The penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season plays out Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, and clinch scenarios are in play for berths in the postseason.
There have been 13 different winners through 24 races, and those 13 drivers are officially clinched into the postseason. William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Shane van Gisbergen earned their way through multiple race wins. Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric and Josh Berry are championship eligible through the single victories they each have earned.
The final three spots on the 16-driver grid will be locked after Richmond and the following week’s race at Daytona International Speedway. Any driver who has not previously won a race can clinch with a win in either of those races.
However, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman are in a position to clinch after Richmond on points. Per NASCAR: “If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the playoffs, the following drivers could clinch by being 62 points above the third winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from among Tyler Reddick or Alex Bowman.”
Reddick would clinch with 30 pointsBowman can only clinch with help
Reddick is 14th on the provisional playoff grid as the highest driver without a race win. He is 117 points above the cutline.
Bowman is 15th on the provisional playoff grid. He has a 60-point advantage on the cutline.
Ryan Preece is the first driver below the cutline on the provisional playoff grid. Preece is 34 points behind teammate Chris Buescher, who holds down the 16th and final spot on the provisional playoff grid.
But, per NASCAR: “If there is a new winner from Chris Buescher or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance in the playoffs, the following drivers would clinch by being 61 points above the second winless driver in the standings.”
Reddick would clinch with 54 points
The following drivers would clinch automatically with a win: Reddick, Bowman, Buescher, Preece, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Justin Haley, Todd Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Noah Gragson, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware. Additionally, per the rules of eligibility for the postseason, they are full-time drivers declared for Cup Series points.
Byron has a possibility of locking up the regular-season championship after Saturday night’s race. However, he would need help for that to occur.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver holds a 42-point lead in the championship standings over teammate Chase Elliott. He would likely need to be 62 points ahead of the second-place driver in points after Richmond to clinch the regular season title and the 15 additional playoff points that come with it.