Surprising Names Among The Bottom Four of Playoff Grid Heading Into Bristol

Heading into the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, drivers were admittedly on pins and needles about what they felt was a three-race round of chaos.

After the playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway and last weekend's race at Watkins Glen International, it seems they were justified in their anxiety heading into the opening round of the Playoffs.

Watkins Glen was a tough day for Playoff contenders in particular as just two of them -- Chase Briscoe (sixth) and Austin Cindric (10th) -- finished inside of the top 10.

According to Joseph Srigley, the two Playoff drivers finishing inside the top 10 tie an all-time NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs record for the least Playoff drivers finishing inside the top 10 of a Playoff race.

After a rough opening two races of the Playoffs, some really big names are staring a potential surprise Playoff elimination in the face as we head into Bristol Motor Speedway, where literally anything can, and a lot of times does, happen.

Denny Hamlin's Championship Hopes Took More Hits at The Glen

The hits came early and often for Denny Hamlin at Watkins Glen International.

On Lap 1, a crash broke out in front of him as Corey LaJoie made contact with Kyle Busch at the bus stop, which triggered a big crash. Hamlin had nowhere to go and slammed into the rear end of Busch's car with the front end of his, which hampered his race car.

Hamlin, who finished runner-up at Watkins Glen last season, wasn't a factor for the remainder of the race as he spun on Lap 47 in an incident with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson, and would go on to finish a disappointing 23rd on the day. While it was another tough day, Hamlin found a silver lining in the fact that they were able to salvage a finish despite the massive damage to his race car.

“Great effort by this FedEx Toyota team to keep us in it," Hamlin said. "Obviously the car is just destroyed, so to finish 23rd – I guess there is a positive. We were certainly in the worst spot most of the day, and luckily, we had some attrition there at the end that helped us out.”

Hamlin, who leaves Watkins Glen International outside of the Playoff cutline by six points, was one of the top favorites for the championship for the majority of the season. But when NASCAR issued an L2-Level penalty to the No. 11 team for a violation of the sanctioning body's engine inspection rules, it felt like the wind was taken out of Hamlin's sails.

After losing 10 Playoff Points, and tanking in the final regular season championship standings due to the penalty, Hamlin came into the Playoffs not wanting to make a mistake. As a result, he and crew chief Chris Gabehart leaned heavily on analytics to dictate their strategy at the usually chaotic Atlanta Motor Speedway and chose to hang at the rear of the field waiting for the big crash all race long.

It never happened, until Hamlin was attempting to slice his way through the pack in the closing laps, and the big crash erupted on the final lap. Hamlin was swept up in that big crash.

While it's been tough sledding for Hamlin to open the Playoffs, he heads to a place of comfort in Bristol, where he has won the last two events on the concrete layout. Hamlin is optimistic heading into his duel with the 0.533-mile short track.

“I feel like we can go there and win," Hamlin said of Bristol. "We are going to an oval – back to a normal track. We can control our own destiny there.”

While he's down by six points on the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff cutline, Hamlin feels even if he doesn't win Saturday's night race at Bristol that he can overcome his six-point deficit by putting together a solid race from green flag to checkered flag.

Martin Truex Jr. Reaches Maximum Frustration After Good Day Ends With 20th-Place Finish

You have to feel for Martin Truex Jr.

As the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is attempting to close out his full-time NASCAR Cup Series career with a championship, things have not gone his way over the last few months.

The driver's last top-five finish in NASCAR Cup Series competition came at Kansas Speedway in May. This weekend, it looked like he would finally put an end to his frustrations as he qualified second for Sunday's Go Bowling at The Glen, led 27 laps on his way to winning Stage 1, and he truly looked like one of the best drivers in the field for the majority of the race.

Then, things got a bit crazy as they tend to do in the final Stage of Sunday's race at Watkins Glen.

"Yeah, I mean I thought our Reser's Camry, it was solid. It needed to be better on long runs, for sure. But we worked hard, persevered, and had a good strategy I think to have a decent day. As always, you get to the cautions at the end, and guys just drive through you," Truex lamented in a post-race interview on USA Network.

After there were just two cautions for cause through the opening two Stages of the race, yellow fever broke out over the course of the final Stage which featured four cautions. And with each passing restart, Truex would find himself being taken advantage of more and more by his fellow competitors.

"A mistake on my part to pick the outside lane on the restart, and then just got pushed three-or-four wide in the esses [and ended up] in the marbles. That was the first restart, and on the green-white-checkered, got pushed up in the marbles again and then got run into from behind and wrecked," Truex recalled. "Luckily, we got some tires at the end and passed a few. Passed like six cars on the last restart."

The lack of respect on the track raised Truex's ire, and he seemed content with the fact that he's walking away from racing full-time at season's end because of how cutthroat racing has become.

"It's just crazy that all of these races always come down to this. I don't really understand how guys can call themselves the best in the world when they just drive through everyone on restarts at the end of these races. So, it's very frustrating, but it is what it is these days. So, I'm outta here," Truex jabbed.

While he did improve his points deficit to the Playoff cutline from 19 points to 14, Truex faces a very uphill battle this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway if he wants to make it into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Along with Hamlin (-6 points), Truex would have to leapfrog Brad Keselowski (-12) as well as one of the drivers currently inside the Playoff cutline to advance. While it's possible, it'll be a tall task, especially with how things have gone for Truex and the No. 19 team this year.

NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid Heading Into Bristol (Final Race of Round of 16

Photo Credit: Brian Smith, TobyChristie.com