Potential 2025 NASCAR Playoff SPOILERS

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 25: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, crosses the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford, to win the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 25, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

What’s Happening?

With only a few races left before the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, many driver’s attentions turn from accruing enough points to make the Playoffs to winning a race. There are a few races coming up in the regular season that could produce a Wild Card winner, spoiling the Playoff party for plenty of drivers, and these drivers are the most likely to play spoiler.

  • In order to be a “Playoff spoiler”, a driver needs to be well out of the Playoff hunt. Drivers currently in the Playoffs as of this writing (July 5, 2024), will not be eligible for this list.
  • This year has seen some big upsets. Most notably, Daniel Suarez won at Atlanta and Austin Cindric took home the checkered flag at Gateway. Joey Logano also scored a win at Nashville after being out of the Playoffs for a good chunk of 2024.
  • Fans are always anticipating Playoff spoilers. Every year, someone jumps up and gets that clutch win to get into the Playoffs, and there are plenty of drivers out there who can still do that.

Michael McDowell

Anytime the Cup Series rocks up to a “Wild card” track like a road course or superspeedway, Michael McDowell is near the top of the list of potential upsets. It makes sense, as it has one win on a superspeedway and one on a road course at the Cup Series level. He also has three poles, meaning he has a lot of pure speed, and that, combined with a road course plus a superspeedway on the remaining schedule, makes him a threat.

Bubba Wallace

It’s strange to see Bubba Wallace on the “Spoilers” list, but he is currently nearly a full race out of the Playoffs. Sure, he can point his way in, but a win does help. He has the equipment to do it, and he has some good tracks coming up, like Daytona and Pocono.

Austin Dillon

Austin Dillon has two career superspeedway wins, and he produced NASCAR’s equivalent of a walk-off home run by winning the final race of the regular season in 2022 to make the Playoffs. He could easily do that again, but it has been a trying year. Sitting outside the top 30 in points, Dillon does need a miracle to make the Playoffs.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Never count out Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on superspeedways, with Daytona remaining in the regular season. He has three career wins, all on superspeedways, including two at Daytona. Even if this year has not been as strong as last year, Stenhouse Jr. can do it.

Josh Berry

Josh Berry has one big ace up his sleeve: short tracks. He spent most of his adult life racing late models on short tracks, and he has a pair of short track top-10s this season, with a seventh at Iowa and a third at Loudon. With Richmond still on the schedule, Berry is looking at that date to make some hay.

Ryan Preece

Like Berry, Ryan Preece is a shot track ace, and he showed that last year. He won the pole and led 141 laps at Martinsville before a speeding penalty, and he finished in the top five at Richmond in the summer. Look where they’re going on August 11th, Richmond.

Erik Jones

While 2024 has been a disappointment so far for Legacy Motor Club, Erik Jones has his two best tracks, Daytona and Darlington, left on the regular season schedule. These are venues where he has scored each of his three Cup Serres wins, so that’s exactly what he might need.

Chase Briscoe

Chase Briscoe is the top SHR driver in points right now, and that performance alone makes him a threat. He came close to a win at New Hampshire, and he finished in the top five at Darlington, the place where the regular season finale is.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch has had an abysmal season in 2024, and he’s primarily on this list because he’s the winningest active driver in the Cup Series. He’s had moments of speed, such as a top-five at Dover and nearly finishing in the top three at Nashville, but there is not much left on the schedule to be excited about. At the end of the day, however, he’s still Kyle Busch.

Corey LaJoie

Corey LaJoie still has one big chance left on the 2024 schedule: Daytona. He finished fourth at the Daytona 500 in February, making him a definite threat. However, that could be the only real shot he has, given how he’s been running.

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O’Reilly: Corey Day Triggers Big Wreck Early at EchoPark Speedway

What’s Happening?

After a mild start to the afternoon with a rather tame Truck Series race, it didn’t take long for things to get wild in Atlanta. Racing for a top 10 spot, Corey Day tried to squeeze his nose into an opening where it wouldn’t fit. As a result, a massive wreck broke out along the frontstretch. Here’s what went down.

