Austin Dillon secured a NASCAR Cup Series playoff berth via his win in the Cook Out 400 on Aug. 16 at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon, who is 25th in regular-season points, earned a victory at Richmond for the second consecutive year but this time without on-track controversy.
The playoff cutline narrowed by a spot, leaving Alex Bowman 60 points ahead of Chris Buescher for the final spot but exposed to a possible new winner at Daytona.
With a poor finish on Aug. 16, Tyler Reddick was unable to secure a playoff spot. Two spots are up for grabs in next weekend’s finale at Daytona. Reddick’s advantage over Bowman is 29 points.
Atop the standings, William Byron clinched the regular-season points title with a race to spare after finishing 12th coupled with Chase Elliott’s DNF at Richmond.
Here’s the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings:
Through 25 races
Denny Hamlin (4 wins)Shane van Gisbergen (4 wins)Kyle Larson (3 wins)Christopher Bell (3 wins)William Byron (2 wins)Chase Elliott (1 win)Ryan Blaney (1 win)Chase Briscoe (1 win)Bubba Wallace (1 win)Joey Logano (1 win)Ross Chastain (1 win)Austin Cindric (1 win)Josh Berry (1 win)Austin Dillon (1 win)Tyler Reddick +89 ahead of playoff cutlineAlex Bowman +60Chris Buescher -60 behind 16thRyan Preece -94Kyle Busch -148Ty Gibbs -173AJ Allmendinger -181Brad Keselowski -189Carson Hocevar -197Michael McDowell -207Erik Jones -213John Hunter Nemechek -226Zane Smith -244Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -251Daniel Suarez -252Justin Haley -296
Unofficial after Richmond
William Byron: 839 points (2 wins, 17 playoff points, clinched regular-season title)Chase Elliott -68 (1 win, 6 playoff points)Denny Hamlin -73 (3 wins, 24 playoff points)Kyle Larson -80 (3 wins, 23 playoff points)Ryan Blaney -83 (1 win, 11 playoff points)Christopher Bell -91 (3 wins, 17 playoff points)Tyler Reddick -125 (2 playoff points)Chase Briscoe -141 (1 win, 7 playoff points)Alex Bowman -154Bubba Wallace -200 ( 1 win, 8 playoff points)Chris Buescher -214 (-3 playoff points)Joey Logano -223 (1 win, 7 playoff points)Ryan Preece -248 (2 playoff points)Ross Chastain -250 (1 win, 6 playoff points)Austin Cindric -296 (1 win, 8 playoff points)Kyle Busch -302Ty Gibbs -327AJ Allmendinger -335Brad Keselowski -343 (2 playoff points)Carson Hocevar -351Michael McDowell -361 (1 playoff point)Josh Berry -363 (1 win, 6 playoff points)Erik Jones -367Shane van Gisbergen -375 (4 wins, 22 playoff points)Austin Dillon -379 (1 win, 5 playoff points)John Hunter Nemechek -380Zane Smith -398Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -405Daniel Suarez -406Justin Haley -450