“It’s going to be irrelevant” - Joey Logano’s Nashville win complicates Bubba Wallace and Kyle Busch’s playoff chances, as per NASCAR Insider 

Joey Logano recently won the Cup race at Nashville and booked his ticket for the playoffs. But Logano winning the race left the playoff standings near the cutline pretty different than what it was before, something that was discussed on the latest episode of The Teardown.

Speaking after the Nashville race that Joey Logano won, Jordan Bianchi told Jeff Gluck that the 2x Cup champion winning at last this season has changed the playoff picture.

Gluck agreed as he explained how this was part of the strategy Logano's crew chief went in with at Nashville.

"We see right now how the cutline has moved. If Logano is on the cutline, he has won. So now Bubba goes in from being right in contention and right in the mix of Logano for that last spot on points to he's 51 points out. So there's currently no battle on the cutline," Gluck described. [16:55]

He pointed to Paul Wolfe mentioning that someone from below the cutline was going to win one of the remaining races. Gluck claimed that Wolfe thought if they ran out of fuel at Nashville, the #22 would be giving up 20 points at the cutline.

"He's going in the whole time thinking, 'It ain't going to matter.' Because this whole conversation around Logano vs. Bubba or vs. Chase Briscoe or Kyle Busch or whatever is going to be irrelevant. It's going to move which it did because Logano moved it," Gluck said.

He added that Logano's win has created a situation where the other drivers who were considered "fairly safe" before like Alex Bowman, now aren't.

The implications of Joey Logano winning at Nashville for playoff hopeful big names

Speaking further on this subject, Jeff Gluck mentioned how a new winner in the remainder of races would shake up the playoff picture even further.

"Let's say you have another new winner. Right now if you say, it's been 19 races, there's 7 to go, if there's no other new winner below the cutline, there's no bubble battle because Bubba is 51 points behind Bowman, Buescher is 56 up on Wallace, Chastain is 66 up, Ty Gibbs 70 up, so you're like, 'They're fine,'" Gluck said. [18:25]

However, Gluck pointed to the possibility of having a new winner in the upcoming races, with tracks like Chicago Street Course and Daytona on the schedule. He added that in the case there's a new winner, then Alex Bowman would be 5 points out, Chris Buescher only +5, Ross Chastain +15, and Ty Gibbs +19.

Gluck spoke about Martin Truex Jr.'s situation considering he is +143 points on the cutline at the moment. He said that Truex is the only driver in that mix he feels good about.

But Gluck claimed that Joey Logano's win has changed the "entire dynamic" of the summer and has "significantly changed the playoff picture."