<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Alex Bowman will have new tire changers, a new tire carrier and a new jackman after his pit crew struggled in the first two playoff races.<\/p>\n
Hyak Motorsports \u2014 Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.\u2019s 20th-place finish last weekend was his best since Atlanta in late June. \u2026 Stenhouse has twice finished runner-up at Bristol (March 2014 and August 2016). Bad news: Stenhouse has finished 20th or worse in 10 of his last 11 Bristol starts on the concrete.<\/p>\n
Joe Gibbs Racing \u2014 Good news: Organization has won the first two playoff races with Chase Briscoe winning at Darlington and Denny Hamlin this past weekend at WWT Raceway. \u2026 Briscoe has scored eight playoff points in the opening round of the playoffs (he had 10 playoff points entering the postseason). \u2026 Briscoe finished fourth at Bristol in April and was eighth at the track last September. \u2026 Hamlin has four wins at Bristol, including three in the last nine races on the concrete surface there. \u2026 Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in six consecutive races at Bristol. \u2026 Christopher Bell has five consecutive top 10s at Bristol. \u2026 Bell has finished in the top three in eight of the 28 races this season. \u2026 Ty Gibbs\u2019 average finish of 13.4 at Bristol is his best among all short tracks. Bad news: After finishing seventh last weekend at WWT Raceway, Bell yelled on his radio: \u201cWe just (expletive) ran seventh with the best car on the track! Every (expletive) week it\u2019s the same (expletive)! We\u2019re the last car to pit road! I\u2019m over it!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Denny Hamlin has fun with fans after another victory but his success shows the depth of his preparation, focus and drive.<\/p>\n Kaulig Racing \u2014 Good news: AJ Allmendinger has two top 10s in his last five Cup starts at Bristol. \u2026 Allmendinger placed ninth at Bristol in April. Bad news: Ty Dillon has finished 30th or worse in four of the last six races. \u2026 Dillon has not scored a top 10 in 40 Cup short track races (his best finish is 13th at Martinsville in March 2019). \u2026 Allmendinger has finished 22nd or worse in five of the last eight races.<\/p>\n Legacy Motor Club \u2014 Good news: Organization has had a car place in the top six in each of the last three races, which is tied for its longest streak of the season. \u2026 John Hunter Nemechek followed his career-best fourth-place finish in the Southern 500 by placing sixth last weekend at WWT Raceway. \u2026 Nemechek\u2019s average finish of 18.6 at Bristol is his best among all Cup short tracks. \u2026 Erik Jones has two top-five finishes in the last three races. Bad news: Jones has placed 20th or worse in each of the last five Bristol races.<\/p>\n Richard Childress Racing \u2014 Good news: Austin Dillon has won two of the last seven Cup races at short tracks. \u2026 Dillon finished 10th at Bristol in April. \u2026 Austin Hill is back in the No. 33 car this weekend, making his fourth start of the season. Bad news: Dillon is the first driver below the playoff cutline, 11 points out of a transfer spot. \u2026 Kyle Busch, who has eight wins at Bristol, has not finished better than 14th in the last six races there. \u2026 Busch does not have a top-10 finish in the last 13 Cup short track races. \u2026 Dillon\u2019s best finish at Bristol (fourth) came in August 2016.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Austin Dillon enters the cutoff race the first driver below the cutline. <\/p>\n Rick Ware Racing \u2014 Good news: Cody Ware\u2019s best Bristol finish is 17th in the 2022 night race. Bad news: Ware has finished 29th or worse in eight of the last nine races.<\/p>\n RFK Racing \u2014 Good news: Chris Buescher has scored three consecutive top-10 finishes. \u2026 Buescher has four top 10s in the last seven Bristol races. \u2026 Brad Keselowski has eight top 10s in the last 16 races. \u2026 Keselowski has three wins at Bristol. \u2026 Ryan Preece finished seventh in last year\u2019s night race, his best Bristol result in nine starts on the concrete surface. \u2026 Preece ranks second in the series in laps completed, having run 7,071 of 7,118 laps (99.34%). Bad news: Buescher has failed to finish in the top 10 in the last nine short track races.<\/p>\n Spire Motorsports \u2014 Good news: Michael McDowell has finished 11th or better in five of the last seven Bristol races. \u2026 Carson Hocevar has five top-15 finishes in the last seven races. Bad news: Justin Haley has finished 27th or worse in four of the last five races.<\/p>\n Team Penske \u2014 Good news: Both of Austin Cindric\u2019s top-five finishes at short tracks have come in his last five starts. \u2026 Ryan Blaney has finished sixth or better in the last two Bristol races. \u2026 Blaney has led 555 laps at Bristol, most for him at any Cup track. \u2026 Blaney\u2019s three short track wins have come in his last 12 Cup races. \u2026 Joey Logano has two top-five finishes in the last four races. Bad news: Logano has finished outside the top 20 at Bristol in the last five races and finished outside the top 10 there in the last nine races on the concrete surface. \u2026 While Logano has five short track wins, his last one came in October 2018 at Martinsville. \u2026 Cindric, who holds the final transfer spot to the next round of the playoffs, has not finished in the top 10 in five starts at Bristol.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n