Jimmie Johnson’s 15-year NASCAR playoff streak is on the line at Brickyard 400

There’s not much room remaining on the NASCAR playoff bubble.

With one race left in the Cup Series’ regular season, all but two of the playoffs’ 16 spots have been clinched. And, short of a first-time winner this weekend at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there are just a limited number of drivers who can claim them based on points.

Four drivers — Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Aric Almirola — clinched spots in the playoffs after Sunday (and Monday’s ) Southern 500 at Darlington. Erik Jones, who was already comfortably inside the top 16 already, won the race, ensuring his presence in the playoffs.

But where does that leave the final two spots?

Clint Bowyer is in 15th and holds a slim eight-point lead over Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman, who are tied for 15th. NASCAR’s tie-breaking procedure gives that final spot to Suarez by virtue of his third-place finish at Texas (the best finish of the season for either of them).

Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is 18th, 18 points behind Newman and Suarez. Aside from winning at Indy (where he’s won four times). Johnson could overtake them both with a strong finish (and extremely poor performances by them).

Johnson, who is hoping to make the playoffs for a 16th consecutive season, hasn’t won since June 2017 at Dover.

“We’re running out of days and if we miss it, it’s going to be by a few (points), I believe,” Johnson said after the Darlington race.

But anything can happen. Take Bowyer, who is barely inside the cutline. Bowyer spent the first 24 races of the season in the top 16. Then a seventh-place finish at Bristol (not a bad performance, actually) dropped him to 17th. He followed that with a sixth at Darlington, good enough to move him up to 15th.

The best strategy for Bowyer and Suarez will be to try and finish ahead of Newman and Johnson -- keeping stage points in mind, as well.

Another thing to remember: a driver must be inside the top 30 in the points standings to make the playoffs. So even if there’s a first-time winner at Indianapolis, he’s got to be in the top 30 to qualify.

Here’s who is ranked 19th through 29th: Paul Menard, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Corey Lajoie. Their only hope is to win.

This week’s NASCAR race at Indianapolis: What you need to know.

Race: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400.

Distance: 160 laps, or 400 miles.

Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile asphalt oval.

When: 2 p.m., Sunday.

TV: NBC.

Radio: IMS Network.

Last year’s winner: Brad Keselowski.

Also this week: Indiana 250, Xfinity Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 3 p.m., Saturday, NBCSN.

Worth mentioning: Plenty is at stake in this race as drivers jockey for position in the final event of NASCAR’s regular season.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

HOT

Erik Jones: Won at Darlington, the fourth of four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to win this season.

Clint Bowyer: Sixth-place finish at Darlington puts him back in the playoff picture (he’s 15th).

NOT

Denny Hamlin: Rough weekend at Darlington, where he was disqualified after winning the Xfinity race for failing post-race inspection, then was 29th in the Cup race.

William Byron: Started on the pole at Darlington, but faded to finish 21st. The good news: he clinched a playoff spot.