The Cup Series playoffs begin Sunday at Darlington (6 p.m. ET on USA, post-race show on Peacock). These are five pressing questions NBC Sports’ Dustin Long and John Newby are answering before the action begins.What team can make a surprising deep run?Long: Christopher Bell. His playoff hopes improved with Joe Gibbs Racing giving Bell the pit crew from Ty Gibbs’ team. That crew has been among the best all season, while Bell’s pit crew has struggled. The new pit crew should help Bell gain spots on pit road. Also, Bell has qualified in the top 10 in seven of the last 11 races. Good track position and a fast crew should help Bell advance in the playoffs. If he’s in a must-win situation, well, no problem. He won two cut-off race last year when he had to do so to advance.

Newby: Prior to Michigan, I would have picked Chris Buescher as the driver that could make a surprising deep run. Now that he has won three races in five weeks, the focus shifts to Bubba Wallace.He doesn’t have any playoff points to lean on, but he has success at multiple upcoming tracks. He gets Kansas in the opening round, the track where he won last fall. He also has Talladega, the site of his first career win, in the second round. Darlington, Bristol and Texas all present opportunities to stack points.MORE: Joe Gibbs Racing swaps pit crewsWhich team needs a fast start to avoid an early exit?Long: Kevin Harvick. He starts below the cutline, but Darlington is a favorable track for him. He’s had 14 top 10s in the last 15 races there, including three wins and two runner-ups. He was second there in May. If doesn’t have a fast start, then his final playoff run could end early.Newby: Tyler Reddick has two playoff appearances in the Cup Series. He failed to make it out of the opening round both times. He is back in the playoffs after winning at Circuit of the Americas in March, but he is only two points above the cutline heading to Darlington. Reddick and the No. 45 team will have to avoid mistakes on pit road and on the track in order to avoid an early elimination.Which driver can win the championship for the first time?Long: Denny Hamlin. His time is coming. Yes, it has been said before and he still seeks his first series championship but it’s hard to imagine he will end his career without a Cup championship. This year could be his year. Don’t overlook him just because he has been in the playoffs so often and has yet to win the title.Newby: Back in January, I predicted that William Byron would win the championship over Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman. I whiffed on Bowman, but nothing has shaken my confidence in Byron. He is in the midst of a career-best season, and he has avoided prolonged cold streaks.Who is the former champion that can add to their trophy case this year?Long: Kyle Larson. He has six DNFs this year. Four are at superspeedways (only one such track in the playoffs), one was in a dirt race (no such races in the playoffs) and one was in the Coca-Cola 600 (the Roval will be used instead of the oval in the playoffs). At tracks that will host a playoff race, Larson has a win (Martinsville), two runner-up finishes (Las Vegas and Kansas), a fourth-place finish (Phoenix) and was contending for the win at Darlington before the incident with Ross Chastain that put Larson into the wall and left him with a 20-place finish.Newby: Martin Truex Jr. is the obvious choice for me. He has the second-most wins in the series behind Byron, and he has only one finish outside of the top 10 in the past seven races. Truex has been the picture of consistency, and now he enters the playoffs with 36 points in the bank. Everything is setting up for him to cruise through the rounds and reach the Championship 4.Will Hendrick extend its three-year streak of Championship 4 appearances?Long: Signs point to yes.Newby: Absolutely. Byron has playoff points he can use to overcome early setbacks, and he has shown the ability to win at every style of track remaining in the playoffs. Kyle Larson is a champion with wins at all but two tracks remaining on the schedule. As long as their teams can avoid mistakes, both should be in contention for a spot in the Championship 4.

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