Ahead of the beginning of the NASCAR Playoffs, Kyle Petty has some thoughts about what will make drivers successful in the first round. Coming into Darlington and the Cook Out Southern 500, playoff drivers will have to be ready to earn their spots in the Round of 12.
With a little bit of a playoff preview, Kyle Petty laid down his feelings about the postseason. He’s been around a while and has seen the playoffs go every which way. So, he might know a thing or two.
Darlington is very important.
“As I look at the playoffs this round if you look at Darlington, Kansas, and Bristol. It’s a tough round. You have old-school our first superspeedway, Darlington. First superspeedway wever in NASCAR. We have Kansas which is a new market, even though we’ve been there for a while this racetrack is worn out, slick, hard to get a grip on. Then you’ve got good ole Bristol, man, it’s Bristol, baby! You’ve gotta make something happen.
“So, in this round, each one of these drivers has to come out of this round with as many points as possible,” Petty said in a video. “Or that elusive win. And that’s going to be tough for that bottom four. IF I look at Kevin and Michael and Bubba and Rickey Stenhouse, it’s going to be tough for those guys, I believe to win in this first round. They’ve gotta garner as many points as they can.
“First race, first round, always critical. I’m not worried about Truex, I’m not worried about Byron, I’m not worried about Denny at this point. But somebody’s gotta make something happen at Darlington to move on to the next round. And it’s going to be interesting to see if it’s one of our playoff contenders.”
Kyle Petty is right, Darlington is important
Of course, each of the next 10 races are important for these playoff drivers, but Darlington is where it all starts. You can fall behind early, and even if you make it to the next round, you might not make it to the round after that if you can’t perform well in the first couple of races.
A win gets you into the next round automatically. So, there is always that option for drivers. However, ask Chase Elliott how easy it is to get a walk-off win when you need it the most.
Darlington is a track that can get drivers into trouble if they aren’t careful. The Lady in Black will ruin your day in the blink of an eye if you aren’t careful and keep your wheels under you. Even for drivers in the top half of the standings, a DNF will ruin a playoff run.
Kyle Petty pointed out how tough it will be for those bottom four drivers in the standings. However, Bubba Wallace won at Kansas last season in this race. He was P5 at Darlington and top-5 at Kansas again this season. Out of Wallace, Stenhouse, McDowell, and Harvick, the 23 might have the best chance to win a race in the first round.
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