The NASCAR Playoffs are here and the top drivers shared their hopes and expectations for the next 10 races on the schedule. Shane van Gisbergen through Austin Cindric are describing what kind of mindset they are in, what they will focus on, and how confident they are about making a deep playoff run.
10. Austin Cindric: Playing the long game
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Austin Cindric is happy to be the underdog. “I’d love to be invisible for the first two rounds and then I’ll make it to the Round of 8,” he said (via Toby Christie) . For him it’s not about, it’s more about making it through the playoff format than winning races: “It’s such a tough format to push through but I really do feel like the cream rises to the top in these situations.
As far as being a champion or not being a champion but having that shot to push through the entire season to make the Championship 4 is a big deal in my book.”
Bubba Wallace: Feeling Good
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Bubba Wallace goes into the playoffs feeling good after a stress-free month. “”Now, I just came off a month-long stress-free stretch. So, I think getting to experience that was really, really nice,” he said.
As for the coming races, he trusts his team: “We’ve had speed at almost every track on the circuit for the next 10 weeks, so it just takes that little bit more. It takes beating the other 15 guys you’re racing against to do that. And, yes, we’ve had the speed to do that. We’ve got to clean up the execution standpoint and go capitalize on that.”
Wallace knows it’s tough but he thinks discipline will get him wins.
Chase Briscoe: Confident in his team
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Chase Briscoe sees his #19 team as a totally different team than they were at the beginning of the year. “It’s a totally different race team than it was at the beginning of the year…confidence, everything,” he said.
Briscoe is realistic but ambitious, and said, “Here if you don’t make the Round of 8 that’s kind of a failure on the year. For me, think we’re fully capable of making it to the final four. From a speed standpoint, I would say arguably we are one of the better cars kind of week in and week out, it’s just a matter of putting the whole race together.”
Chase Elliott: 10 Week Playoff Marathon
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Chase Elliott has one win and is relying on consistency. “Well, I think understanding that, you know, 10 weeks is a long time. Like, that’s a lot of racing, and it’s almost enough time for someone to have a good few weeks, go through a stretch of not so good weeks and then get good again,” he.
“Yeah, I mean, consistency’s great, but it’s not the end goal by any stretch,” Elliott said. “Pace can save a lot of things, and we need to have some more pace. So hopefully we can gather some in, and put together some extra pace with the consistency, but it’s going to take both.”
Shane van Gisbergen: Dominant on road courses, eyeing same success on ovals
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The Trackhouse Racing rookie has found success on road courses, but has struggled on ovals. Van Gisbergen has four road course wins with 22 playoff points.
He has made his way into the playoffs, but he does not have the finish on the ovals he wants with an average finish outside of the top 20. “We gotta have three decent finishes, and we’ll be able to get through the round,” he said.
Experts are split on whether van Gisbergen can go on to be successful, but van Gisbergen is fine with just focusing on minimizing mistakes and the progress made on ovals is still moving him in the right direction.
My love for motorsports started in my childhood in Tunisia, watching races with my family. Fast forward to today, … More about Farah Ben Gamra