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

Somebody from outside the top 16 wins a race

As far as the points battle goes to get into the playoffs, there are essentially two drivers who are still in that battle but below the playoff cut line. Everybody from 19th place and below in the championship standings pretty much needs to win a race in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson is the first driver below the playoff cut line in 17th place. He trails Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, who are tied for 15th on the playoff bubble, by just 12 points (532 to 520). A further 19 points behind Johnson is Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez with 501 points.

Before the regular season ends, expect somebody from outside of the top 16 in the championship standings to win and shake things up. While it could be Johnson or Suarez who get the job done and they remain the two clear favorites to burst the playoff bubble by doing so, don’t necessarily expect it to be one of them.

There are several drivers from 19th place and below in the championship standings who have had success at some of the tracks that remain on the regular season schedule.

With Watkins Glen International being a road course, look for the race at the track to potentially produce a surprise winner, perhaps Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto, who finished in a career-high fourth place in the race at Sonoma Raceway in June.

DiBenedetto’s best track, Bristol Motor Speedway, also has a race date still on the regular season schedule. JTG Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher ran particularly well in this race last season as well, so don’t sleep on him.

Additionally, Richard Childress Racing rookie Daniel Hemric has come on strong as of late. Richard Childress Racing have been arguably the fastest team in the series from a raw speed standpoint in qualifying, but that speed hasn’t transferred into races themselves.

Hemric, however, finished in seventh place in this past Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway, a big step forward for the driver whose only other top 10 finish was his fifth place finish in the superspeedway race at Talladega Superspeedway in late April.

Bottom line, there are several drivers outside of the top 16 in the championship standings who could very well find victory lane before the regular season ends to shake up the playoff picture. Don’t be surprised if one of them does.