The second half of the Cup Sequence 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 time grind will get set to select up and the playoffs draw close to, listed here 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 line with plan for the proprietor/driver of RFK Racing, who presently finds himself thirty second within the standings, 97 factors behind Kyle Busch for the ultimate playoff spot.
Whereas that’s not insurmountable with a flexible stretch of 12 races looming, it actually 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 Sequence profession, thanks largely to 5 DNFs. Except Keselowski can begin placing some stable runs collectively and construct up some extra factors, he could should 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. At the moment, 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 profitable 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 continually put Suarez behind in every race and left him with few alternatives to attain factors. As a return to his dwelling 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 may show expensive.
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
After bettering in most areas throughout his second full-time Cup Sequence 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 may very well be in deep trouble in his third full-time season at NASCAR’s highest stage.
