Could the Super Bowl provide a clue as to who will win the NASCAR Cup championship this season?
It’s possible.
Consider these items …
The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 (a week before the Daytona 500). This is a rematch from the 2020 game that Kansas City won. The Cup champion that season went on to be Chase Elliott.
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OK, want to look at it a different way? No problem.
The Kansas City Chiefs have played in three of the past four Super Bowls. The driver who won the Cup championship after each of Kansas City’s appearances those years was less than 30 years old.
2023 — Kansas City beat Philadelphia for the Super Bowl. Ryan Blaney, then 29, won the Cup title.
2021 — Kansas City lost the Super Bowl to Tampa Bay. Kyle Larson, then 29, won the Cup crown.
2020 — Kansas City beat San Francisco to win the Super Bowl. Elliott, then 24, won the title.
Cup drivers who will be under the age of 30 at the time of the Phoenix season finale on Nov. 10 are:
29 — Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe
28 — Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones
27 — John Hunter Nemechek
26 — William Byron, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson
25 — Justin Haley, Zane Smith
24 — Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland
22 — Ty Gibbs
21 — Carson Hocevar
Another point to consider is that the three Super Bowls the Kansas City Chiefs have played since 2020 were followed by drivers winning their first Cup championship.
Maybe that would be a good sign for Denny Hamlin, who seeks his first series crown in what is a Hall of Fame career.
Among others seeking their first title are Bell — the only driver to make the Championship 4 in each of the past two seasons — Reddick and Byron, who won a series-high six races last year.
