NASCAR insiders name playoff drivers who must win at Martinsville

Two NASCAR insiders beleive a few drivers are in must-win mode when they compete at the Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville this Sunday. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic said that Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott need to win to clinch a playoff spot based on where they are in the standings and the points they need. They also talked about Denny Hamlin who is 18 points below the playoff cut line.

“The problem is 18 points you at it and you’re like okay 18 points, gonna finish well. This is Denny Hamlin at Martinsville, he’s gonna finish well in the first stage, he’s gonna finish well in the second stage. You’re going to get points that way, and then maybe you leave there with a top-five finish. You’re like ‘Hey, that’s a great points day for us,'” Bianchi said. “But you need help. To overcome that points deficit, you also have to assume then that either not only [William] Byron but even [Kyle] Larson to some degree is going to also not have to get stage points and have a bad finish on top of it.

“…I think if you’re Denny Hamlin you have to go here thinking win because Byron won there in the spring. …You have to expect that William Byron is going to be strong there. Kyle Larson is good there. I just think that if you’re Denny Hamlin, you can’t bank on Byron and/or Lason having bad days. You need to go there and win.”

Can Denny Hamlin win the NASCAR playoff race at Martinsville?

Gluck also thinks that Hamlin is in must-win mode to clinch a playoff spot. “I certainly think if you’re Denny, you’re going there thinking we have to win, even if it turns out that you don’t,” Gluck said. “…We’ve seen people get in trouble, we’ve seen multiple drivers have problems, but you certainly can’t count on that at Martinsville, especially given who you’re racing. You’re not racing any slouches or something. …I certainly think you go there having to win.”

Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick have clinched spots in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (or Championship 4) since they won the last two playoff races. Christopher Bell and Byron are in third and fourth place in the standings and Larson, Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott are the four drivers below the cut line. The Martinsville race will take place on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.