Welcome to the NASCAR playoffs. Before each playoff race we’re going to take a look at how each of the playoff drivers have done at the track hosting the upcoming race. Las Vegas kicks the 10-race playoff system off, so let’s get started South Point 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday, Sept. 16 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN Aric Almirola 10 starts 1 top 10 Average finish: 26.2 Almirola has the worst Vegas performance of any playoff driver. He hadn’t finished in the top 10 until he was 10th this spring. That’s the finish to pay the most attention to given that it’s his only race at the track with Stewart-Haas Racing. Chase Elliott 3 starts 1 top 10 Average finish: 25.0 If Elliott’s Vegas pattern continues he’s on track for a top-five finish on Sunday. He crashed out in his first race at the track and finished 38th. He was third in 2017 and then 34th earlier this year because of a crash. Kurt Busch 17 starts 1 top 5, 4 top 10s Average finish: 22.5 Busch’s struggles at Vegas surprised us. He was ninth after starting first in 2016. It’s his best finish at the track in the last six races and ties his best finish at the track dating all the way back to 2005, when he finished third on the old layout. Clint Bowyer 13 starts 1 top 5, 4 top 10s Average finish: 17.8 Bowyer has finished 10th and 18th in his two Las Vegas races with SHR. He had finished outside the top 20 in his previous four races at the track. Austin Dillon 6 starts 1 top 5, 1 top 10 Average finish: 16.7 Dillon was fifth in 2016, 25th in 2017 and 13th earlier this spring. He’s finished on the lead lap in just two of his six Vegas starts. Brad Keselowski 10 starts 2 wins, 4 top 5s, 6 top 10s Average finish: 14.5 Keselowski has been the best driver at Vegas at recent memory. He finished outside the top 25 in his first four starts at the track. Since then, he’s gone third, first, seventh, first, fifth and sixth. 18 starts 2 wins, 5 top 5s, 8 top 10s Average finish: 14.1 Story continues Harvick won at Vegas earlier this year but the win didn’t count for playoff purposes because of inspection violations that included a dented windshield. Remember that internet kerfuffle? He’s been feast or famine at Vegas in his five races with SHR. He’s had mechanical issues in two races and finished first, seventh and first in the three others. Kyle Busch 14 starts 1 win, 6 top 5s, 7 top 10s Average finish: 13.3 Busch’s Vegas win came in 2009 when he started and finished first. That race went 18 laps longer than scheduled. He was second to Harvick in the spring and should be right there again on Sunday. Kyle Larson 5 starts 2 top 5s, 3 top 10s Average finish: 13.2 Larson has never led a lap at Las Vegas. Kind of crazy. He’s finished second and third in each of the last two races at the track so he should be a contender. Denny Hamlin 13 starts 2 top 5s, 6 top 10s Average finish: 12.6 Hamlin’s never finished worse than 22nd at Las Vegas. But he’s also been a relative yo-yo within the top half of the field from year-to-year. In 2015 he was fifth. He was 19th in 2016. He finished sixth in 2017. And was 17th earlier this year. Why yes, he sped on pit road in March. Martin Truex Jr. 13 starts 1 win, 3 top 5s, 5 top 10s Average finish: 12.5 Truex won at Vegas in 2017 and was fourth in the spring. He hasn’t finished worse than 14th there since joining Furniture Row Racing in 2014. Erik Jones 2 starts 1 top 10 Average finish 11.5 Jones’ finishes at Las Vegas are 15th and 8th. Small sample size. Jimmie Johnson 17 starts 4 wins Average finish: 11.0 Johnson has the best winning percentage at Vegas but hasn’t won at the track since 2010. Since then he’s finished 16th, second, sixth, sixth, 41st, third, 11th and 12th. That’s not a good three-year trend. Johnson would be well-served with a top 10 Sunday. Joey Logano 10 starts 3 top 5s, 6 top 10s Average finish: 9.7 You’re going to see the clip of Logano and Kyle Busch from 2016 at Las Vegas a bunch this weekend. Book it. Logano finished second that year and has finished fourth and seventh since. His last finish outside the top 10 at LVMS came in 2013 when he was 12th. Ryan Blaney 4 starts 1 top 5, 3 top 10s Average finish: 9.2 Blaney was 19th in his first start at Las Vegas in 2015. He’s been sixth, seventh and fifth in the three years since. Will he finish fourth or eighth on Sunday? – – – – – – – Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. More from Yahoo Sports: • Naomi Osaka reveals what Serena told her while fans booed at U.S. Open • Mayor lifts Nike ban in Louisiana town following outcry • Jags coach gets too ‘pissed off’ to watch Super Bowl • Antonio Brown apologizes to reporter after sending threatening tweet<doc-sep>Michelle R. Martinelli For The Win In what the racing world commonly refers to as stick-and-ball sports, a certain number of teams work throughout the regular season to advance to the playoffs, and everyone else who doesn't make the cut is stuck watching at home. While the first part of that is true for NASCAR and its 26 regular season races, the 16 drivers who qualify for the 10-race playoffs still compete against each other and the rest of the non-qualified teams. And although a win in the playoffs advances drivers to the next round, non-playoff drivers have been known to win too. If it seems weird or unfair, that's the way it's always been, and Kyle Larson - who drives the No. 42 Chevrolet and is seeded 12th - explained why a full field is important beyond tradition. "The races would be a lot less exciting because the field would be so much smaller, and you'd never run into lap