Below The Cutline: 23XI And Others Looking For Answers in Kansas

Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain are two Playoff drivers below the cutline after New Hampshire, who are looking to turn things around this weekend at Kansas Speedway. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs began with so much hope and optimism for the 12 drivers and teams, who survived the Round of 16 elimination cuts. However, after a tough opening race last Sunday's Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the four sitting below the cutline are going to have to wake up, and in a hurry if they want to continue their Playoff aspirations into the Round of 8.

Standings: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid After New Hampshire

Ryan Blaney has no such worry as he locked himself into the Round of 8 with his third win of the season a weekend ago. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse has kept the battle for a fourth consecutive championship for Team Penske alive.

Several other drivers had great runs at the 1.058-mile oval in New Hampshire last Sunday, which has set them up to be well-positioned in the Playoff Standings heading into the second of three races in the Round of 12.

William Byron, the regular-season champion, put in his career-best performance at New Hampshire with a third-place result. Thanks to that solid performance, he sits 47 points above the Playoff cutline heading into the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

Likewise, Kyle Larson, Byron's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, had a solid afternoon and finished sixth, which allows him to carry a 41-point advantage over the cutline into this weekend's race.

Christopher Bell (+29 points), Denny Hamlin (+27), and Joey Logano (+24) are all relatively safe for now, while Chase Elliott (+14) and Chase Briscoe (+12) aren't feeling quite as secure, currently.

However, at least they all find themselves with their heads above water. That isn't the case for the other four drivers on the Playoff Grid heading into Sunday's 400-mile contest at Kansas Speedway.

Ross Chastain (-12 points to cutline)

It's important to aknowledge that while Chastain enters Kansas Speedway below the cutline, he didn't suffer from a horrendous afternoon at New Hampshire. The Trackhouse Racing driver collected a ninth-place finish, but on a day that was great overall for the majority of the Playoff contenders, Chastain scored zero Stage Points, which is the main reason he's sitting outside the cutline.

And how he ended up with no Stage Points at New Hampshire is perplexing.

The storyline for Chastain and his No. 1 team this season has been their lack of execution in qualifying on Saturdays, which has forced them into playing catch-up in the race on Sundays. This past week, however, they nailed a decent qualifying run and started eighth. However, they weren't able to maintain the solid track position with a tight-handling condition and were unable to convert any Stage Points.

“I thought we had a respectable race. Our No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet was too tight for most of the race. We spent most of the race trying to get it to turn better. But once we got that better, we went back forward," Chastain explained. "When we were too tight, we went backward. I think we just started the day overall too tight and needed to get some wedge out throughout the race, but it just took us a little while. We’ll take a top-10 finish and go back to work to get ready for Kansas."

Chastain and the No. 1 team will need to have a decent result this weekend in order to put themselves in a position to have a chance to advance to the Round of 8 of the Playoffs next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.

Austin Cindric (-19 points to cutline)

Some had Cindric on their list of drivers, who would fail to make it out of the Round of 16, but the No. 2 Team Penske group have had improved speed this season. Unfortunately, on a weekend, where every other Penske and Penske-adjacent team excelled at New Hampshire, Cindric and the No. 2 group fell flat.

It all started with qualifying, where it looked like Cindric was trending for the provisional pole, but he got loose in Turns 3 and 4, and would be relegated to starting from the 22nd spot. All race long, they weren't able to really make much ground, and as the checkered flag was waved, Cindric was credited with a 17th-place finish.

"I think between screwing up qualifying on my end, I thought we had a great long run car with our Autotrader Ford Mustang, just weren’t able to capitalize on it," Cindric said. "I felt like I really struggled to get going, so not enough positives to outweigh the negatives."

While it wasn't a stellar day for Cindric, the driver doesn't feel that he and his team need to hit the panic button just yet as they feel like they're still within striking distance of the cutline at just 19 points back.

“I think this weekend is proof. You can’t take anything for granted, but I don’t think we’re in a position to be desperate," Cindric explained. "We’ve just got to go out the next two weekends and do better than we did this weekend. If we have a repeat of this weekend, it’s not gonna be enough to make it through. We’re capable of it, and I believe in that. I feel good about Kansas.”

Tyler Reddick (-23 points to cutline)

Tyler Reddick started the race with what seemed to be a solidly fast No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota in the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire, but a familiar mechanical gremlin came up and bit him. The driver, who has experienced brake issues at points this season, radioed early in the first Stage that he felt his brake pedal was going soft.

The driver would be able to nurse his fading brakes to the conclusion of the race, but was unable to muster anything better than a 21st-place finish. Reddick was less than pleased at the conclusion of the race.

“I didn’t expect that – that’s for sure. The way the race started, I thought we were going to be able to run in the top 10 all day, but between the brake issues we had and – it just got away quickly," Reddick said. "The balance went away, and then next thing you know, we were trying to battle for 20th. Just [a] terrible day.”

Moving forward, 23XI Racing has had great runs at Kansas Speedway in the past, but Reddick has reason to come into Sunday's race nervous.

“Yeah, there’s just a lot of question marks, honestly. Places we have had speed at, we don’t bring speed. That’s been one of them for us," Reddick explained. "Yeah, we need something special to happen. I’m hoping we find the answer.”

Bubba Wallace (-27 points to cutline)

Bubba Wallace came into the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire above the Playoff cutline, and he had all sorts of momentum on his side after an excellent performance through the Round of 16. Now, he heads into the second race of the Round of 12, the last guy in the standings, and he sits 27 points outside of the cutline following a poor 26th-place showing.

“Just a miss all around, really," Wallace said of his day at New Hampshire. "We couldn’t really seem to get things going. Our best run lasted for five laps, the caution came out, and then it was just right back to no good. I hate it. I felt really optimistic and marched forward at the start, and it just never really went anywhere. We kind of plateaued on lap 5, and that was it."

Like Reddick, Wallace felt the day was a bit of a head-scratcher, but Wallace is confident that his team can put forth a better effort this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

"I hate that. It’s just a head scratcher. I told our team we’re way better than that. We know it," Wallace explained. "As much of a gut punch as this one is, we’ll move on. This is what we’ve got to do.”

Sunday's race will be crucial for the Brickyard 400 winner's chances at advancing into the Round of 8 of the Playoffs. Another bad day on Sunday, and he'll have his back against the wall at the Charlotte ROVAL, a track he has not had many great days at.