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NASCAR Cup

NASCAR Mailbag: Who will be in the Championship 4?

The NASCAR team at Motorsport.com answers questions from fans in this week's NASCAR Mailbag.

Jim Utter Tim Southers

Edited: Nov 9, 2018, 7:01 PM

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Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Mobil 1

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's and Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion State Water Heaters

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Mobil 1

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing, Toyota Camry Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY and Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Axalta

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Mobil 1, Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion State Water Heaters

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro SunEnergy1

Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Smithfield and Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Halloween

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Halloween and Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Smithfield

With people seemingly getting bored with so many mile and a half races and the excitement and good racing at road courses, do you see a potential for maybe 1 or 2 more road courses added in the future? And if so would they have to be rovals like Homestead or Texas or could it be a true road course like COTA or Road America? - From Shaun

Shaun, thanks for the question. The only way new road courses can be added to the schedule prior to the 2021 season would be if an existing track changes its design for one of its races to a road course, just as Charlotte Motor Speedway did with its Roval. But it seems very unlikely any other track will make that move in the short term. So for the next few years, we have probably maxed out on road courses. For 2021 and beyond, it's always possible a new road course not currently on the schedule could be added, but with no desire to expand the schedule (if anything people want to make it shorter), that means someone would have to give up a current race. - Jim Utter

My question to you is how do you think any of the Big 3 will make the Final 4? With drivers like Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola finding some recent speed, and Martin Truex Jr on the cutline, how things stack up for them? - From Zachary

Zachary, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. still have a significant points advantage over the other drivers, so it appears two of the "Big 3" will battle for the championship. The biggest question mark at Phoenix would come if Kevin Harvick can now race his way into the final four after his penalty or someone lower in points than Truex were to win that race. It's possible, with Chase Elliott having the best chance in my opinion. But it would be no surprise if the "Big 3" all end up in Homestead together. - Jim Utter

Thus far in this year's playoffs, who would you say have been the top 5 best performers? And who is the biggest sleeper? Thank you! - From Jack

Jack, speaking just in the playoffs, I would have said Kevin Harvick before he received the penalty from NASCAR. Right now, probably the biggest sleeper has been Joey Logano, who has scored the most points of any driver in the playoffs thus far and is the only driver already locked in the Championship 4. Others in the playoffs who I think have performed very well are Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski. - Jim Utter

Will Dodge come back to NASCAR I haven’t watched since they left? - From Thomas

Thomas, you’re not the first person to ask this question, but while there have been rumors all year about Dodge, nothing is definite so far. You can never say never in this sport, but from the sources I’ve contacted, there is nothing planned for Dodge to re-enter NASCAR anytime soon. - Tim Southers

If you have a specific question for one of us feel free to send it in. Did something happen at the track that you want to know more about but couldn’t find the answer anywhere? Send us a question.

Questions can be sent any day of the week and we’ll post answers in a timely fashion in our NASCAR section at Motorsport.com.

Get your questions in and be sure to follow every NASCAR series all season long on Motorsport.com.

Click on the following links to the following NASCAR series:

NASCAR overall coverage click Here

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series click Here

NASCAR Xfinity Series click Here

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series click Here

NASCAR (Canada) Pinty’s Series click Here

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series click Here

NASCAR Mexico click Here

Do you have a question?

Fans submit your questions each week to NASCARmailbag@motorsport.com. Responses will be reported generally once a week during the NASCAR season (Usually on Thursdays) Please submit your questions to the above email address.

You can also reach Jim Utter, Nick DeGroot and Tim Southers on Twitter at @jim_utter, @ndegroot89 and @TimSouthers, respectively. Use the hashtags #AskJim, #AskNick or #AskTim when submitting a question through Twitter.

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- The Motorsport.com Team

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