BRISTOL, Tenn. — When one enters The Last Great Coliseum in the hills of East Tennessee, it harkens back to ancient times where gladiators entered the same sort of arenas, with no guarantee that they would ever leave it. Thankfully, the concept of meeting one’s end in the Coliseum is metaphorical these days, but by the end of Saturday night, four drivers who had hopes of glory will be felled.
The Bass Pro Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the most historic and venerated Night Race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, is yet again the elimination race in the Round of 16 of the playoffs, meaning that four drivers are set to see their run to the championship end in a first round exit. By virtue of their wins at Darlington and Gateway, only Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin are guaranteed a spot in the Round of 12. The 14 others are trying to earn a spot, with some hanging for dear life above the cut line while Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen, Alex Bowman and Josh Berry all try and find their way back out of the red in one of the toughest and most physical races of the entire season.
NASCAR playoffs 2025 race schedule, results: Complete list of Cup Series race dates, winners, tracks
Steven Taranto
Where to watch the NASCAR playoffs at Bristol
When: Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bristol Motor Speedway — Bristol, Tennessee
TV: USA | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
Starting lineup
A.J. Allmendinger won the pole for the Bass Pro Night Race in qualifying on Friday, posting a lap of 15.117 seconds to earn his first pole of the 2025 season, the fifth of his career, and the second pole in Kaulig Racing’s history as a Cup team.
#16 – A.J. Allmendinger
#12 – Ryan Blaney
#2 – Austin Cindric
#54 – Ty Gibbs
#5 – Kyle Larson
#11 – Denny Hamlin
#24 – William Byron
#23 – Bubba Wallace
#20 – Christopher Bell
#21 – Josh Berry
#47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
#77 – Carson Hocevar
#1 – Ross Chastain
#45 – Tyler Reddick
#48 – Alex Bowman
#9 – Chase Elliott
#7 – Justin Haley
#6 – Brad Keselowski
#42 – John Hunter Nemechek
#60 – Ryan Preece
#17 – Chris Buescher
#22 – Joey Logano
#3 – Austin Dillon
#38 – Zane Smith
#71 – Michael McDowell
#41 – Cole Custer
#43 – Erik Jones
#88 – Shane van Gisbergen (R)
#35 – Riley Herbst (R)
#4 – Noah Gragson
#19 – Chase Briscoe
#8 – Kyle Busch
#33 – Austin Hill
#51 – Cody Ware
#99 – Daniel Suarez
#34 – Todd Gilliland
#10 – Ty Dillon
#67 – Corey Heim
#66 – Chad Finchum
Storylines to watch
The chief storyline of the weekend concerns the playoff cut line, specifically the four drivers currently in danger of playoff elimination. Austin Dillon (-11), Shane van Gisbergen (-15), Alex Bowman (-35) and Josh Berry (-45) are all in minus territory, while Austin Cindric currently holds an 11 point lead for the last spot in the Round of 12.
Bowman is the biggest name among those facing elimination, and a major part of his issues over the first two races of the playoffs has now been addressed. Following two straight weeks of disastrous pit stops, Hendrick Motorsports has swapped out the No. 48 pit crew that had been servicing Bowman’s car with the crew that had been pitting the Spire Motorsports No. 77 driven by Carson Hocevar.