Alex Bowman might have to do some scoreboard watching Sunday while he competes in the NASCAR Cup series regular-season finale (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A career day would put him in the playoffs. A great day possibly could help him. But what he really needs is any of 15 other drivers to win the Brickyard 400. As long as the Brickyard 400 winner is either Jimmie Johnson or one of the 14 drivers who already have clinched a spot in the postseason, Bowman makes the cut for the 16-driver postseason.
If one of the 14 full-time drivers currently on the outside looking in ends up pulling off the upset, Bowman must finish with 20 points (possibly 19, depending on where he finishes) more than Johnson to make the playoffs.
"Hopefully us or the 48 [of Johnson] goes and wins," Bowman said. "That is the best thing that can happen."
Bowman had a chance this past Sunday night to gain significant points on Johnson in the Cup race at Darlington after Johnson dropped out early with an oil pump issue. However, Bowman had a long night, hitting the wall early and finishing 23rd.
Bowman, 25, doesn't bring a whole lot of momentum to Indianapolis after Darlington.
"It was a pretty disastrous day from start to finish. ... It was just frustrating," Bowman said. "We've got a solid group of guys. I feel like I let them down a couple of times. We all made our share of mistakes [at Darlington], and we'll move on from it and go from there.
"It's one of those deals. You can sit and be pissed off about it all week, but you're not going to change it."
As he tries to focus on Indianapolis, Bowman heads to a racetrack where he has not competed in a Cup race since 2015, and his races with underfunded teams in 2014 and 2015 were forgettable. He had one Xfinity race at Indy in 2013.
"I don't really have a good notebook or know what to expect," Bowman said.
Just being in position to make the playoffs in his first year driving for an elite team is somewhat of an accomplishment. Replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr. as driver of the No. 88 car this year, Bowman has two top-5s and nine top-10s in 25 starts.
Last year, Earnhardt posted one top-5 and eight top-10s all season, missing the playoffs and finishing 21st in points. He had an average finish of 20th; Bowman's average finish this year is 15.4.
"I'm just trying to make the most of these opportunities, and I felt like I let one slip [at Darlington] -- we had a good race car and should have finished a whole lot better than that," Bowman said.
"But it is a better feeling, for sure, going to Indy like that [being inside the bubble]."
Bowman didn't seem all that nervous when talking about what he will face this weekend.
"If somebody else wins, they deserve to be in it more than we do," Bowman said. "That's what it all comes down to. If we go win, then great. If not and somebody else wins, like I said, they deserve it more than us. We've got to be running a whole lot better to make noise in it anyway."