Recapping every NASCAR championship contender's season in one GIF

Too much has happened during the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season to recap it all, but at one point, the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs seemed years away. But NASCAR made it, and the 2020 playoffs begin Sunday with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The playoffs are divided into four rounds. The first three rounds consist of three races with a win-and-advance format, and four drivers are eliminated at the end of each round. The final four championship contenders will face off for the title race at Phoenix Raceway in November.

The regular-season finale was Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, and the race results finalized who made the playoffs and who just barely missed the cut, including seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in his final season before retiring from full-time racing. But Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, locked himself into the playoffs by winning his first career race Saturday.

So here’s a recap of the playoff drivers’ seasons and how they’re feeling going into the postseason.