The second half of the Cup Collection common season is in full swing following Ryan Blaney’s win at Nashville Superspeedway.
Solely 12 races stay till the playoffs start, beginning with this Sunday’s cease at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Because the summer season grind will get set to select up and the playoffs draw close to, listed below are three drivers who’ve struggled and discover themselves in a precarious place to make the playoffs.
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
The 2025 season has not gone in accordance with plan for the proprietor/driver of RFK Racing, who at present finds himself thirty second within the standings, 97 factors behind Kyle Busch for the ultimate playoff spot.
Whereas that isn’t insurmountable with a flexible stretch of 12 races looming, it definitely places the 36-race winner and 2012 champion in a weak place to make the playoffs. His lone top-10 stays his fifth-place end within the Coca-Cola 600.
Keselowski is on tempo for the worst average finish (25.3) of his Cup Collection profession, thanks largely to 5 DNFs. Until Keselowski can begin placing some strong runs collectively and construct up some extra factors, he might must depend on a win to make the playoffs.
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Suarez solely has two profession wins to his credit score, however he has made the playoffs in two of the final three seasons and completed no worse than nineteenth in factors throughout that point. Presently, Suarez sits twenty eighth within the standings and solely has one top-five end (Las Vegas) all season.
To make issues worse, his teammate Ross Chastain is 2 weeks faraway from successful the Coca-Cola 600, the identical race that produced Suarez’s fourth DNF of the season.
A poor averaging beginning place of twenty fifth has continuously put Suarez behind in every race and left him with few alternatives to attain factors. As a return to his house nation looms on June 15 at Mexico Metropolis’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Suarez must proper the ship and put himself nearer to the entrance initially of every race. If not, the dearth of factors might show expensive.
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
After enhancing in most areas throughout his second full-time Cup Collection season in 2024, Gibbs nonetheless failed to seek out Victory Lane. 14 races into 2025, he’s nonetheless looking for his first win and is twenty seventh in factors with just one top-five (Bristol) and a lackluster common end (21.5).
Whereas his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell (second), Denny Hamlin (third) and Chase Briscoe (thirteenth) are within the top-16 of the playoff standings, Gibbs is 55 factors behind the cutline after ending exterior the top-20 every of the final two weeks.
How he performs over the subsequent month will set the tone for his playoff push. If the finishes don’t enhance and the struggles persist, Gibbs could possibly be in deep trouble in his third full-time season at NASCAR’s highest stage.
