Below the Cutline: Two Former Champions On Outside Looking In

Casey Calhoun | Racing America On SI

After last Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, the Playoffs Round of 8 field has officially been set. Among the eight drivers remaining from the 16-driver pool that started chasing a title in September are four former NASCAR Cup Series champions, and honestly, no real underdogs among the list of eight drivers, who will continue their quest for the Bill France Cup at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.

Standings: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid After Charlotte Roval

Unlike the previous rounds of this iteration of the Playoffs, things have tightened up quite a bit, which means nobody, including top-seeded driver Denny Hamlin, is feeling comfortable heading into Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hamlin holds just an eight-point advantage over the cutline, while 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney sits at six points to the good, and 2021 champion Kyle Larson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, sit four points above the cutline.

There's hardly any margin for error among the four above the cutline, but, aside from Christopher Bell, those below the cutline have some work to do in their own right to ramp up the pressure on the competition in the race for a Championship 4 berth. But fortunately for them all, they all come into the round with momentum, or at the very least, they have a history of being clutch when it matters most in the elimination-style Playoff format.

Christopher Bell (-4 points to cutline)

Christopher Bell is undoubtedly the biggest threat to the four drivers above the cutline, as he sits just four points below, and the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE has shown a penchant for coming through in the clutch during his career in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Along with Kyle Larson, Bell was the only driver, who truly looked capable of contending for the win against Shane van Gisbergen last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Ultimately, Bell ended the day with a third-place result, which marks his second consecutive third-place run.

Bell comes into the Round of 8 on a bit of a hotstreak as he has five consecutive top-10 finishes heading into Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas, and three of them, including a win at Bristol Motor Speedway, have been finishes of third or better.

The driver, who has four wins on the season, looks poised to break through for another this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he led 155 laps en route to a runner-up finish last year. Bell is looking to avenge a disappointing exit from the Round of 8 a season ago, where he was eliminated in controversial fashion after a lot of manufacturer team orders allowed William Byron to advance over him.

Chase Elliott (-14 points to cutline)

Like Bell, Chase Elliott has been one of the most consistent drivers in the last five races of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Elliott, who incredibly went from 10th-place on the final restart to score his second win of the season a couple of races ago at Kansas Speedway, has three top-five finishes and four top-10s over his last five starts.

Unfortunately, Elliott finds himself 14 points below the cutline heading into the Round of 8, mostly due to a lack of Playoff Points accumulated through the 26 races in the regular-season. Still, he's performing well enough now, that it feels like 14 points is nothing close to insurmountable for Elliott.

This round of the Playoffs also contains events at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway, tracks that Elliott has combined to win three races at through his NASCAR Cup Series career. That being said, Elliott has not been as formidable at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the site of this weekend's Round of 8 opener.

If Elliott can get through this weekend within touch of the cutline, he could find himself competing for a second career NASCAR Cup Series title come Phoenix Raceway time. But it all starts this weekend.

Chase Briscoe (-14 points to cutline)

With seven poles, 13 top-fives, and 17 top-10 finishes, it's been a great first year for Chase Briscoe at Joe Gibbs Racing. However, with how good his season has been, he unfortunately hasn't stacked a lot of Playoff Points with just two wins on his record.

That's why he finds himself 14 points below the cutline heading into Sunday's South Point 400. That being said, Briscoe has really been in the groove lately. Prior to a 14th-place finish last weekend at the Charlotte Roval, Briscoe was carrying a five-race top-10 finishing streak, which included a win at Darlington, a second-place at Gateway, and a fourth-place run at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

Briscoe will look to bring more speed to another 1.5-mile speedway this weekend in Sin City, and if the driver can continue his insane run of qualifying results, his weekend will be started off on the right foot to allow him to collect Stage Points, and possibly be in contention for a race win.

Even at 14 points behind the cutline, there's no panic yet for Briscoe and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Joey Logano (-24 points to cutline)

Then there is Joey Logano, a three-time and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. As was the case a season ago, the Team Penske driver comes into this weekend with the worst season-long resume of any driver in the Round of 8 Playoff field. But just like last season, you'd be foolish to count him out, even though he's 24 points below the cutline.

Related: Where There's A Will, Joey Logano Finds A Way (To Advance)

Prior to back-to-back runs of 21st and 20th at Kansas Speedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Logano put up three consecutive top-five finishes at Gateway, Bristol, and New Hampshire. Now, he heads to Las Vegas, a track where he has won four times in his career, and a track that launched him into the Championship 4 a season ago, where he would close out a third career championship.

Paul Wolfe is one of the most aggressive crew chiefs in the garage from a strategic standpoint, so, even if Logano doesn't bring a whole lot of speed to the 1.5-mile track in Las Vegas, don't count him out for the win until the checkered flag flies. Wolfe used fuel strategy to allow Logano to collect a win in this event a year ago, and it could very well come down to that again.

If Logano fails this weekend, he still has two more very strong tracks, historically, to try to make something happen at with Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway on the docket.

With the level of performance and historical clutch performances under the belts of each of the drivers below the cutline, this could prove to be the most tense Round of 8 in NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs history.