9/3/2024
Postman 68
A stacked field makes for a compelling NASCAR Cup Playoff opening round
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
The Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway delivered on so many levels Sunday night to finish the NASCAR Cup Series regular season in dramatic fashion and usher in what should be a compelling 10-race Playoff featuring two first-time championship contenders and five former series champions in a 16-driver field that has already proven any of them could produce a clutch win at any point.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson tops the 2024 championship standings heading into Sunday’s Playoff opener, the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Even though he lost the regular season title to 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick Sunday night at Darlington by a single-point, the 2021 series champion Kyle Larson had amassed enough bonus points over the course of the season to earn the top position when points were reseeded. He holds an eight-point lead over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell in second. Reddick is ranked third, 12 points off Larson.
“I’m excited to get the Playoffs going," said Larson, who has wins at seven of the upcoming 10 Playoff tracks. “The first round, there’s some nerve racking tracks, but our team is doing a great job right now. We just need to bring fast Chevrolet’s to the track and take it week-by-week.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron is ranked fourth in the Playoff points, 18 points behind his teammate Larson. Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney is fifth, 22 points back. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin (-25), Hendrick’s Chase Elliott (-26), Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s owner-driver Brad Keselowski (-32) and Team Penske teammates Joey Logano (-33) and Austin Cindric (-33) round out the top-10.
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez (-34), Hendrick driver Alex Bowman (-35), Sunday’s Darlington winner, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe (-35) and Daytona winner, Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton (-35) complete a robust list of 14 drivers earning championship chances by virtue of winning races.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs (-36) and Martin Truex Jr. (-36) advanced to the Championship 16 by virtue of points-earned.
This will be the first career NASCAR Cup Series Playoff run for Burton and Gibbs, although both have competed for the NASCAR Xfinity Series title previously with Gibbs winning that championship in 2022.
Briscoe’s thrilling win at Darlington over the weekend, Burton’s win at Daytona a week ago and Bowman’s clutch showing on the Chicago Street Course gives the Playoffs three new winners in just the last seven weeks. Three times in the last five years, a driver has won the final race of the regular season to earn that Playoff opportunity.
Larson leads all drivers with four victories on the season. Bell, Byron and Hamlin each have three wins. Reddick and Blaney have each hoisted a pair of trophies, rounding out the list of multi-race winners.
The first round of the Playoffs features a diverse trio of tracks from Atlanta’s super-fast 1.5-mile high banks, to the historic Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course to the half-mile Bristol, Tenn. short track.
Suarez won at Atlanta this Spring, Byron is the defending Watkins Glen winner and Hamlin won at Bristol, Tenn. earlier this year.
Byron is also the defending race winner at Atlanta, however, it was not a Playoff race last year.
Busch Light Pole Qualifying for the Quaker State 400 is Saturday, Sept. 7 at 12:30 p.m. ET (USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Photo: Jared C. Tilton -- Getty for NASCAR
Submitted By: Steve Post
