Contenders and Pretenders - Throwback Race At Darlington

Hello everyone! One of your three proud leaders of Nascar Amino, Tanor Campos, here and welcome to the eighth installment of Contenders and Pretenders! Denny Hamlin was able to prove to the entire NASCAR world that he could win without Chris Gabehart after scoring a dominant victory at Martinsville Speedway with his new crew chief Chris Gayle on top of the box! The yearly annual throwback race at Darlington will host the 8th race of the 2025 season as the rest of the competition will try to punch their ticket into the playoffs by winning at the lady in black so anyways let's get started with the eighth installment of C&P!

Major Pretender

44 JJ Yeley - 2 Straight Finishes Of 35th Or Worse

51 Cody Ware - 30th Or Worse In 5 Of The Last 6

88 SVG - 31st Or Worse In The Last 4 Races

33 Austin Hill - 2025 Nascar Cup Series Debut

35 Riley Herbst - Leader Of The ROTY Standings

10 Ty Dillon - First Top 20 Finish Since Phoenix

41 Cole Custer - 26th Or Worse In The Last 4 Races

47 RSJ - Finished Inside The Top 20 In 2 Of The Last 3

Slight Pretender

34 T.Gilliland - Scored His 2nd Top 10 Finish In 2025

71 Michael McDowell - 9 Points Above The Cutoff

16 Aj - First Non-Top 20 Finish Since Phoenix

42 JHN - Scored His Worst Finish Of The Year

7 Justin Haley - First Non-Top 25 Finish Since Phoenix

38 Z.Smith - Finished Inside Top 20 In 3 Of The Last 4

3 A.Dillon - Finished Inside Top 20 In 3 Of The Last 4

20 Christopher Bell - Locked Into The Playoffs

48 Alex Bowman - 74 Points Above The Cutoff

22 J.Logano - Tied For The Most Stage Wins/+49

Possible Contender

43 Erik Jones - Disqualified From Last Week's Race

4 Noah Gragson - 26th or Worse In 3 Of The Last 4

19 Chase Briscoe - 19 Points Above The Cutoff

17 Chris Buescher - 27 Points Above The Cutoff

11 D.Hamlin - Tied For The Most Stage Wins/ :lock: /FL

9 Chase Elliott - 77 Points Above The Cutoff

99 D.Suarez - Finished Outside Top 20 In 3 Of Last 4

21 Josh Berry - Locked Into The Playoffs

1 Ross Chastain - 19 Points Above The Cutoff

5 K.Larson - Tied For The Most Stage Wins/ :lock:

Major Contender

77 Carson Hocevar - First Top 20 Finish Since COTA

23 Bubba Wallace - 58 Points Above The Cutoff

8 Kyle Busch - First Top 20 Finish Since Phoenix

54 Ty Gibbs - Scored His Best Finish Of The Year

60 Ryan Preece - 15 Points Above The Cutoff

45 Tyler Reddick - 63 Points Above The Cutoff

2 Austin Cindric - Scored His Worst Finish Of The Year

6 Brad Keselowski - 26th or Worse In 3 Of The Last 4

12 R.Blaney - Tied For The Most Stage Wins/+43

Race Winner

William Byron

#CandP