By Holly Cain & Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Ross Chastain optimistic despite spotty record at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.— Ross Chastain comes to Bristol Motor Speedway ranked high enough in the Playoff standings that he should reasonably expect to transfer into the second round following Saturday night’s cutoff race.

Ross Chastain, driver of the #44 NC Governor’s Highway Safety Program Chevrolet, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, 2025 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

But he acknowledges it’s been a learning progression at the sport’s traditionally high-action, high-banked short track, where he’s finished 35th or worse in five of his 10 starts.

Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, goes into the Bass Pro Shops Night Race ranked 11th among the 16 Playoff drivers. He holds a 19-point edge on 13th place Austin Dillon with only the top 12 racers remaining championship eligible following Saturday night’s checkered flag.

Since his victory in Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600 in May, Chastain has posted six finishes of 11th or better.

“I think it puts us in a spot where we are fast enough to stay above the cut line, but a failure or an error, it’s easy to hit the wall here,” Chastain said. “They’ve painted them (the walls) back to their old all-black. They’re waiting on you if you make a mistake, so we’ve got 500 laps to get through.”

Although Chastain has never won—and never led a lap—at Bristol, the encouraging thing is that two of his three career top-10 finishes at the track have come in the last two visits. And he scored a career-best sixth-place effort here in the 2022 fall race.

“I love the track, and I love driving up here,” Chastain said. “I love driving on it, even when I’ve been slow and was really bummed. … I don’t know if it’s coming together or not, but Phil Surgen (crew chief) has been giving me good race cars here, and we need that next step to put us really in contention to try to win.

“We’ve taken the step to get to the top 10, and we want to keep that going and take the next one.”

Denny Hamlin’s approach to Bristol is far different from last year’s

What a difference a year makes. Two races into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Denny Hamlin was six points below the cut line entering the elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, speaks to the media after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on August 30, 2025 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Hamlin had finished 24th in the Playoff opener at Atlanta and 23rd the following week at Watkins Glen, needing a solid performance at Thunder Valley just to advance to the next round.

With a fourth-place result, Hamlin vaulted to sixth in the Playoff standings and staved off elimination until the penultimate race of the season at Martinsville.

This year, Hamlin comes to Bristol fresh from his fifth victory of the season, at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, knowing he’ll be part of the Round of 12.

The circumstances are different, and so is the mind-set, no matter how often a driver will tell you the approach to every race is the same.

“It was definitely different,” Hamlin said of last year’s effort. “I try to approach each week the same when it comes to my process, but now certainly, your mind plays games with you, though. There is certainly a different mind-set when you are locked in versus being below the cut or being near the cut, so without a doubt, I’m resting much, much easier this year in the Playoffs in general.

“I’m way more loose with it—whatever the results are, the results are. So that helps, and on top of that, winning—it just makes me even looser. Certainly, yes, anytime I go into a cut race and I’m close to the cut, I have to pull myself back to not think about the things that I don’t control, and that is typically what I think drivers would say when they get in these scenarios where they are facing elimination.

“They are worrying about all of the things they can’t control. It is certainly a different mind-set.”

Rookie Shane van Gisbergen faces difficult challenge at Thunder Valley

The season’s rookie sensation, Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen, has won a rookie record four races and boasts the two largest margins of victory in race wins this year (Mexico City and Watkins Glen, N.Y.).

Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #9 Quad Lock Chevrolet, prepares to practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway on July 11, 2025 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

But the former Australian Supercars champion finds himself ranked 14th of the 16 Playoff drivers—15 points below the cutoff line that will determine which 12 drivers continue a championship run following Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The New Zealander said the half-mile Bristol high banks have been some of the most challenging racing he’s faced since becoming a full-time NASCAR competitor last season.

He finished 38th at Bristol this Spring in his only previous NASCAR Cup Series start at the track—his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet retiring early with a suspension problem. He was 18th in his only other Bristol start in last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event.

“Pretty level at the moment, we know it’s not going to be easy, just haven’t been good enough the last couple weeks,” Van Gisbergen said of his outlook for the weekend with so much on the line.

“Need to put together a solid night if we’re to have any chance. I really struggled here at the first (race), so tried to study and prep the best I can and hopefully have a good night (Saturday). This is probably the hardest track for me driving with the way the banking is and how close it is, how short the lap is. It’s a world away from anything I’ve ever done.

“Just knowing I’ve got a good team around me. The car looks really good, and the prep’s been really good. I know as a team we can be really competitive here. The weakness is me, but I’ve done everything I can this week to try and be the strength.”

Josh Berry’s task at Bristol is clearly defined

After early accidents in the first two NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races left Josh Berry last in the postseason standings, the driver of No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford comes to Bristol Motor Speedway with absolute clarity.

Josh Berry, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford looks on prior to practice for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 01, 2025 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Berry must win Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at the 0.533-mile short track, or his run in the postseason is over.

In the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Berry crashed off the second corner of the opening lap and finished last. A week later, contact with Chase Elliott’s Chevrolet sent his Mustang spinning into the wall, and Berry again was credited with a last-place finish.

After the two disasters, Berry is 45 points below the elimination line for the Playoffs’ Round of 12 and must win to escape summary ouster from the 16-driver Playoff field.

“We go every week to go win, really,” Berry said. “That’s what we all work towards week-in and week-out, to be competitive and to win races, so just because of the situation that we’re in, it’s not like we can try extra hard or do something different that we normally wouldn’t do.

“Maybe there’s a play strategy-wise that we could throw if we felt like we had to, but outside of that, it’s about just doing all the little things right and executing a solid night and just giving ourselves the opportunity. That’s all it really amounts to.”