traffic," Larson told For The Win by phone this week. "So it'd be harder to pass than it is already, so you need a full field of cars to have competitive, exciting fun races." In his fifth full-time Cup Series season and third playoff appearance, Larson is one of six winless playoff drivers who qualified for the postseason based on points instead. The remaining 10 won at least one race to guarantee their spots. The first playoff race is Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN). Racing against a handful of drivers who aren't in the playoffs this year but have been in the past - such as 2003 Cup Series champ Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - Larson knows they're still threats even if they're not title contenders. "There are still guys that aren't in the playoffs that are well capable of winning races, and they're trying their hardest to compete and be up front and win a race, because their season is still going on," Larson said. "They're still racing for points as well. They might not be racing for a championship, but the points battle to get to 17th is tight, and there's money that's paid for that. So they've got every reason to race us as well." (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports) Relatively uncommon, non-playoff drivers or ones who have already been eliminated from contention still win races from time to time. The most recent example is Kenseth - who was already knocked out of the 2017 playoffs but won the last cutoff race in November. He was the only non-contender to win in last year's postseason. As Larson explained, any driver on the track is dangerous, regardless of playoff status. And that is especially true at unpredictable tracks, like Talladega Superspeedway, and at unfamiliar tracks, like Charlotte Motor Speedway's half-oval, half-road course - or roval - where the first elimination race is later this month. "Those first couple years when I was racing Cup and we had missed the playoffs, I had made it a goal of mine to - we didn't win, but I ran up front a lot," he said. "There were some good tracks for us, and I wanted to race hard and prove to them that had I been in the playoffs, I was somebody they would have to worry about. So I think for a lot of those competitors (this year), they're probably the same way. They want to compete and run hard and show that they were capable of getting the job done, but they, maybe, had some bad luck or misfortune throughout the regular season." MORE: David Wright calls it quits: 'It's debilitating to play baseball' Jemele Hill says goodbye to ESPN: 'I'll always be rooting for you' Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw says team should have paid Le'Veon Bell ESPN's Dan Le Batard reacts to breaking news story about his engagement Bachelor In Paradise's Jordan reflects on breakup in revealing interview: 'I got played'<doc-sep>
The field is set. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and we know which 16 drivers will compete for the championship when the postseason opens at LVMS for the first time in series history. Two spots were up for grabs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday in the regular-season finale, with 10 drivers having locked in their spots already via wins and four clinched via points. MORE: Photos from Indy weekend Those outside the playoff picture entering Indianapolis were in a win-or-bust mode, and the upset victory didn’t materialize with Brad Keselowski winning at the Brickyard. Below is the 16-driver field with the official seeding and points. MORE: Keselowski wins at Indianapolis 1. Kyle Busch: 2,050 points 2. Kevin Harvick: 2,050 points 3. Martin Truex Jr.: 2,035 points 4. Brad Keselowski: 2,019 points 5. Clint Bowyer: 2,015 points 6. Joey Logano: 2014 points 7. Kurt Busch: 2,014 points 8. Chase Elliott: 2,008 points 9. Ryan Blaney: 2,007 points 10. Erik Jones: 2,005 points 11. Austin Dillon: 2,005 points 12. Kyle Larson: 2,005 points 13. Denny Hamlin: 2,003 points 14. Aric Almirola: 2,001 points 15. Jimmie Johnson: 2,000 points 16. Alex Bowman: 2,000 points Regular Season Champion: Kyle Busch clinched the honor at Indy, becoming the second driver to win the distinction since NASCAR moved to this playoffs format prior to the 2017 season. Last year’s Regular Season Champion, Martin Truex Jr., went on to win the championship in Miami. For Busch, in addition to winning the honor and receiving a trophy, he receives a crucial 15 playoff points to add to his total and carry over from round to round. Last In: Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman entered Indianapolis on the good side of the playoff bubble, but not locked in. Both could breathe a sigh of relief when a first-time 2018 winner positioned below the cutoff line didn’t throw the field into disarray by winning. First Out: Ryan Newman finished the regular season in the top 16 of the driver standings, but he’s not in the 16-driver postseason field. That’s because Austin Dillon, who stood 18th in the standings after Indianapolis, won the Daytona 500 — and in this format, winning trumps all. Newman missed the playoffs this year after qualifying for the postseason in 2017. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth (part time in 2018) were the other playoff drivers who missed out this year. First-timers: Erik Jones, in his second full-time Monster Energy Series season, qualified for the series’ playoffs for the first time. He’s the only first-timer in the field, although Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney qualified for the second time in their respective careers.