NASCAR Cup Series: Way-too-early 2018 playoff predictions

By Asher Fair | Dec 1, 2017

HOMESTEAD, FL - NOVEMBER 19: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, celebrates with teammates after he won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 19: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

With the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season having come to a close, here are some way-too-early playoff predictions for the 2018 season.

The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season is officially in the books. With that in mind, it is safe to say that it is not too early to look ahead to next season, particularly as far as the big picture goes in terms of which drivers will get into the playoffs, the Round of 12, the Round of 8 and the Championship 4 — and most importantly, who will be the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Not all of the seats for every single Cup Series team are secured for next season at this point, but most of them are, so the likelihood of a huge announcement coming this offseason that would entirely change the picture of next season is extremely small.

A few notable cars without drivers yet for next season are the #41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, which was driven by Kurt Busch in the 2017 season, the #27 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, which was driven by Paul Menard in the 2017 season, and the #77 Toyota, which was driven by Erik Jones for Furniture Row Racing this season but has been solid to another unnamed team.

The #34 Ford and the #38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, which were driven by Landon Cassill and David Ragan, respectively, in the 2017 season also do not have confirmed drivers for 2018.

Here is what we know so far as far as team lineups go.

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