NASCAR Truck Series: 2019 playoffs could very well be winners only

The past few races have shown that the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs could very well end up being a “winners only” playoffs.

Through the first 13 races of the 16-race 2019 NASCAR Truck Series regular season leading up to the seven-race playoffs, all drivers who are not in the top four in the championship standings and have not yet won a race this season are below the playoff cut line, which is between the eighth and ninth place drivers in the playoff picture.

Five championship-eligible drivers have won at least one races so far this season to lock themselves into the playoffs, leaving just three spots open for drivers to qualify for the playoffs based on their point totals.

With three races remaining in the regular season, the playoffs could very well end up being a winners-only playoffs with eight regular season winners.

Here is how the playoff picture currently looks among drivers who are currently above the playoff cut line or within two races’ worth of points below the cut line.

NOTE: PP = playoff points

Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer – Points (Difference)
1st – Brett Moffitt – #24, GMS Racing, Chevrolet – 501 (1 win, 11 PP (-))
2nd – Johnny Sauter – #13, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 373 (1 win, 8 PP (-3))
3rd – Austin Hill – #16, Hattori Racing Enterprises, Toyota – 412 (1 win, 5 PP (-6))
4th – Tyler Ankrum – #17, DGR-Crosley, Toyota – 259 (1 win, 5 PP (-6))
5th – Ross Chastain – #45, Niece Motorsports, Chevrolet – 168 (1 win, 5 PP (-6))
6th – Grant Enfinger – #98, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 542 (+94)
7th – Stewart Friesen – #52, Halmar Friesen Racing, Chevrolet – 508 (+60)
8th – Matt Crafton – #88, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 492 (+44)
————————— PLAYOFF CUT LINE —————————
9th – Harrison Burton – #18, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota – 448 (-44)
10th – Ben Rhodes – #99, ThorSport Racing, Ford – 444 (-48)
11th – Todd Gilliland – #4, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota – 392 (-100)
12th – Sheldon Creed – #2, GMS Racing, Chevrolet – 387 (-105)

Three of the last four races have been won by drivers who entered the races without any victories to lock them into the playoffs, and two of these three drivers aren’t even in the top 11 in the championship standings.

Meanwhile, only one driver who sits in the top six in the championship standings has won a race this season. Only three of these other top six drivers would be in the playoffs if they started today.

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GMS Racing’s Brett Moffitt won the race at Iowa Speedway after Niece Motorsports’ Ross Chastain was stripped of a dominant victory when his truck failed post-race inspection. Chastain then won the race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway before Moffitt won again in the race at Chicagoland Speedway. DGR-Crosley’s Tyler Ankrum then won the race at Kentucky Speedway.

While Moffitt sits in third place in the championship standings, Ankrum sits in 12th and Chastain sits in 18th having just officially secured his playoff eligibility by breaking to the top 20. Both Ankrum and Chastain were late additions to the full-time Truck Series field, with Ankrum having to sit out the season’s first three races since he was not yet 18 years old and Chastain only declaring for Truck Series points following the season’s first eight races.

If new winners keep emerging throughout the regular season’s final three races, we could be in for a winners-only playoffs, and given the fact that five of the top six drivers in the championship standings have not yet been victories this season, it is not hard to envision three of them winning  before the regular season ends.

Three of these drivers, the other three who sit in the top four in the championship standings aside of Moffitt, own the top three average finishing positions so far this season as well.

Fourth place driver Matt Crafton of ThorSport Racing has recorded a top average finishing position of 6.92 while first and second place drivers Grant Enfinger of ThorSport Racing and Stewart Friesen of Halmar Friesen Racing have recorded the second and third place average finishing positions of 7.77 and 7.85, respectively.

It would not be wise to count out the other two drivers in the top six in the championship standings from winning one of the season’s final three races either.

Fifth place Harrison Burton of Kyle Busch Motorsports has recorded six top five finishes so far this season, including four in the last five races, while Rhodes has recorded five, two totals that are tied for third and sixth among all drivers. Burton’s average finishing position is also an impressive 9.85, the sixth best among all drivers.

Which three drivers will join Brett Moffitt, Johnny Sauter, Austin Hill, Tyler Ankrum and Ross Chastain in the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs? Will these three drivers be the race winners of the regular season’s final three races, or will any of them manage to qualify for the playoffs based on their point totals?