NASCAR insiders side with Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe in final four picks, both leaving the same HMS driver out of the picture

Renowned NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi shared their respective picks for the top four drivers in the 2025 NASCAR playoffs, where they picked Ryan Blaney, and Chase Briscoe among many others. Interestingly, both of them left out William Byron from their picks, the driver who won the recent regular season championship.

Bianchi and Gluck discussed the final four drivers for the championship where they picked drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Team Penske. Sharing his take, Bianchi said in the recent Teardown Podcast by Dirty Mo Media:

"I have Kyle Larson. I have Ryan Blaney. I have Christopher Bell. And I have Chase Briscoe."

Following this, Gluck added:

"I will have Blaney and Logano and Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe."

Interestingly, both of them left out Byron, the driver with two wins and the most points in the regular season championship. As a result, it was quite shocking for viewers to see that they left out the most consistent driver. However, they did not provide any explanation to back their choice.

Besides Byron, the experts also left out Chase Elliott, the driver who was in fourth place in the regular season championship. Instead, they picked Chase Briscoe, the new Joe Gibbs Racing driver, as one of the four drivers.

Interestingly, Bianchi, and Gluck also picked Blaney, one of the most consistent drivers in the last few years. In 2023, Blaney qualified in the last four and ended up winning the championship.

Last year, he was the runner up as his teammate, Joey Logano lifted the trophy. This year, Ryan Blaney won two races, the most recent one, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway, and finished the regular season championship in second place.

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NASCAR expert revealed why Ryan Blaney's teammate a favorite for playoffs

Jeff Gluck, the NASCAR expert, unraveled why Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney's teammate, is a favorite for the NASCAR playoffs. Speaking about this, here's what he said in the same podcast:

NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano (22) exits pit road before the start of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

"So I just went and talked to Paul Wolfe (Logano's crew chief) after the race. I'm doing a story on Logano heading in the playoffs and he said that he told his team last week they had a meeting and he said there's no reason we shouldn't be the favorites heading into this playoffs."

Gluck, in his top four predictions, included Logano, the defending Cup Series winner. However, his counterpart, Bianchi did not include the Team Penske star who finished the regular season championship in 12th place with 639 points.