By Jared Turner If you don’t think there’s a clear favorite to win the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship as the playoffs are set to begin, then you’re either in denial or simply haven’t been paying much attention this season. Martin Truex Jr. begins the 16-driver playoffs as the No. 1 seed thanks to his 53 playoff points amassed for race wins and stage wins during the regular season. The No. 2 seed, Kyle Larson, has 33 playoff points — four more than third-place Kyle Busch. But the points drop-off is steep from there, which is appropriate when considering that…

By Jared Turner By all accounts, Jimmie Johnson hasn’t had the season that he wanted or that most observers expected. But don’t think that Johnson’s performance over the first 26 races eliminates him as a viable championship contender for the final 10. While it has been a struggle for Johnson in recent weeks, haven’t we seen this song and dance before? Well, of course. “We can get hot,” a seemingly confident Johnson said after Richmond. “We did it last year. I know we’re very capable of it again.” Johnson entered the 2016 playoffs riding a 21-race winless streak. He went on to…

Easily the most bizarre moment of the 2017 NASCAR season occurred in Saturday night’s Monster Energy Series finale at Richmond when an ambulance — yes, an ambulance — sat idle on the apron approaching pit road, blocking the entrance and causing drivers to take evasive action as they attempted to enter the pits under caution. The driver most impacted by the poorly positioned safety vehicle was Matt Kenseth, one of three drivers who arrived at Richmond in position to make the playoffs but not assured of advancing. Thankfully, Kenseth only missed out on a good finish as a result of the damage…

By Jared Turner The playoff scenario entering Saturday night’s regular season-ending Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway couldn’t be any simpler, really. Thirteen drivers have earned automatic playoff berths by virtue of winning a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this season. The remaining three playoff spots in the 16-driver championship field will likely be filled by Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth whom are positioned highest in the standings among winless drivers. The points gap from Kenseth — who currently holds the final transfer spot — back to the next driver is so substantial that Kenseth can’t be overtaken…

By Jared Turner Joey Logano is seeking redemption at Richmond, after his spring 2017 win at Richmond was deemed “encumbered” by NASCAR. Now, Logano needs to win to punch a ticket into the playoffs. No one is feeling more pressure at Richmond than NASCAR’s 14-time most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who must win this race to earn a playoff berth in his final season. A three-time Richmond winner, Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner of the fall Richmond event. There was a time several years ago when Kyle Busch practically owned Richmond. Busch has consistently had one of the fastest…

By Joseph Wolkin With Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring from full-time stock car racing, the pressure of the Earnhardt legacy is moving to Jeffrey Earnhardt’s shoulders. As the driver of the No. 33 machine looks to advance his career, the standards are increasing. What are some of the things you need to work on to improve performance? “We need better preparation. We’ve had incidents where little things happen and things have break. It’s the little stuff that shouldn’t have broken, and it’s just small changes that we need to fix. We need to take notice of the issues we have and try to…