美联社北卡罗来纳州夏洛特电 —— 在纳斯卡赛车常规赛收官战中，没有人比亚历克斯·鲍曼更为瑞安·布莱尼的夺冠欢呼雀跃。布莱尼在戴托纳站的胜利保住了鲍曼的季后赛席位，为此鲍曼誓言要请他喝700万杯啤酒。

周六深夜，鲍曼在代托纳站的比赛中早早退赛，只能通过电视看着布莱尼以四车并行的惊险场面冲过终点线，阻止了一众冷门车手抢走鲍曼在16强席位中的位置。

他的如释重负与泰勒·雷迪克（Tyler Reddick）的沮丧形成鲜明对比。作为去年常规赛冠军的雷迪克，今年却勉强挤进季后赛。和鲍曼一样，他也在比赛初期遭遇撞车事故，但由于积分优势，当鲍曼退赛后，雷迪克便锁定了晋级名额。

然而，他的23XI车队在挺进纳斯卡季后赛时状态低迷——一年前他们曾一路杀入决定冠军归属的赛季收官战，而雷迪克（Reddick）也缺乏再次争夺总冠军奖杯所需的稳定性。谁又能具备这种实力呢？

随着NASCAR（纳斯卡）季后赛揭幕战本周日即将在达灵顿赛道打响，目前尚无任何一支车队展现出明显优势。凯尔·拉森以头号种子身份领跑积分榜，紧随其后的是常规赛冠军威廉·拜伦。

紧随亨德里克赛车运动队队友其后的是丹尼·哈姆林，他是本赛季仅有的两位赢得杯赛系列赛四场胜利的车手之一。赛场上有两位首次参加季后赛的选手，其中包括新秀谢恩·范吉斯伯根，他在街道赛和公路赛上表现出色，与哈姆林一样赢得了四场胜利。

队伍前列

拉尔森（Larson）是头号种子选手，但自五月初参加印第安纳波利斯500大赛前在堪萨斯站夺冠后（当时他在七场比赛中赢得三场胜利），至今尚未再获分站冠军。

此后表现虽有起伏，但拉尔森（Larson）在季后赛前已连续两站获得第六名。

拜伦（Byron）本赛季已斩获两场胜利，其中包括戴通纳500大赛，且全程排名从未跌出前二。他正全力冲击连续第四年晋级冠军争夺赛。

哈姆林（Hamlin）虽已四度夺冠，但刚从戴托纳（Daytona）的糟糕之夜中走出：他的赛车在早期碰撞中受损，最终以第25名完赛，赛季排名从第三跌至第六——这使他损失了相当于一次胜利的5个季后赛积分。

哈姆林（Hamlin）至今未曾赢得过杯赛冠军，自2021年以来甚至未能跻身冠军四强之列。今年他将再度向这一目标发起冲击，与此同时，他与迈克尔·乔丹（Michael Jordan）共同拥有的23XI Racing车队正因反垄断指控在美国联邦法院与NASCAR对簿公堂。双方定于周四出庭，此时距离季后赛揭幕战仅有四天。

布莱尼在戴托纳站的胜利使他在季后赛种子选手中跃升至第四位，并为他赢得了可能被视为夺冠热门的势头。潘世奇车队每年此时状态火热，已连续三年夺得冠军——2023年布莱尼夺冠的壮举，正夹在乔伊·洛加诺的两场胜利之间。

洛加诺（Logano）目前仅位列第12名，但作为NASCAR现役选手中唯一的三冠王，他的实力仍不容小觑。

夹缝中的司机群体

克里斯托弗·贝尔（Christopher Bell）位列五号种子，其三个分站冠军数与拉尔森持平。他在揭幕战戴托纳500赛后豪取三连胜，但自3月9日凤凰城站后便再未登上冠军领奖台。

范吉斯伯根凭借全部在街道赛或公路赛道上取得的四场胜利，以第六种子身份迎来个人季后赛首秀。若能挺过首轮，这位新西兰车手或将成为搅局者——夏洛特赛车场的混合型公路/椭圆赛道"罗瓦尔"（Roval）位于第二轮赛事，若在此夺冠，范吉斯伯根将直接晋级最终八强。

蔡斯·埃利奥特（Chase Elliott）以七号种子身份出战，但这位2020年度的冠军得主亟需重返胜利轨道。他在家乡赛道亚特兰大站的胜利仅是本赛季唯一胜绩，也是自2022年——即他上次晋级冠军四强赛以来——两场胜利中的一场。

一胜俱乐部

埃利奥特是本赛季仅凭一场胜利便闯入季后赛的八名车手中种子顺位最高的选手。该组别还包括布巴·华莱士——他在印第安纳波利斯赛车场夺冠后，职业生涯第二次跻身季后赛。

奥斯汀·狄龙（Austin Dillon）本月在里士满站的胜利为他赢得了季后赛席位，但理查德·柴尔德里斯车队（Richard Childress Racing）尚未展现出稳定的竞争力，他将以15号种子的身份进入季后赛。

