It’s a cutdown night for those drivers who qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Four drivers will be lopped off the field following Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The forecast looks great, with clear skies and highs in the mid-80s and dropping through the 70s by the time the race starts.
The race on Saturday will start at 7:30 p.m. EDT. You can watch it on USA Network or live-steam it on fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount).
Alex Bowman secured the pole position on Friday, speeding around the track in 15.142 seconds (126.720 mph) — the fastest lap of the day — to earn his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season by 0.003 seconds over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron (126.695 mph).
Because Bowman and Byron both qualified in Group B, Byron will start third, with fellow Hendrick driver Kyle Larson (fastest from Group A at 126.378 mph) on the front row beside Bowman, according to nascar.com.
Here is a link to the full lineup.
Joey Logano won the playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway to earn a spot in the second round. Chris Buescher spoiled the playoff party with a win last Sunday at Watkins Glen International, leading a string of five non-playoff drivers to the finish.
Denny Hamlin, NASCAR Cup Series champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr., and Harrison Burton are in the bottom four of the playoff standings.
Christopher Bell was 14th at The Glen and leads Austin Cindric by three points in the driver standings with Alex Bowman five back.
- WATCH: USA Network or live-steam it on fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount)
They will race Saturday night at one of NASCAR’s best-known and oldest tracks, a concrete half-mile built in 1960. Nicknamed, among other things, “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” Bristol is one of the deepest banked tracks on the schedule, featuring 24 degrees of banking through the turns. This gives the track high speeds when entering the narrow turns. Since opening, Bristol has become a fan favorite due to the tight racing that the track produces.
Once this one is finished, the survivors will begin their Round of 12 races at Kansas Speedway with the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sept. 29.
