Everything You Need To Know About the 2021 NASCAR Playoffs

#5 The format

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The NASCAR Cup Series has used a variety of points systems in the past, including miles traveled, points accumulated, and the mainstream format we have now. For those who don t know, 16 Cup drivers will compete over the next 10 weeks to determine who will come away with the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

The format goes like this. There will be four rounds, three of which will consist of three races. The last round will be a four-driver duel in the desert of ISM Speedway in Phoenix. To get there, however, drivers will have to avoid each round's cutoff line, which removes the four lowest-ranked drivers from the postseason.

Drivers can avoid the cutoff line in two ways. The first way is to build a good enough points cushion to outdo the lowest-performing drivers in the playoffs. The second would be to win one of the races and get a guaranteed spot in the next round. The process repeats until there are four drivers left to compete in a heads-up points battle. This basically means the highest finisher among the Final 4 wins the championship.

#4 The competitors

The 2021 Cup series playoffs feature 16 drivers from seven different teams and three different carmakers. Breaking down the numbers even further, the field will have six Chevrolets, six Fords, and four Toyotas. The regular season was already hectic due to how many different drivers managed to win, which made the playoff field unusually crowded throughout the season.

When all was said and done, these are the 16 drivers who made the playoffs this season: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick, and Kevin Harvick.

And of those 16 drivers, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch are both Las Vegas natives, meaning there is a chance a championship could come to Las Vegas this season!

#3 The storylines

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There are many storylines heading into the 2021 NASCAR playoffs, and the biggest one has to be if Kyle "Yung Money Larson can continue his white-hot winning streak this season on the way to his first championship.

And then there s defending Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, a driver who has been relatively unlucky this year. Will his bad luck continue?

Then there are the Busch brothers, who have three wins between them this season and a pretty good shot at making it past the first round.  Not only is that evident by the presence of inexperienced drivers like Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, and William Bryon in the playoffs, but also by the various drivers that are locked in thanks to happenstance.

This includes guys like Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell, Stewart Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola, and Joey Logano. Luck was their ticket into the big dance, but they will need more than that to make it to the second round of these playoffs.

#2 The cutoff races

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Cut-off races in the  NASCAR  playoffs are a very intense time in the sport. It's essentially a driver's last chance to either win a race or accumulate enough points to move on to the next round. Unfortunately for the unlucky drivers that find themselves in a do-or-die situation during a cutoff race, they will have to deal with some of the biggest challenges of their career.

The action will start with the first-round finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, and it will also be the first time the night race has been run in the playoffs.  If nothing else, there is so much history of bad blood happening at Bristol that one has to wonder if NASCAR intentionally made this a cutoff race or not. It goes with NASCAR's overarching theme of manufactured excitement.

It s no secret that short-track races get tempers flaring, and adding the pressure of the playoffs to the mix will only amplify the mixture. After that, the 12-car field will then deal with the Charlotte Roval in North Carolina, another race that gets tempers flaring.

Finally, there's Martinsville Speedway, and this is where the real fun starts. This race will have eight drivers vying for the last four spots in the playoffs.

#1 Las Motor Speedway on the schedule

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While the Las Vegas Motor Speedway won t serve as a cutoff race in the NASCAR playoffs this season, it will be the opening race of the second round. Not only is this a great chance for Kyle or even Kyle Busch to steal a spot in the Round of 8, but it will also allow Las Vegas NASCAR fans one last chance to party before the end of the season.

Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Kevin Harvick are all tied for the most victories at the track, with two wins each. Interestingly enough, this is where Kyle Larson notched his first win of the 2021 season, which might be a good sign that he will be the man to beat when NASCAR heads out west this fall.

The race will take place on September 26th at 7 pm and will be the first time the race has been run at night.