CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It seemed like an easy assignment for NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers Wednesday.
Before they answered some on-camera questions from FOX Sports, we gave them a sheet of paper with five questions. We told them we wouldn’t identify who said what.
We wanted to learn who they thought might have a career-defining playoffs, whether they looked forward to the new playoff tracks on the schedule, their thoughts on the championship format for the playoffs and whether they’d run the Indy 500.
All 16 playoff drivers filled out the forms and some gave commentary. But not all drivers answered every question. Here are the results.
1. Which driver is most likely to win his first championship (any playoff driver except Logano, Larson, Elliott, Blaney)?
5 votes - William Byron
3 - Denny Hamlin
2 - Christopher Bell
1 - Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, "Me"
(two left it blank, one put down two drivers)
That’s right, they picked William Byron as the most likely winner among the 12 who have never won the title. That’s no real surprise. Byron is making his seventh consecutive playoff appearance, has reached the Champ 4 the last two years and won the regular-season title this year.
Hamlin has made the postseason every year except once and will make his 19th appearance this year. He has made the Champ 4 four times.
Should we have told the drivers they couldn’t pick themselves? Probably. But we also know that drivers just can’t pick someone to do better than they will do.
As one driver put it as he was filling it out "[If I put] me, it’s anonymous. So good luck [finding out]."
Will this be the year Denny Hamlin captures the title?
2. Will SVG win the Roval?
8 - Yes
7 - No
1 - No Answer
Shane van Gisbergen has
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