Truex is nearly a lock to make Cup Series playoffs. It's shaky for others

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. should feel safe heading to Darlington Raceway for the Cup Series’ regular-season finale.

The 2017 series champion has a 58-point cushion in the playoff standings, likely enough considering the most any driver could make up is roughly 60. Thirteen of the 16 postseason spots are locked, with Harrison Burton surprisingly securing the latest at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.

Truex has a strong grasp on one of the remaining three, so NASCAR essentially has two bids up for grabs at the "Track Too Tough to Tame.”

It will make for an intriguing race next weekend, with Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain vying for one spot based on points and nearly two dozen others — most notably two-time series champion Kyle Busch — needing to win Sunday to get in.

Busch had a chance to punch his postseason ticket at Daytona, where he hasn't won since 2008, but Burton passed him on the final lap in overtime to notch his first win in 98 career starts. It was a feel-good story for Burton, who was fired earlier this season and will be replaced by Josh Berry in the famed No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing in 2025.

“I’ve struggled to put it into words,” said Burton, whose father, Jeff, called the race for NBC Sports. “To me, just the circumstances, obviously the way the last three years have gone, has not been the way I wanted to represent myself, the way I wanted to represent this team.

“Then to have the kind of walls closing in, there’s a different end to my time to get to drive this historic car. To find a way to win while those walls are kind of closing in, to me, is really, really special. It almost makes the last three years worth it.”

Busch got to Burton’s bumper as they neared the checkered flag, but Busch didn’t have enough momentum to make the pass. Now, Busch heads to Darlington in need of a victory to extend his streak of consecutive years making the playoffs to 12.

“We’ll take this,” said Busch, who has finished second, fourth and 12th in August. “Got a good little stretch going with these last three weeks and hope we can do what we need to do next week.”

Busch has one win (2008) in 25 Cup starts at Darlington, so he won’t be among the favorites to pull off a dramatic victory in the regular-season finale. Here’s a look at the guys who have a better shot at sliding into the playoffs:

Gibbs sits 15th in points and has a 39-point cushion. He’s not as safe as Truex, but he’s not far off. Giving him even more confidence, he finished second to Brad Keselowski at Darlington in May.

“I think we have the speed to go win it,” Gibbs said. “I think it would be cool to get my first win at the Southern 500. That would be awesome.”

Buescher won three of the final five regular-season races in 2023, making him one of the championship favorites. He even finished third at Darlington to open the playoffs but faded from there and ended up ninth in points.

He could use another strong run on Sunday.

“We’ll take a couple days; we’ll take a breather,” he said. “We’ll get to Darlington, time to get down to business.”

Wallace has 21 points to make up on Buescher and will have to drive his way into the playoffs for the second consecutive year. He eked into the field at Daytona a year ago. He has four top-10 finishes in his last five races, including coming home sixth Saturday with team co-owner Michael Jordan watching from his pit stall.

Wallace also had one of the fastest cars at Michigan six days earlier before getting caught in a late wreck. His teammate at 23XI Racing, Tyler Reddick, is one of three drivers — along with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott — in the mix for the regular-season championship at Darlington.

“You got one car fighting for a regular-season championship and another car right on the bubble. Unacceptable,” Wallace said. “I’ll take all that weight on my shoulders. Should have won multiple times this year and I haven’t. We don’t even deserve to be here, and we are. Got to go win next week. That is it.”

The “Melon Man” was ninth in points two months ago but has faded over the last seven races. He has one top-10 finish — at Richmond — during that stretch. He is now 27 points out of the 16th playoff position and will need a win or plenty of help to reach the postseason for the third consecutive year.

He is winless in 10 Cup starts at Darlington.

“The points, they give them out at the stages and at the end of the race,” Chastain said. “If you run good, they give you a lot of them. I just get excited for a chance to go win the Southern 500.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing