NASCAR: Kurt Busch announcement seals four playoff spots

The announcement that Kurt Busch won’t be competing in the final two races of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season locked up four playoff berths.

During the few days off between this past Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway and the upcoming race weekend at Watkins Glen International, four more drivers have clinched playoff berths simply because of an announcement.

23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch announced that he will not compete in the regular season’s final two races at Watkins Glen International and Daytona International Speedway as he continues to recover from a head injury he suffered in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway last month, leaving him with concussion-like symptoms.

Busch has missed the last four races, with Ty Gibbs filling in for him behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota. Gibbs is set to fill in for him in the upcoming Go Bowling at The Glen and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 again as well.

Busch is one of 15 different winners so far this season, and he is one of eight winners with only one victory, having won at Kansas Speedway back in mid-May to make the 2022 season his ninth straight winning season. Following his first four missed starts, he sits in 21st place in the point standings, making him the lowest ranking single-race winner.

Because there are two races remaining in the regular season, there is still a chance that there will be more winners (17) than playoff spots (16). If this happens, the single-race winner who ranks lowest in the standings will miss the postseason.

With Busch trailing the other seven single-race winners as it stands right now, there is no way for any of them to drop behind him.

As a result, none of them can end up in a situation where they are 17th of 17 winners (or more specifically, 10th of 10 single-race winners) when the regular season comes to an end, even if there are indeed two more new winners in the next two races.

Three of those other seven single-race winners were already mathematically locked into the playoffs: Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch.

However, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, Trackhouse Racing Team’s Daniel Suarez, Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe were not.

But with Kurt Busch no longer a threat to potentially pass them, none of them can end up any lower than 16th in the playoff picture following the regular season finale — even if there are two more new winners, and no matter who those two new winners might be.

As a result, there are 14 winners locked in, with Kurt Busch being the only one who isn’t, and two remaining open spots as we head into the final two races of the regular season.

The Go Bowling at The Glen is set to be broadcast live from Watkins Glen International on USA Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 21, and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway on NBC beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET next Saturday, August 27. Take advantage of this offer and start a free trial of FuboTV today, and don’t miss the rest of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season!