The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is heading into its final race of the Round of 12 on Sunday.
NASCAR will head to the final road course of the season for the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, better known as the Roval.
The track is bound to present a significant challenge for the drivers and will no doubt play host to another dramatic race in 2024 as the playoff competitors battle it out for a place in the Round of Eight.
After another chaotic race at Talladega last weekend, the standings have been blown wide open and left some drivers feeling a lot more confident than others going into the Roval.
But who is in danger of elimination the most? Who will the pressure be on to keep themselves in the running, and who will be feeling, to a certain extent, more relaxed heading into the race?
Which NASCAR playoff drivers are in danger of elimination?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr claimed his first win of the 2024 season at Talladega and subsequently became the third non-playoff driver to win a playoff race following Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain.
Stenhouse Jr managed to avoid the biggest wreck in Talladega history as 28 cars were caught up in an incident with five laps to go.
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Many playoff drivers were not as fortunate, as their involvement in the crash has left them staring down the barrel of elimination and leaving them with it all to do at the Roval.
For Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric, it is effectively a case of winning the race or face being knocked out of the playoffs. Cindric was the initiator of the 28-car pile-up as he was hit by Brad Keselowski and sent spinning into the pack, with Briscoe being caught up in it.
The duo sit 32 and 29 points behind eighth place Chase Elliott – who also retired in the wreck – putting them in serious trouble heading into the next race.
Daniel Suarez was also caught up in the accident in what was a miserable afternoon for the Mexican. Suarez spun out while being lapped at stage one and ended up finishing 26th after the ‘big one’, leaving him 20 points behind Elliott.
Joey Logano is sat ninth and 13 points behind Elliott. While that is a gap that can be made up, Elliott and Tyler Reddick – who is one point ahead in seventh – have a good record on road courses this year and will be tough to beat to make up those points to advance further.
With so much at stake for these drivers, expect potentially an even more aggressive race from them at the Roval as they desperately fight to keep their championship hopes alive.
Which drivers will be feeling more comfortable than others heading into the Roval?
Meanwhile, some playoff drivers have built themselves a nice cushion at the front after managing to avoid the chaos at Talladega.
William Byron has already confirmed his place in the next round as he came home third at Talladega. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports drivers leads the standings going into the Roval, 74 points ahead of Logano in the cut-off zone.
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It is also looking quite good for Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson in second and third. The duo finished sixth and fourth respectively last time out and their 57 and 52-point gap between them and elimination will most likely be enough to see them through.
Denny Hamlin finished 10th at Talladega and is 22 points behind Larson in fourth. Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney are four and five points behind him, and while their totals in theory should be enough, not everything is guaranteed and they will still have to perform to secure their spot in the next round.
NASCAR is far from predictable and results can change in an instant; the Roval is a track that can cause a huge stir in the standings at any point. With so much at stake, a dramatic race can surely be expected as 12 will become eight as the chequered flag falls.