Ross Chastain earns win No. 2 of 2022, moves to No. 4 playoff seed after Talladega
TALLADEGA, ALA. — Ross Chastain earned his second win of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The win earned Chastain five playoff points and moved him from the No. 6 seed before Talladega to the No. 4 seed afterward. Chastain is only the second multi-time winner this season.
William Byron is the other multi-time winner and he held onto the No. 1 seed after Talladega. He gained one playoff point by winning stage two and moved from fourth to third in the regular-season points, which puts him in position to earn one more playoff point.
Kyle Busch finished third and moved up to fourth in the regular-season points. He dropped back to the No. 6 seed after Talladega.
Bubba Wallace was the other stage winner, as he won stage one Sunday. Wallace is 49 points out of a playoff spot after 10 races.
The top 10 finishers were as follows: Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick.
PLAYOFF POINTS EXPLAINED
Each win is worth five playoff points, each stage win is worth one playoff point.
The top 10 drivers in regular-season points each earn playoff points for their points position at the end of the regular season: 1st – 15 points, 2nd – 10, 3rd – 8, 4th – 7, 5th – 6, 6th – 5, 7th – 4, 8th – 3, 9th – 2, 10th – 1.
Presumpive playoff seeding after Race No. 10, the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway:
| Driver | Playoff Points Total | Base Points | Points Position/Points | Points for Race Wins (5 Pts/Win) | Stage Wins (1 Pt/Win) |
| William Byron | 2021 | 2000 | 8 (3rd) | 10 (Atlanta and Martinsville) | 3 (Talladega – Stage 2, Atlanta – Stage 1, Phoenix – Stage 1 |
| Chase Elliott | 2017 | 2000 | 15 (1st) | 2 (Martinsville – Stages 1 & 2) | |
| Ryan Blaney | 2013 | 2000 | 10 (2nd) | 3 (Richmond – Stage 1, Atlanta – Stage 2, Phoenix – Stage 2) | |
| Ross Chastain | 2013 | 2000 | 2 (9th) | 10 (COTA) | 1 (Las Vegas – Stage 2) |
| Alex Bowman | 2012 | 2000 | 6 (5th) | 5 (Las Vegas) | 1 (Las Vegas – Stage 1) |
| Kyle Busch | 2012 | 2000 | 7 (4th) | 5 (Bristol Dirt) | |
| Kyle Larson | 2010 | 2000 | 4 (7th) | 5 (Auto Club) | 1 (Bristol Dirt) |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 2006 | 2000 | 3 (8th) | 3 (Daytona 500 –Stages 1 & 2, Richmond – Stage 2) | |
| Chase Briscoe | 2006 | 2000 | 0 (12th) | 5 (Phoenix) | 1 (Bristol Dirt) |
| Denny Hamlin | 2006 | 2000 | 0 (24th) | 5 (Richmond) | (COTA – Stage 2) |
| Joey Logano | 2005 | 2000 | 5 (6th) | ||
| Austin Cindric | 2005 | 2000 | 0 (16th) | 5 (Daytona 500) | |
| Aric Almirola | 2001 | 2000 | 1 (10th) | ||
| Kevin Harvick | 2000 | 2000 | 0 (11th) | ||
| Austin Dillon | 2000 | 2000 | 0 (13th) | ||
| Christopher Bell | 2000 | 2000 | 0 (14th) |
NASCAR Cup Series regular-season points standings after Race No. 10, the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway:
- Chase Elliott 368 (+126 to Erik Jones for a playoff spot)
- Ryan Blaney 347 (-21 to Elliott; +105)
- William Byron 334 (2 wins)
- Kyle Busch 312 (1 win)
- Alex Bowman 309 (1 win)
- Joey Logano 308 (-60; +66)
- Kyle Larson 299 (1 win)
- Martin Truex Jr. 298 (+56)
- Ross Chastain 292 (2 wins)
- Aric Almirola 265 (+23)
- Kevin Harvick 252 (+10)
- Chase Briscoe 246 (1 win)
- Austin Dillon 245 (+3)
- Christopher Bell 243 (+1)
- Tyler Reddick 242 (-1 to Bell)
- Austin Cindric 238 (1 win)
- Erik Jones 231 (-12 to Bell for a playoff spot)
- Kurt Busch 218 (-25)
- Daniel Suarez 218 (-25)
- Chris Buescher 196 (-47)
- Bubba Wallace 193 (-50)
24. Denny Hamlin 178 (1 win)
29. Brad Keselowski 132* (-111)
30. Harrison Burton 130 (-113)
—-Must be Top 30 in points to be playoff-eligible with a win—-
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 128 (-2 to Burton to be playoff-eligible)
32. Cody Ware 88 (-42)
bold denotes driver virtually locked into the playoffs with a win
italics denotes driver currently not locked into the playoffs
* Brad Keselowski had a 100-point penalty after Atlanta. Without the penalty, Keselowski would be 17th in the regular-season points, with 232 points – 11 points behind Christopher Bell for a playoff spot.
WHO’S IN? WHO’S OUT?
Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch are virtually locked into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as each driver has won at least one race. Each driver must stay above 30th in points to get into the playoffs with a win.
Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon and Christopher Bell are the non-winner drivers currently locked into the playoffs.
The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is the May 1 Duramax Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET; TV: FS1; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Ch.90).
Kyle Larson earned two playoff points for sweeping both stages but finished second to Alex Bowman, who earned five playoff points for getting the overall win in last year’s May NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com