NASCAR holds the third of 10 Playoff races and the third and final race of the first round Saturday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain enters the 500-lap event 11th in the standings, 19 points above the cutoff. Shane van Gisbergen enters the race in 14th position, 15 points below the final 12th and final transfer spot. Both drivers need good finishes on Saturday to advance to the second round.
Van Gisbergen will make his second NASCAR Cup Series career start at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night.
“Well, Bristol is a cool track,” commented van Gisbergen. “I really struggled there in the spring and it’s a tough track for someone like me. It will be important to have a clean, well-executed race, try and get stage points and be up there all night. It’s going to be a battle.”
NASCAR will eliminate four drivers from the playoffs every three races until the final four drivers will battle for the championship in a winner-take-all race at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., on Nov. 2.
Teammate Daniel Suárez seeks to turn around a recent streak of bad luck. After three consecutive top-10 finishes at Watkins Glen, Richmond and Daytona, Suárez has been collected in wrecks by other drivers in the last two races at Darlington and St. Louis.
“It’s going to be tough this weekend to get through, but the reality is we aren’t there yet on ovals. It’s coming, but we are just forcing it too quickly at the moment,” said SVG.
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