Ryan Blaney takes top NASCAR Cup Series playoff seed at Richmond
RICHMOND, VA. – Ryan Blaney moved to the No. 1 seed for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after the April 3 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Blaney finished seventh Sunday and led the most laps, including every lap of stage one he won and picked up one playoff point in.
Blaney is now tied for the regular season points lead with Chase Elliott. Before Richmond, Elliott held the regular season points lead by 13 over Blaney.
In a tiebreaker scenario, as of now, Blaney would best Elliott for the regular season points lead and earn 15 extra points to start the playoffs – while Elliott would be second in the regular season points and earn 10 extra points to start the playoffs.
Blaney’s best finish is fourth (twice), while Elliott’s is a fourth-place finish at COTA. Blaney also has three stage wins, while Elliott has none after seven races.
The difference vaults Blaney into the No. 1 seed – with 2018 points – and Elliott to the No. 5 seed – with 2010 points – in a tie with teammate Alex Bowman.
William Byron moved to the No. 2 seed after moving up two spots in the regular season standings, from 6th to 4th.
Martin Truex Jr. gained one playoff point and moved from 7th to 3rd in the regular season points, which would put him in a position to earn four more playoff points and be in a tie for the No. 4 seed. Truex Jr. gained the playoff point for winning stage two at Richmond.
Truex Jr. would be tied with Chastain, who finished 19th and dropped from 5th to 6th in the regular season standings, which would earn him five extra points for the playoffs instead of six.
| Playoffs Seeding | Driver | Playoff Points Total | Base Points | Points Position/Points | Race Wins (5 Pts/Win) | Stage Wins (1 Pt/Win) |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | 2018 | 2000 | 15 (1st) | 3 | |
| 2 | William Byron | 2014 | 2000 | 7 (4th) | 5 (Atlanta win) | 2 |
| T-3 | Ross Chastain | 2011 | 2000 | 5 (6th) | 5 (COTA win) | 1 |
| T-3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 2011 | 2000 | 8 (3rd) | 3 | |
| T-5 | Alex Bowman | 2010 | 2000 | 4 (7th) | 5 (Las Vegas win) | 1 |
| T-5 | Chase Elliott | 2010 | 2000 | 10 (2nd) | ||
| 7 | Chase Briscoe | 2007 | 2000 | 2 (9th) | 5 (Phoenix win) | |
| T-8 | Joey Logano | 2006 | 2000 | 6 (5th) | ||
| T-8 | Denny Hamlin | 2006 | 2000 | 0 (20th) | 5 (Richmond win) | 1 (Stage win) |
| T-10 | Kyle Larson | 2005 | 2000 | 0 (12th) | 5 (Auto Club win) | |
| T-10 | Austin Cindric | 2005 | 2000 | 0 (15th) | 5 (Daytona 500 win) | |
| 12 | Kevin Harvick | 2003 | 2000 | 3 (8th) | ||
| 13 | Tyler Reddick | 2002 | 2000 | 0 (13th) | 2 | |
| T-14 | Kyle Busch | 2001 | 2000 | 1 (10th) | ||
| T-14 | Daniel Suarez | 2001 | 2000 | 0 (14th) | 1 | |
| 16 | Aric Almirola | 2000 | 2000 | 0 (11th) | 0 | 0 |
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.
WHO’S IN? WHO’S OUT?
Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin are virtually locked into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as each driver has won a 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, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez are the non-winner drivers locked into the playoffs.
NASCAR Cup Series regular-season points standings after Race No. 7, the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway:
bold denotes driver currently locked into the playoffs
italics denotes driver currently outside of the playoffs
1. Chase Elliott 241 points (+83 ahead of Austin Dillon)
2. Ryan Blaney 241 (+83)
3. Martin Truex Jr. 222 (+64)
4. William Byron 218 (1 win)
5. Joey Logano 215 (+57)
6. Ross Chastain 214 (1 win)
7. Alex Bowman 212 (1 win)
8. Kevin Harvick 193 (+35)
9. Chase Briscoe 192 (1 win)
10. Kyle Busch 191 (+33)
11. Aric Almirola 184 (+26)
12. Kyle Larson 183 (1 win)
13. Tyler Reddick 183 (+25)
14. Daniel Suarez 171 (+13)
15. Austin Cindric 170 (1 win)
16. Austin Dillon 158 (-13 out of a playoff spot)
17. Erik Jones 157 (-14)
18. Kurt Busch 155 (-16)
19. Chris Buescher 151 (-20)
20. Denny Hamlin 148 (1 win)
21. Christopher Bell 147 (-24)
22. Bubba Wallace 133 (-38)
23. Justin Haley 129 (-42)
24. Ty Dillon 116 (-55)
25. Michael McDowell 109 (-62)
26. Cole Custer 105 (-66)
27. Todd Gilliland 105 (-66)
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 101 (-70)
29. Harrison Burton 99 (-72)
30. Corey LaJoie 94 (-77)
–Must be Top-30 in points to win-and-get-in to the playoffs–
31. Brad Keselowski 72 (-99)*
32. Cody Ware 64 (-107)
*After the March 20 race at Atlanta, Brad Keselowski received a 100-point penalty in the regular season points and a 10-playoff point penalty. Without the penalty, Keselowski would be 14th in points – in a playoff position by one point over Suarez – and tied for the No. 15 seed with Aric Almirola.
The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is the April 9 Blue Emu 400 at Martinsville Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr. won last year’s race and earned five playoff points, while Ryan Blaney won stage one and two – and earned two playoff points.
The race has been shortened from 500 laps to 400 laps this year.
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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