Heading into the final race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8, only two of the four Championship 4 berths have been clinched.
Only one of the three races on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8 schedule remains before the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This race, the Can-Am 500, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 11 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
Following the second race of the round of 8, the AAA Texas 500, at Texas Motor Speedway, only two drivers have clinched berths in the Championship 4. These two drivers are the two drivers who won the first two races of the round of 8.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway to clinch a berth in the Championship 4 while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick won the AAA Texas 500 to do so.
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However, neither of the two drivers who are currently above the Championship 4 cut line and have not yet won a race in the round of 8 have clinched a berth in the Championship 4. Of these two drivers, who are Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., Busch has scored more points up to this point in the round of 8.
Busch sits in third place in the playoff picture, as he trails only Logano and Harvick. He sits just 28 points ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch, who is the first driver below the Championship 4 cut line. Kurt Busch currently sits in fifth in the playoff picture.
Because of the fact that there is a maximum of 60 points on the table for each driver in each race and a maximum of 55 points on the table for each driver who does not win it, as stage wins are worth 10 points each, race wins are worth 40 points and second place finishes are worth 35 points, not even Kyle Busch has mathematically clinched a berth in the Championship 4 heading into the 500-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) ISM Raceway oval.
As a result, neither has Truex Jr., who currently sits 25 points ahead of Kurt Busch. Of the four drivers who are currently below the Championship 4 cut line, only two can possibly clinch a berth in the Championship 4 without winning the Can-Am 500, as Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer cannot. The two who have a chance to do so are Kurt Busch and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott.
Which two drivers will join Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a chance to win the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship? Be sure to tune in to NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 11 for the live broadcast of the Can-Am 500 from ISM Raceway to find out.