{"id":6411,"date":"2018-10-05T13:09:09","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T17:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=6411"},"modified":"2018-10-05T13:09:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T17:09:09","slug":"nascar-round-of-12-who-moves-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2018\/10\/05\/nascar-round-of-12-who-moves-on\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Round of 12 – Who moves on"},"content":{"rendered":"

The race to the NASCAR 2018<\/strong> Championship moves forward minus Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, and Austin Dillon.\u00a0 After a wild finish last week at the Roval Course<\/strong> at Charlotte International Speedway the NASCAR Chase resumes on the high banked concrete surface at the Dover International Speedway<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Round of 12 – Who moves on<\/h1>\n

The next round of NASCAR’s playoffs sees twelve drivers advance with four to be eliminated by races at Dover, Talladega, and Kansas.\u00a0 Here’s my take on who advances and who gets eliminated as the Chase for the 2018 Championship continues.<\/p>\n

Safe Bets<\/h2>\n

Kyle Busch<\/strong> – Two words.\u00a0 Playoff points.\u00a0 The reward for having a great season is the insurance policy it creates in the playoff rounds.\u00a0 Kyle’s pretty good at these three tracks as well, winning last seasons October race at Dover.<\/p>\n

Kevin Harvick<\/strong> – Man this is easy, eh?\u00a0 A ton of playoff points and a 1.5-mile track (Kansas) where Harvick has dominated this season makes Harvick a safe bet to advance.\u00a0 Harvick is also pretty good at Dover and he’ll be near the front of the field barring getting caught up in the “Big One” at Talladega.<\/p>\n

Martin Truex Jr<\/strong>. – After being taken out by Jimmie Johnson<\/strong> leading last weeks race at Charlotte, Truex visits his home track at Dover to open this round.\u00a0 He’s pretty good here and could very well take the checkered flag and remove any doubt about his advancing this week.\u00a0 He’s got money in the bank in the form of playoff points as well.<\/p>\n

Brad Keselowski<\/strong> – His late-season performance reminds me of what we often saw from Tony Stewart when he was running in NASCAR.\u00a0 It seemed when the race season wound down and wins and good finishes were at a premium, Stewart would somehow turn it on. The last few weeks this is exactly when we’ve seen from Keselowski.\u00a0 Look for that to continue.<\/p>\n

Shocking if they fail to advance<\/h2>\n

Kyle Larson<\/strong> – This might be more wishful thinking but how can you not root for a guy who banged his car off the wall on the final lap to get it to turn to earn his spot in the round of 12.\u00a0 Larson has fast become the “wheel man” in NASCAR and certainly one of the more entertaining drivers in the series.<\/p>\n

Joey Logano<\/strong> – Feeding off the tremendous late-season performance of his Penske Racing Team<\/strong> teammate, Brad Keselowski, Logano seems poised to catch fire.\u00a0 Dover, although not his favorite track is still pretty dang good and if he avoids trouble at Talladega he will move on.<\/p>\n

Chase Elliott<\/strong> – We have to have at least one Hendrick Motorsports car advance, don’t we?\u00a0 For most of the season, the #9 Chevy of Elliott’s has been the best running car in the Hendrick camp.\u00a0 I think he’ll do enough to move on to the round of eight.<\/p>\n

Kurt Busch<\/strong> – This was a toss-up between Clint Bowyer and him.\u00a0 Busch, driving for the strong Stewart-Haas Racing<\/strong> team for his final season in that seat will find a way to move on.\u00a0 He is one of the best restrictor plate racers in the series so a win at Talladega might not be out of the question.<\/p>\n

These drivers will be eliminated<\/h2>\n

Clint Bowyer<\/strong> – Man, this one was tough.\u00a0 It came down to Kurt Busch and the likable Bowyer and it really is a toss-up.\u00a0 If Bowyer proves me wrong and advances, it wouldn’t break my heart.\u00a0 It won’t surprise me either.<\/p>\n

Aric Almirola<\/strong> – An amazing improvement from the #10 team at Stewart Haas racing team in 2018.\u00a0 His on-track finishes have slacked off a bit lately and I don’t think that will change much in this round.\u00a0 Talladega could create his best opportunity to capture a win and advance but I don’t see that happening.<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman<\/strong> – After replacing the popular Dale Earnhardt Jr. full time in 2018, Bowman has more than shown his own this season for Hendrick Motorsports.\u00a0 The Chevy has been off most of this season and has struggled to equal the speed of the Fords and Toyota’s.\u00a0 That spells the end of the road for Bowman in this season’s Chase.<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney<\/strong> – Last weeks winner at Charlotte might not be a popular choice here.\u00a0 Blaney is fully capable of sneaking a win at either of these three tracks.\u00a0 He may have to win one in order to advance.\u00a0 With Harvick, Kyle Busch and Truex Jr being stingy with sharing wins, that will be a tall order.<\/p>\n

There you have it.\u00a0 From 12 to 8 after this round in the Chase.\u00a0 Those valuable playoff points are great insurance for many.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading.\u00a0 Listen to WTBQ radio on Monday and Friday mornings at 8:45 am as I join Frank, Taylor and the Morning Show gang to discuss all the current happenings in NASCAR.\u00a0 1110AM, 93.5FM, or online at WTBQ.COM.\u00a0 You can follow me on twitter @JimLaplante.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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