As the regular season winds down and drivers make a run to land a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, those outside the cutline are looking for wins.
A win guarantees a spot in the playoffs unless there are more winners than spots available. The 16 spots go to the regular-season champion and then 15 drivers based on wins with tiebreakers by points.
After Austin Dillon won Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, there have been 14 winners with the season-finale at Daytona next Saturday all that remains.
Daytona has the potential to see a new winner, which could leave Tyler Reddick or Alex Bowman on the outside looking in.
Here’s a breakdown of who’s in and who’s on the bubble when it comes to points and who needs a win.
Guaranteed Spots
Drivers with wins locked into the playoffs: Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen with four wins, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell with three and William Byron with two. Plus those with one win: Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Austin Dillon.
Bubble Worries
Tyler Reddick thought he was in a comfortable position, but after getting caught up in an accident Saturday night that resulted in a 34th-place finish combined with Alex Bowman‘s second-place finish, there is now a battle on the bubble. Both drivers get in if there is no new winner at Daytona. If there is a new winner, only one gets in. Reddick has a 29-point lead on Bowman and if he finishes ninth or better, he would get the spot no matter what Bowman does. But at Daytona, it’s probably more a matter of not getting caught up in an accident.
Tyler Reddick is still searching for his first win of 2025.
Must Win
The other 20 drivers need a win at Daytona to make the playoffs: Chris Buescher (-60), Ryan Preece (-94), Kyle Busch (-148), Ty Gibbs (-173), AJ Allmendinger (-181), Brad Keselowski (-189), Carson Hocevar (-197), Michael McDowell (-207), Erik Jones (-213), John Hunter Nemechek (-226), Zane Smith (-244), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-251), Daniel Suarez (-252), Justin Haley (-296), Todd Gilliland (-297), Ty Dillon (-313), Noah Gragson (-376), Cole Custer (-378), Riley Herbst (-392) and Cody Ware (-517).
Of those drivers, eight have never won a Cup race: Gibbs, Nemechek, Hocevar, Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Gragson, Herbst and Ware.
Daytona Outlook
Of drivers who need a playoff spot, Keselowski, Busch, Buescher, McDowell, Jones, Stenhouse and Haley have won Cup races at Daytona.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
What did you think of this story?
recommended
Get more from the NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
