Drivers to watch in NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol

Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark the end of the line — at least in championship terms — for four drivers.

As the third race in the first round of the playoffs, Saturday’s 500-lap marathon is the cutoff for the Round of 16. The four drivers below the cutoff line at the end of the race will be eliminated from the playoffs.

Entering the race, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick are below the magic line.

Saturday night’s race (7:30 p.m. ET) will be televised by the USA Network.

A look at drivers to watch at Bristol:

Christopher Bell

Bell leads the playoff points and has locked in a place in the Round of 12. He can drive with a certain amount of comfort Saturday, but he also would like to score his first win at BMS. His best career finish there is a ninth, in 2020.

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin has started the playoffs on fire with second-place finishes at Darlington and Kansas. He typically has strong cars at Bristol (four poles) and has three top 10s there in the past seven races.

Joey Logano

Logano will be looking for a boost at Bristol after losing the point lead last week with a 17th-place finish at Kansas. Although he has won twice on the high-banked track, his has four straight finishes of 11th or worse there.

Kevin Harvick

Harvick has been battered since scoring back-to-back wins at Michigan and Richmond. He hasn’t scored a top-10 finish since those victories and has had miserable results in the playoffs (36th at Kansas, 33rd at Darlington). Bristol offers a chance at redemption. Harvick has won three times at BMS and has nine top 10s in the past 12 races.

Kyle Busch

Busch has had amazing success at Bristol, and he needs more Saturday. Entering the race, he’s the