NASCAR insiders predict Championship 4 after Roval eliminations

Two NASCAR insiders predict which drivers will reach the Championship 4 after four drivers were eliminated at the Roval on Sunday. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic revealed the four drivers who they think will compete in the NASCAR Championship race at Phoenix Raceway.

“My final four has not changed from before the playoffs,” Gluck said. “I have [Kyle] Larson, I have [Tyler] Reddick, I have [Christopher] Bell and I have [Ryan] Blaney. I have Bell winning as I’ve been saying all along because of Bell’s prowess on those type of tracks Phoenix will be decided on. That is my pick.

“As I’ve said before the season, even on Denny [Hamlin’s] podcast when he had us on to announce that we were coming over to Dirty Mo and all that stuff, I said I’m not picking Denny to win the championship. I’m not even picking him to make the final four because something always happens to him.”

Who will win NASCAR’s Championship 4?

Bianchi went on to make his Championship 4 picks. “My final four, Bell, Larson, Hamlin, Blaney,” he revealed. Bianchi went on to talk about Alex Bowman being too “Cinderella” for him, but that was moments before NASCAR announced his disqualification from the Roval race, which led to his playoff elimination. Bianchi also talked about Round of 8 playoff driver Chase Elliott and said he led just one lap in postseason racing.

The eight drivers that are still in the playoffs are Bell, Larson, Blaney, Hamlin, Reddick, Elliott, William Bryon and Joey Logano. The standings have Larson, Bell Reddick and Byron in the top four, but that will change in the next three races. Of the eight drivers, four (Larson, Blaney, Elliott and Logano) have won a championship.

“I feel like our chances are as good as anyone,” Hamlin told reporters before the playoffs when asked about his chances to win the title. “Now, I would say that the 45 (Tyler Reddick), the 20 (Christopher Bell), the 5 (Kyle Larson) have a better chance because they have more Playoff points going into the Playoffs. But, ultimately, we’re one of the very few cars that can win any given week. So, no matter what points position we might find ourselves in, and we will be in a precarious points position at some point in the Playoffs. We always feel like we can go to the next track and win, so that’s on something that only a few cars can do.”