  • Corey Day looked unstable from the jump as he was racing in the middle of the pack. He was able to work his way up to just outside the top 10. Around him, Ryan Sieg got a huge run. Now realizing that the No. 39 was beside him, Day turned him straight into the outside SAFER Barrier.
  • This caused a huge multi-car incident which collected the likes of Ryan Sieg’s brother, Kyle, Harrison Burton, and Blaine Perkins, who was coming off a top 10 run at Daytona.
  • Understandably, Ryan Sieg was very upset over the radio. He did suffer a brutally hard impact. In his radio communication, he heavily criticized Corey Day, stating that every week he’s in the middle of some sort of on-track incident.
  • Sieg is also the owner of his and his brother’s cars. This will be a tough one to swallow at the office next week.

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What to Keep an Eye Out For in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway

What’s Happening?

We’re halfway through this Double Header Fast Saturday at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). The Truck race was rather tame. Now, it’s time for the stars of tomorrow! The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series takes to the track for their second race of the season at 5 PM EST on the CW. Here’s what you need to know going in.

  • Shockingly, neither of the RCR cars is starting today’s race in the top 5. The best of them, defending series champion Jesse Love, is rolling off in the 10th position. Five rows behind him is his teammate and dominator from last week in Daytona, Austin Hill. They were the overwhelming favorites to win today, so it will be interesting to see if they can get their RCR Chevys dialed in today.
  • Their misfortune is Sam Mayer’s gain. After a controversial incident last week with Natalie Decker, Sam put his No. 41 Chevy on the front row. Starting not too far behind in 5th is his teammate Sheldon Creed in the No. 00. It’ll be interesting to see how those two Chevys work together in the draft.
  • The JGR Duo of Taylor Gray and Williams Sawalich also showed some speed in yesterday’s qualifying session. They roll off 3rd and 5th, respectively. Meanwhile, their teammates Gio Ruggiero (doing double duty in the No. 19) and Brandon Jones roll off 7th and 15th. How will they fare in the draft? Will they be able to handle?
  • From the JRM stable, Carson Kvapil starts the best. He managed to put his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy on the front row, starting 2nd. Rajah Caruth is next, rolling off 6th. Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier roll off 8th and 11th, respectively.
  • Cody Ware is the lone Cup driver in the field today. He’s driving the No. 30 car and will roll off in the 36th position.
  • The weather has been a story all day. However, the radar looks good to get all the laps in, likely under the lights tonight in Hotlanta.

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HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 21: Kyle Busch, driver of the #7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 Racing 208 at Echo Park Speedway on February 21, 2026 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Trucks: Kyle Busch Wins Tame, Time-Shortened Race at EchoPark Speedway

What’s Happening?

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) is officially in the books! For the third race in a row, it’s Kyle “Rowdy” Busch hoisting the checkered flag in victory lane. Here’s everything that went down.

  • In the first stage of the race, it was the ThorSport duo of Ben Rhodes and Jake Garcia who dominated. However, despite that tandem running strong at the front of the pack, Kyle Busch in his No. 7 Spire HendrickCars.com Chevy was able to hold his own by himself on the bottom, often challenging for the race lead. However, it was the 2025 series champ Corey Heim who claimed the green and white checkered flag by the end of the stage. He was driving the No. 1 TriCon Garage entry, methodically working his way through the pack.
  • Stage 2 was a little more contested than Stage 1. After grueling months in rehab after shattering his pelvis and breaking his back, Stewart Friesen is back in the No. 52 Toyota. He flexed some muscle today after coming up short to Kyle Busch one year ago. He claimed Stage 2, earning valuable stage points.
  • Christian Eckes is back in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year. Unfortunately for him, his 2025 woes in the O’Reilly Series carried through to 2026. He exited the race on Lap 4 due to a broken driveshaft.
  • As far as on-track incidents go, there weren’t too many. Adam Andretti went for a single-truck spin in the early laps of a race. It didn’t even trigger a caution. The big crash of the day featured Dawson Sutton, who crashed hard in the outside wall in the dogleg. He was okay. Cole Butcher and Kris Wright were also involved.
  • In the end, though, it was Kyle Busch who stood tall in EchoPark victory lane, working in tandem with his Spire teammate, Carson Hocevar. This marks Busch’s 68 career Truck Series victory, first all-time. It is also his first Atlanta win in a row in the series.
  • Technically, the race ended around 10 laps shy of the scheduled distance. This was due to the amount of time allotted to run the race. NASCAR opted to throw the white flag with 11 laps to go.

Results

Points Standing (2 of 25)

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