奥斯汀·辛德里克在塔拉迪加超级赛道上夺冠，使潘世奇车队的三辆赛车全部晋级季后赛。但自那场16场比赛前的胜利以来，辛德里克仅有一次进入前五名。

罗斯·查斯坦与队友范吉斯伯根携手晋级季后赛，使得Trackhouse Racing车队有两辆赛车入围正赛。他虽在五月赢得可口可乐600赛事，但此后仅三次进入前十名。

乔什·贝里（Josh Berry）因赛季初在拉斯维加斯站的胜利，将代表伍德兄弟车队（Wood Brothers Racing）首次亮相季后赛。他在常规赛最后两周状态回升，并以连续两站前十名的成绩晋级季后赛，目前位列13号种子选手。

雷迪克与鲍曼是本赛季季后赛选手中仅有的两位未获分站冠军的车手。

美联社赛车新闻：

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Nobody cheered Ryan Blaney louder to win NASCARs regular-season finale than Alex Bowman, who vowed to buy Blaney 7 million beers for the Daytona victory that saved Bowmans spot in the playoffs.

Bowman had wrecked out at Daytona very early Saturday night and had to watch on television as Blaney won a four-wide race across the finish line to stop a gaggle of long shot drivers from snagging Bowmans spot in the 16-driver field.

His relief was a contrast to the frustration shown by Tyler Reddick, last years regular-season champion, who limped into the playoffs this year. Like Bowman, he also wrecked early, but his points total was better, so once Bowman was out of the race, Reddick was locked in.

But his 23XI team heads into the playoffs in a slump, a year after making it all the way to NASCARs championship-deciding season finale, and Reddick hasnt had the consistency it will take to race again for the Cup title. Who has?

Well, no single team has emerged as the favorite as NASCAR heads to Darlington Raceway for Sundays playoff opener. Kyle Larson is the top seed, just ahead of regular-season champion William Byron.

Lurking right behind the Hendrick Motorsports teammates is Denny Hamlin, one of only two drivers with a Cup Series-high four wins this season. There are two first-time playoff participants in the field, including rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who dominated street and road courses to match Hamlin with four wins .

The front of the pack

Larson is the top seed but hasnt won a race since early May, before he ran the Indianapolis 500, when his Kansas victory gave him three wins in seven races.

Its been up and down since, but Larson starts the playoffs coming off back-to-back six-place finishes.

Byron has two wins, including the Daytona 500, and hasnt ranked lower than second the entire season. He is trying to make it to the championship race for a fourth consecutive year.

Hamlin does have four wins but is coming off a bad night in Daytona: His car was damaged in an early crash and he finished 25th, dropping from third to sixth in the season standings which cost him five playoff points, the equivalent of a victory.

Hamlin has never won a Cup title and hasnt even made it to the championship four since 2021. Hell try to get there this year at the same time as 23XI Racing, the team he co-owns with Michael Jordan, fights NASCAR in federal court over antitrust claims . The two sides are due in court Thursday, four days before the playoff opener.

Blaneys victory at Daytona boosted him to fourth in the playoff seedings and gave him the momentum to potentially be considered the favorite. Team Penske gets hot this time of year and has won three consecutive championships with Blaneys title in 2023 sandwiched between a pair of Joey Logano triumphs.

Logano is seeded a distant 12th, but as NASCARs only active three-time champion, he cant be counted out.

Drivers in the middle

Christopher Bell is the fifth seed and his three wins are tied with Larson, but he won three straight after the season-opening Daytona 500 and hasnt been to victory lane since March 9 at Phoenix.

Van Gisbergen is seeded sixth for his playoff debut based on four victories, all on street or road courses. If he can make it out of the first round, the New Zealander could be a spoiler the hybrid road course/oval Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway is in the second round and a win there would vault van Gisbergen into the final eight.

Chase Elliott is the seventh seed, but the 2020 champion needs to start winning. His victory at home track Atlanta is his lone win this season and only one of two victories since 2022 the last time he made it to the championship four.

One win club

Elliott is the highest-seeded driver among eight who made it into the playoffs with a single victory this season. The group includes Bubba Wallace, who won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to make the playoffs for just the second time in his career.

Austin Dillon earned a berth with his victory at Richmond this month, but Richard Childress Racing hasnt shown to be a consistent contender and he enters the playoffs as the 15th seed.

Austin Cindric won at Talladega Superspeedway to put all three Team Penske cars in the playoffs, but Cindric has only one top-five finish since that victory 16 races ago.

Ross Chastain joins teammate van Gisbergen in the playoffs to put two Trackhouse Racing entries in the field. He won the Coca-Cola 600 in May but has just three top-10 finishes since.

Josh Berry makes his playoff debut with Wood Brothers Racing because of his early season victory at Las Vegas . His performance picked up in the final two weeks of the regular season, and he heads into the playoffs with consecutive top-10 finishes. Hes the 13th seed.

Reddick and Bowman are the only two drivers in the playoff field without a win this season.

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AP auto racing: