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The NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings are looking a little strange heading into the final race of the opening round Saturday night at Bristol.
Austin Cindric is second after two 10th-place finishes to start the postseason. Alex Bowman is fourth and Daniel Suarez is fifth. None of those three drivers were in the top 10 during the regular season. Meanwhile, drivers such as Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. are in the bottom four heading into the first playoff elimination race.
Here’s a quick look at the postseason standings heading into Bristol. After Saturday night, the playoff field will be reduced from 16 to 12.
1. Joey Logano (2,084 points, win in Atlanta)
Thanks to Chris Buescher’s win at Watkins Glen, Logano is the only driver who has qualified for the second round after his win at Atlanta to open the playoffs. He is the only one who can go to Bristol without worries.
2. Christopher Bell (2,089)
Bell is the points leader with a fourth-place finish at Atlanta and a 14th at Watkins Glen. That underscores how chaotic the playoffs have been through two races. He’s 46 points clear of 13th and should be in very good shape on the concrete half-mile.
3. Austin Cindric (2,086)
Cindric’s 10th consecutive finishes are his first back-to-back top-10s since he was fifth at Sonoma and seventh at Nashville in his rookie season of 2022. Since he’s also more than 40 points clear of 13th, he should be in position to advance to the second round.
4. Alex Bowman (2,084)
Bowman is tied with Logano in points and was 18th at Watkins Glen after finishing fifth at Atlanta. He has finished in the top 13 in three of his last starts at Bristol.
5. Daniel Suarez (2,079)
Suarez has the best average finish of any playoff driver so far, with second-place finishes at Atlanta and 13th at Watkins Glen.
6. Tyler Reddick (2,073)
The regular-season champion had a bumpy Watkins Glen, finishing 27th. Barring a disaster at Bristol, he’s safe for the next round.
7. Chase Elliott (2,073)
Elliott is simply living and finishing races. He had his first retirement of the season at Daytona, but has finished between ninth and 19th in seven of the last eight races.
8. Ryan Blaney (2,072)
Blaney has crashed in three of the last four races and even his third-place finish at Atlanta included a crash. He’s been an innocent victim in those crashes, so maybe he’s trying to move on from his bad luck now rather than in the final races of the postseason.
9. Kyle Larson (2,069)
Larson has finished outside the top 20 three times in the last five races. He finished 12th at the Glen. Don’t be surprised if he wins at Bristol.
10. William Byron (2068)
Byron really needs to get back to his early season form. Two top 10 finishes and four outside the top 25 in the last seven races isn’t going to cut it.
11. Chase Briscoe (2049)
Briscoe was 38th at Atlanta after crashing into Kyle Larson, but recovered to finish sixth at Watkins Glen. He’ll need a very good race at Bristol.
12. Ty Gibbs (2,049)
After top-five finishes at Michigan and Daytona, Gibbs has finished no better than 17th in the past three races. That needs to change at Bristol if he wants to advance.
13. Denny Hamlin (2,043)
It’s been a brutal start to the playoffs for the perennial title contender. Hamlin placed 24th at Atlanta after starting at the back of the field and was involved in multiple crashes at Watkins Glen before finishing 23rd. If the No. 11 team doesn’t bounce back at Bristol and advance to the second round, this could be the most embarrassing playoff performance yet for Hamlin and his team.
14. Brad Keselowski (2,037)
Keselowski’s finishes in the past five races have been fifth, eighth, 14th, 19th and 26th. You can figure out for yourself whether that’s a bad trend. That should change at Bristol, a place where Keselowski has finished in the top 13 in six of his past seven starts.
15. Martin Truex Jr. (2035)
The retiring Truex lamented the lack of driving courtesy from his competitors at the end of the Watkins Glen race, and it’s hard to disagree with him. Overtime races have begun to turn into high-speed pinball games. Truex hasn’t finished higher than 20th (his Watkins Glen finish) since eighth at Pocono.
16. Harrison Burton (2,029)
The surprise Daytona winner has been back to normal in the past three races. He is the driver least likely to make the top 12, given his average finish of 26th this season.