It’s not often that a driver leaves a race track proud of an 18th-place finish, but that was clearly the case with Austin Dillon after last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
In fact, finishing 18th was a triumph for the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and it left him within striking distance of the Round of 12 entering Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Dillon is the first driver below the current elimination for the Round of 12, with the Playoff field set to be cut from 16 drivers to 12 on Saturday night. Dillon trails 12th-place Austin Cindric by 11 points and 11th-place Ross Chastain by 19 points—and it took a concerted effort by his team at Gateway to stay that close.
“We were terrible (on Sunday),” Dillon said of the performance of his car at the track in Greater St. Louis. “Our whole organization just missed it this weekend, but we executed great. I’m proud of the effort this No. 3 Dow DayGlo Chevrolet team gave for what we had for a race car. The guys did all we could to strategize, and running long worked.
“At the end of the race when we finished 18th, that was the best we were all day. We got stage points in Stage 2 and that was huge. It gives us a shot going into Bristol Motor Speedway. Hopefully, we bring the best car that we can so that we can make a run and advance into the next round of the Playoffs.”
Overtaking one of the drivers ahead of him will be a challenge for the 35-year-old. In 20 starts at the 0.533-mile concrete oval, Dillon has one top five to his credit (fourth in 2016), four top 10s and an average finish of 17.8. He did earn a 10th-place result in the spring race this year.
Cindric’s average finish in five starts at Thunder Valley is 22.6, and his best result is 13th last year. Chastain has posted three top 10s in 10 starts, all coming since he joined Trackhouse Racing in 2022 and all in the Gen 7 race car. Chastain was seventh in the 2025 spring race.
Shane van Gisbergen, four points behind Dillon after two Playoff races, likely will have to depend on calamity to others to advance, and both Alex Bowman and Josh Berry—35 and 45 points below the elimination line, respectively—for practical purposes will be driving in must-win scenarios.
Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin already have claimed two of the berths in the Round of 12 with their respective victories at Darlington and Gateway. At 60 points above the elimination line, Kyle Larson likely will enjoy 500 laps around the high-banked track without worrying about ouster from the postseason.
Bristol is a track where Larson’s high-speed mastery has been in full display. Winner of the last two races at the Last Great Coliseum, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led 873 of a possible 1,000 laps in those two events.
Larson comes to the elimination race on a streak of six straight top-five finishes, including three wins. And though Goodyear is providing a softer right-side tire for Saturday’s race, Larson believes his history at the track will weigh more heavily on his performance there.
“I’m not really going into it with any different mind-set than what we typically would go to Bristol,” Larson said Wednesday during a Zoom conference with reporters. “I’ve been to Bristol with many different packages and tire combinations, probably, and Bristol’s still Bristol.
“It races amazing, and I’ve always been competitive there. I just feel like I’ve got a natural feel for the pace and rhythm that it takes to go good there. I hope our car’s close again and we can execute a good weekend like we have the last two times there.”
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service