Top-seeded Kyle Larson expects shake-ups in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs beginning this weekend in Sunday‘s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the 16 drivers who have qualified to compete for the 2024 championship met with the media Wednesday at the Charlotte Convention Center to share their expectations and hopes for this elimination-style championship run.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and current reseeded points leader, said he didn‘t necessarily see a specific “driver to beat” among the competitors.

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Furthermore, the 30-year-old Californian, who leads the series with four wins this season, said he fully expects a “dark horse” to advance at least out of the first three-race round featuring races at Atlanta, the Watkins Glen International next week and the famed Bristol Motor Speedway half-miler on Sept. 21.

“You definitely have favorites and guys who are really fast every week, but it‘s NASCAR and Next Gen racing,” Larson said. “It‘s always crazy, and there‘s always a couple heavy (favorite) guys that get knocked out somewhat early that could very well be deserving champions.

“So, it‘s hard to predict who‘s going to be in the final four. There‘s definitely some good teams that have the best shot currently, but a lot of stuff can happen and there‘s usually a team or two that turns things up a lot in the playoffs and executes really well and makes it pretty far — maybe not the final four, but pretty far.”

One of Larson‘s season-long primary challengers is 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick, who claimed the Regular Season Championship Sunday night in Darlington by a single point over Larson, despite battling through severe nausea throughout the grueling 500-mile race.

Reddick said Wednesday that despite how sick he felt, he never planned to get out of the car mid-race.

“Someone would have had to pull me out,” he asserted.

As with Larson, Reddick said he doesn‘t expect his team‘s approach to change whether they are considered championship favorites or not. But two-race winner and newly crowned Regular Season Champion Reddick is considered a Championship 4-worthy competitor.

“Maybe the numbers show that, but I don‘t think we‘re carrying ourselves around like we‘re the baddest group around; we just do a good job of each individual on the team doing their part during the week,” Reddick said. “We just show up to the race track and have a good amount of focus and do a really good job of just getting the results we need, even on the days we have issues.

“That‘s been the nice thing about this year, a number of times — countless times it feels like — we‘ve had things not go our way, but we‘ve been able to fight through it and still get the results.”

He added, “There‘s really no reason to change up what you‘ve been doing all year. That‘s when you get yourself in trouble.”

Larson has won at eight of the 10 playoff tracks, accounting for 12 of his 27 career wins. Fellow Californian Reddick has two of his seven career wins at playoff tracks, including Talladega Superspeedway earlier this year.