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Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives surprising take on which NASCAR Playoff drivers are in danger at Bristol

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones09/19/24brianjones_93
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Dale Earnhardt Jr. just made his predictions on which NASCAR playoff drivers will not advance to the round of 12. On the Dale Jr. Download podcast, the NASCAR legend revealed the drivers he believes will be eliminated from the playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Harrison Burton will have a hard time going in and making up 20 points,” Earnhardt said. “I honestly don’t think [Martin] Truex gets it done. Minus 14, that’s a bit of a tall order. I believe Chase Briscoe will struggle to not get kicked out by a Denny Hamlin. Can Denny go in there and make the six points up on Chase Briscoe? Yes. And then I think it’s a bit of a toss-up between Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski.

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“I don’t think Brad beats Denny, but Brad could possibly outpoint Ty Gibbs. Ty’s gonna have to struggle. It’ll be important Ty does not do well in Stage 1 and 2. to give Brad that shot.”

The four drivers who are below the playoff cut line are Hamlin, Keselowski, Truex Jr. and Burton. The interesting about this is when the drivers took part in the Bristol spring race earlier this year, the top three finishers were Hamlin, Truex and Keselowski. However, Earnhardt is not looking at that race to determine who will have success on Sunday because of the tire situation.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares more on NASCAR Cup Series playoffs

“I can’t look at that race and go ‘Yep, that’s a good baseline for how I will think this will go,'” Earnhardt said. “We just don’t know what the tire wear is going to be and whether that’ll be as much of a challenge. If that’s a challenge, then who the hell knows what happens?”

One driver that does not have to worry about his playoff fate is Joey Logano who clinched his spot in the next round after winning the Atlanta playoff race. Last week, Earnhardt talked about Logano’s playoff success despite not having strong regular seasons.

“This is not a new thing, this is exactly how his seasons have gone,” Earnhardt said. “I think even when he won the championship a couple years back, he was like a 12th-place driver all year.”