This weekend, the NASCAR playoffs kick off at the Darlington Raceway. In light of this, former NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made some predictions for regarding how the playoffs will pan out.
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Admittedly, the Hall of Famer gave a generalised prediction instead of a race by race analysis. Speaking in the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he also talked about potential dark horses in the playoffs. The ex-driver even made his predictions on which of the 16 drivers will get eliminated first.
With regard to how the playoffs work, the 10 races are split into four rounds. The first three rounds comprise of three races each, with four drivers eliminated after in each round. Speaking about the first drivers in the drop zone, Earnhardt suggested Austin Dillon, Cole Custer, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer.
What else did Dale Earnhardt Jr say?
Right off the bat, Earnhardt and co-host Mike Davis insisted that Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin were the title favourites. This is because, the duo are sitting pretty at the top of the driver standings with a massive points lead. So, it is difficult to pick a driver other than the two leaders.
Dale Earnhardt Jr said, “I have this weird feeling that Harvick’s gonna [win] because Harvick’s tied Kyle [Busch] in wins, more than likely going to finish this season ahead of Kyle in wins, and I think that he gets his second title. This has kind of been Harvick quietly asserting himself as one of the greatest.”
With his seven wins, Kevin Harvick is tied with Kyle Busch on the all-time wins list with 56. According to Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick will likely be the favourite to win, barring any ‘Big One’ interference. The former NASCAR driver also confessed that even though Kyle Busch has no wins this season, he can still stay alive.
