NASCAR: The other battle set to take place at Daytona
By Asher Fair
The key focus is on that 16th and final NASCAR Cup Series playoff spot and the regular season championship, but there is another important battle set to take place in the 2021 regular season finale.
With 15 drivers locked into the four-round, 10-race 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, much of the focus heading into the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway this Saturday night is going to be on who gets that 16th and final spot.
Of course, some focus will also be on the regular season championship battle between Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, with Larson currently leading by 28 points.
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But there is another battle going on that won’t just set something up for the playoffs.
This battle could (and pretty much will) determine the outright winner of one of the season-long battles — already.
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Stewart-Haas Racing rookie Chase Briscoe sits in 22nd place in the point standings with 450 points, needing a win to get into the playoffs. Front Row Motorsports rookie Anthony Alfredo sits in 30th with 237, also needing a win to advance.
If either one of these two drivers wins the regular season finale, he will clinch the Rookie of the Year honors, as there is no scenario in which both can get to the playoffs. All playoff drivers are guaranteed to finish the season in the top 16 in points as a result of the initial playoff reset.
And if neither driver wins, the award practically belongs to Briscoe.
The driver of the #14 Ford already leads the driver of the #38 Ford by 213 points, a gap that the latter simply isn’t going to make up throughout the rest of the season.
Alfredo has averaged just 9.48 points per race so far this season, so don’t expect him to score 19.36 points per race more than Briscoe throughout the remainder of the year.
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Tune in to NBC at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 28 for the live broadcast of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, from Daytona International Speedway. Be sure to start your free trial of FuboTV today if you have not already done so!