“I’m shocked by that stat" - NASCAR insiders in disbelief over playoff drivers' poor performance at Watkins Glen

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi talked about a stat that reflected the poor performance of NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers at Watkins Glen. The stat states that the worst position of the top-finishing playoff driver in a playoff race is P2 in the last decade.

This means at least one playoff driver finished in the top two since NASCAR introduced the elimination era in 2014. The Watkins Glen stop saw Chris Buescher winning the race followed by Shane Van Gisbergen in second. Both are non-playoff contenders, with SVG running as a part-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.

During an episode of The Teardown, Jeff Gluck told Jordan Bianchi about the stat that surprised him.

“So 2014 to now, the worst a playoff driver has finished in a playoff race was second […] I mean, sorry, the worst the best playoff driver,“ Jeff Gluck said. “So obviously, you’ve had not playoff drivers don’t win every race in the playoffs. But you’ve never had the best finishing playoff driver lower than second. Am I making sense?

“You are,” Jordan Bianchi replied. “I’m just I’m perplexed by that. I thought for sure there had been a race or somewhere along the way where, you know, the top two guys in the race were non-playoff…”

“In the last ten plus years, right?” Gluck chimed in.

Bianchi continued by saying:

“Yeah, I’m shocked by that stat.”

The top finisher among NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers at Watkins Glen was Chase Briscoe in P6. He entered the road course at the bottom of the playoff standings and left in 11th and +6 to the cut line. Austin Cindric completed the top 10 in the race and was the second-best finisher in the playoff grid.

Kyle Larson was the third-best finishing playoff driver in P12. Behind him were Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, and Joey Logano, respectively. Alex Bowman finished in P18 followed by Chase Elliot in P19 and Martin Truex Jr. in P20.

Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, and Harrison Burton took up the P22 to P24 positions, respectively. Brad Keselowski and Tyler Reddick were close behind in P26 and P27, respectively.

The playoff drivers with the worst results were William Byron in P34 and Ryan Blaney in P38, with the latter ending his race early following a lap 1 multi-car wreck caused by Corey LaJoie.

Below is the current NASCAR playoff standings after the Go Bowling at The Glen:

1. No. 22 Joey Logano: advanced
2. No. 20 Christopher Bell: +46
3. No. 2 Austin Cindric: +43
4. No. 48 Alex Bowman: +41
5. No. 99 Daniel Suarez: +36
6. No. 45 Tyler Reddick: +30
7. No. 9 Chase Elliott: +30
8. No. 12 Ryan Blaney: +29
9. No. 5 Kyle Larson: +26
10. No. 24 William Byron: +25
11. No. 14 Chase Briscoe: +6
12. No. 54 Ty Gibbs: +6
13. No. 11 Denny Hamlin: -6
14. No. 6 Brad Keselowski: -12
15. No. 19 Martin Truex Jr.: -14
16. No. 21 Harrison Burton: -20

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Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen went off on the final laps at Watkins Glen

Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen had a thrilling race to the checkered flag at Watkins Glen. During the final overtime period, SVG snatched the lead from Buescher and led for a single lap.

However, the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro of SVG clipped the inside wall heading into the bus stop, allowing Buescher's No. 17 Ford Mustang to close in. Buescher bumped SVG before regaining the lead in the race. He finished in P1, securing his first in the season and sixth in his NASCAR Cup Series career.

The drivers will be back in action at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Four playoff drivers will be eliminated by the end of the race.