NASCAR
Which High Profile Drivers Have Not Made the NASCAR Playoffs?
2023 marks the 20th season of a NASCAR Cup Series Playoff format. For two decades, the top level of American racing has decided its champion with some type of postseason. Various forms of a Playoff have featured 10, 12, 13 or 16 drivers. As notable as the drivers who make it into the Playoffs year after year are the ones who miss. 2023 is no exception to this rule, with several elite drivers failing to make the postseason cut. Here’s a look back at some of the most noteworthy drivers to miss a NASCAR Playoff field.
2005-Jeff Gordon
Year two of the 10-man Chase for the Cup did not include the most successful driver at the time. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon missed the Playoffs only once in his career, coming in 2005. Despite winning his third Daytona 500 that season, Gordon’s No. 24 was riddled with inconsistency. The Hendrick Motorsports team would end the regular season 12th in points, falling just shy of the top-10 cut.
The 24 would still find victory lane during the Chase that year, taking the fall Martinsville race. This would be the first career victory for crew chief Steve Letarte, who took over the No. 24 from Robbie Loomis.
2006-Tony Stewart
Defending Cup champion Tony Stewart and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team would not have a shot at repeating. As was tradition at this point, Smoke heated up in the summer months. Stewart won the July Daytona race and was as high as second in points.
Battling injury and inconsistency all season long, the regular season finale at Richmond was a microcosm of Stewart’s entire season. Wrecking their primary car in practice, the backup No. 20 Chevrolet could only muster an 18th-place finish, falling 16 points shy of the top-10.
What makes Stewart’s 2006 legendary however is what happened over the next 10 weeks. Stewart saw victory lane three times, at Kansas and back-to-back in Atlanta and Texas. The 20 may not have been a 2006 contender, but they definitely stole the show more weeks than not.
2009-Matt Kenseth
2009 was a very glass-half-full season for Matt Kenseth and the Roush Racing No. 17. They started off the season in perfect fashion, winning the Daytona 500 and next week at Auto Club. That’s about where the highlights end though, as Kenseth was 14th at regular season’s end. His final points position saw no change either.
A 25th-place run at Richmond officially eliminated Kenseth from the championship hunt, with that year’s final berth going to Brian Vickers. 2009 was the first and only time Kenseth missed out on the Playoffs. This in turn made Jimmie Johnson the only driver with a perfect Playoff record since 2004.
2010-Jamie McMurray
By all accounts, 2010 was a career season for Jamie McMurray. The No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet picked up two crown jewel wins, the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. McMurray’s regular season also saw three other second-place results. Alas the 1 team could only get up to 14th in points after Richmond, eventually finishing there for 2010.
McMurray did cap off 2010 with one more victory though, getting the job done again in the fall Charlotte race. McMurray would fail to make any Playoff field until 2015.
2012-Kyle Busch
Any way you slice it, 2012 was a down year for Kyle Busch. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team only went to victory lane once that season, in the spring Richmond race. Busch would be on the losing end of the Chase wildcard points battle, falling three points shy of Jeff Gordon.
What could have been for Busch is a great what if thought for 2012, with him earning eight top-10s in the final 10 weeks. 2012 also saw Busch go winless in Xfinity and Trucks, only having one NASCAR win across the entirety of the year.
2013-Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr
Defending Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski did not have a chance to back up his title in the first year of the Gen 6 car. Keselowski’s 2013 campaign can best be called a championship hangover season, with very little going in favor of the 2 team. Despite missing out on the Chase, Keselowski did claim one victory in the fall Charlotte race.
2013’s Chase cutoff is also remembered in infamy for the Michael Waltrip Racing ‘Spingate’ scandal at Richmond. Martin Truex Jr initially made the cut in the No. 56 Toyota. A post-race points penalty however removed him from the Chase. In his place Ryan Newman was awarded the final wildcard berth, and Jeff Gordon was also inserted into the now 13-man title fight.
2017-Joey Logano
After being championship runner-up in 2016 to Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano missed the Playoffs entirely in 2017. Logano did claim one regular season victory at Richmond, but that win’s Playoff-eligibility was stripped away after an illegal rear suspension was found.
Coming back to Richmond months later for the regular season finale, Logano faced a must-win scenario to make the Playoffs. The Penske No. 22 came as close as possible, finishing second to Kyle Larson. While Logano missed out on the 2017 Playoffs, he would win championship number one in 2018.
2019/2020-Jimmie Johnson
Going 15-straight seasons making the Playoffs, the luck finally ran out for Jimmie Johnson in 2019. The Hendrick 48 would fail to make the postseason in either of the seven-time champion’s final two seasons. Johnson would coincidentally finish both years at 18th in points, only totaling 22 top-10s across both years.
2022-Martin Truex Jr
In the Next Gen car’s first season, different winners dominated the week-to-week conversation. Coming into the regular season finale at Daytona, two drivers held the final Playoff spots on points: Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. After Austin Dillon broke through into victory lane, Truex was left on the outside looking in.
The No. 19 team had an uncharacteristically off 2022 season, going winless after being the 2021 title runner-up. MTJ would have breakout performances in four Playoff races a season ago, but bad luck kept him out of victory lane.
2023 has been a complete turnaround effort so far for Truex, taking three wins en route to the regular season championship. Entering this year’s Playoffs tied for the top seed, Truex has reaffirmed himself as a title threat.
2023-Chase Elliott
Another perennial title contender missed the 16-man dance this year, with Chase Elliott being left out. The regular season for the 2020 champion was anything but ordinary. Following a March snowboarding incident, Elliott missed six weeks with a broken leg. Elliott was also suspended one week after intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in May.
These setbacks put the 9 team well behind the top-16, a deficit they could never close. At the time of this writing, Elliott is currently 19th in points, trying to end the 2023 season with a win.
Some of the best drivers over NASCAR’s past two decades are on this list. Nobody has managed to stay perfect across the entirety of their career in making every year’s Playoffs. Bounce back efforts have also been very common for those who miss the postseason, none more evident than Truex this season. Missing one year’s Playoff is far from a career death sentence. Instead, this validates the format in showing just how difficult it is to have continued success. Championship contender or not, those who missed the cut in 2023 have a lot to look forward to ahead in the 2024 season.
Written by Peter Stratta
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