Adding to the drama, Saturday marks the first time the Next Gen car has raced on the half-mile concrete track. The Bristol race in April was on the dirt surface.

Chastain and his Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suárez are ninth and 10th in the points going into Bristol. If they remain in the top 12 they will advance to the next playoff round that begins Sept. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Chastain should be one of the favorites Saturday. He already owns two wins this season - Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on March 27 and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 24, 10 top-fives, 15 top 10s and 584 laps led.

Last weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Chastain started the 400-mile race from the fifth position, earned four stage points and finished seventh.

USA Network will broadcast Saturday night's Cup race at 7:30 p.m. ET.

USA Network's "Race for the Championship"

Watch Ross Chastain and teammate Daniel Suárez in upcoming episodes of USA Network's "Race for The Championship." The unscripted documentary follows Chastain, Suárez and other NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams.

USA Network will air a new episode on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.

First Episode

Second Episode

The series will give a behind-the-scenes look at the elite drivers and teams competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Documenting the lives of the sport’s best on and off the track, viewers will get a rare glimpse of what it takes to balance personal relationships with the pressure to perform. Packed with action, heart and drama, this exhilarating series will offer up a taste of what it’s really like to partake in the world’s top level of stock car racing. Watch as the drivers are pushed mentally and physically to their limits, navigating a NASCAR season unlike any other – with a new car, new tracks and new challenges – for their chance to make history.

Over 10 episodes, “Race for the Championship” will tell the story of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season and playoffs.

Ross Chastain, Driver of the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet

This weekend is a playoff cutoff race, what's it going to be like?

"I'm so happy to be racing on the concrete at Bristol this time. It's going to be an intense race because it's an elimination race and I'm sure NASCAR knew what they were doing when they made it an elimination race. The atmosphere is always a little wild - walking through all of the fans and their excitement."

What do you think the race at Bristol is going to be like?

"I don't think I have an answer for that. With the new car its changed how we drive so many tracks with the shifting and different things, so only time will tell, especially on the concrete at Bristol."

Do you ever take time to think about all of the stuff you've been through in your career, and now you see your name and think 'wow?'

"I do. It's interesting because with this current car, watching a ton of old races for each track you're at doesn't really apply anymore. You can really only look at the race earlier this year. So when I go back and look at races from earlier this year when we are headed back for the second time, and we had a winning car, that's where I go 'wow, that's crazy to me.' Seeing my name at the merchandise hauler is cool but where I really feel it is when I think about all of the winning cars I've had this year."