.”

Chris Buescher is one of the drivers that would have been below the theoretical cutline. The Texan currently finds himself 13th in the standings after a disappointing start to the Chase, 111 points back from frontrunner Denny Hamlin.

While he isn’t at risk of official Chase elimination, Buescher does understand the need to win over the next eight weeks.

“We knew coming into the Chase (that) we were going to have to win races,” Buescher admitted. “We’ve watched race wins turn into 55, 60, 70-point swings for drivers. … It’s about winning, ultimately. And you shouldn’t win the championship in this format without winning races.”

But regardless of whether his No. 17 team can get to victory lane, Buescher has enjoyed competing in a format that gives his team more to race for as the season winds down.

“The reason why I’ve been such a big proponent for this is that, while the Daytona 500 doesn’t mean as much when we get to Homestead as it would through a 36-race season, ultimately it’s mattered all the way to making the Chase,” Buescher said. “The entire Chase is going to matter as we go on down to Homestead.

“We’ve kind of used up our mulligan early. We’re going to have to get away from that, get on track and be strong. But it doesn’t mean because of two races that don’t go well (that) we’re done.”

Near the top of the field lies Ryan Blaney. And after letting points slip away with a brake failure in St. Louis, the 2023 champion feels the pressure of effectively using up a mulligan in the opening weeks of the Chase. He sits fourth in the standings entering Bristol, 33 points behind Hamlin.

“You don’t want to use one (mulligan) early,” he admitted. “But I guess if you’re going to use one, maybe (you should) use it early. It stinks, what happened last week. We did a great job through the race of getting (to) where we need to be. Not finishing, obviously, is a bummer. But that’s racing. That’s the way it goes.

“We’re fortunate (that) we’re not as far back out of the lead as I thought we were going to be after we had our problem. So it’s still attainable, for sure. ... You hate to throw points away, but you understand you’re going to have problems. And it’s (about) how you rebound from those problems. Hopefully we can learn from that stuff going forward and respond in a big way.”

Ultimately, Blaney agrees with Buescher on the importance of wins. No matter who ultimately emerges from the 10-race Chase with a championship, the 32-year-old feels they’ll have to earn victories along the way.

“I think you’re going to have to win multiple races in the Chase to keep up,” Blaney admitted. “Big stage days like (recent winners Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson) have had, winning the race. They’ve made up gobs of points.

“You’re going to have to be winning through these 10 weeks, multiple times. Hopefully we can start contributing to that.”

Whether they’’re desperately clinging onto the points lead or trying to make up ground from deep in the Chase standings, everyone in the field of 16 has something significant to race for this weekend in Bristol. The days of arriving at former cutoff races with little to race for besides pride have passed.