NASCAR: 5 bold predictions for the final 5 races of the 2019 regular season

Five races remain before the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. What do those five races have in store? Here are five bold predictions.

Of the 36 races on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, 21 have been completed following this past Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway and heading into this afternoon’s race at Watkins Glen International.

As a result, entering this afternoon’s 90-lap race around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen International road course in Watkins Glen, New York, just five races remain on the regular season schedule. Once the regular season concludes, the 16-driver, four-round, 10-race playoffs are set to commence.

Through the first 21 races of the 26-race regular season, nine drivers have secured playoff berths by winning at least one race, with five of these nine drivers having won multiple races. As a result, there are still seven playoff berths open.

With five races remaining on the regular season schedule, at least two of these positions are guaranteed to be determined based on point totals. With no new winners throughout the remainder of the regular season, however, all seven of them will be determined based on point totals.

So what does the rest of the regular season hold in store?

Here are five bold predictions for the final five races of the 2019 regular season.