If the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs started today
Nineteen races down, seven to go before the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
If the playoffs started today, Kyle Larson would be the regular season champion and would be seeded first via his stage wins, race victories and final regular season points ranking.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin — who both have won three points-awarding races so far this year — would be seeded second and third respectively.
Martin Truex Jr., who was the regular season champion last year, would be ranked eighth.
Missing the playoffs would include Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who all made the playoffs in 2023.
With seven races left, 49 more playoff points remain on the table. In each remaining event, seven points are up for grabs (two for the two stage wins, five for the race win).
At the end of the regular season, NASCAR awards the Top-10 in points after the 26th race — the end of the regular season — additional points to their playoff point totals.
The driver who finishes the regular season 10th earns one additional point. The totals increase by one point through third place (eight points). Second earns 10 points and the regular season champion earns 15 points.
The points reset after three races as the series advances through the playoffs, with all playoff points earned carrying over to the Rounds of 12 and 8.
Playoff seeding 2024 regular season after Nashville (playoff points for standings position, stage wins, race wins)
1 Kyle Larson 2,038 (15 + 8 + 15)
2 Christopher Bell 2,029 (5 + 9 + 15)
3 Denny Hamlin 2,027 (8 + 4 + 15 )
4 William Byron 2,020 (4 + 1 +15)
5 Chase Elliott 2,016 (10 + 1 + 5)
6 Tyler Reddick 2,015 (7 + 3 + 5)
7 Ryan Blaney 2,010 (3 + 2 + 5)
8 Martin Truex 2,008 (6 + 2 + 0)
9 Brad Keselowski 2,007 (2 + 0 +5)
10 Austin Cindric 2,007 (0 + 2 + 5)
11 Joey Logano 2,006 (0 + 1 + 5)
12 Daniel Suarez 2,005 (0 + 0 + 5)
13 Ty Gibbs 2,003 (1 + 2 + 0)
14 Chris Buescher 2,002 (0 + 2 +0)
15 Ross Chastain 2,001 (0 + 1 + 0)
16 Alex Bowman 2,000
Categories
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.