One race into the NASCAR Cup playoffs and drivers are already hitting the panic button, including two former NASCAR Cup champions.
As expected, the opening race of the NASCAR Cup playoffs really jostled the order of things in the championship standings. Most notably, top seed Kyle Larson shockingly crashed on his own in the first stage of the race. The result erased half of his points cushion, leaving him tenth in the standings and just 15 points away from the cut-line.
Unfortunately, the misfortune that has plagued him since a disastrous 2023 playoffs as the regular season champion has continued into 2024. But this time around, he was the bottom seed in the playoffs, leaving him no margin for error. His car was damaged in a mid-race incident at Atlanta, forcing him to limp around for the remainder of the race. The driver of the No. 19 is now 19 points out, but it's not all bad news.
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