Drivers to watch in NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead

Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the middle race in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

Joey Logano became the first driver to lock in a spot in the Championship Four by winning last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A win by any of the remaining seven drivers in the playoff field Sunday would check off another position in the final four for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell remain in the hunt. Chastain, Elliott and Hamlin are above the playoff cutline entering Homestead.

Playoff races in the Xfinity Series (4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, NBC) and the Camping World Truck Series (1 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1) also are on the Homestead schedule.

Missing from Sunday’s race will be driver Bubba Wallace, who was suspended for one race by NASCAR for crashing Kyle Larson last Sunday at Las Vegas. John Hunter Nemechek will replace Wallace.

Drivers to watch Sunday at Homestead:

Ross Chastain

Chastain is plus-18 points to the cutline entering Homestead, putting him in decent position to challenge for a spot in the Championship Four. The best way to move into that group, however, is winning, and Chastain hasn’t done that since April. He has two top-four runs in the past three races.

Chase Elliott

Elliott’s recent outings are rather dizzying. In the past five races, he has a win and a second but also finishes of 21st, 20th and 32nd. He was not a factor in last Sunday’s race at Las Vegas.

Chase Briscoe

Briscoe has not finished outside the top 10 in the past four races and continues to make playoff noise. He is minus-9 points to the cutline and will be racing at Homestead for only the second time in Cup