A take a look at the 16 Cup playoff drivers, key information and a key query for every as NASCAR’s postseason begins this weekend at Darlington Raceway.
USA Network’s protection of the Southern 500 will start at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday. The race is scheduled to start shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
1. Kyle Larson
Points: 2032 (25 factors above cutline)
Wins: 3 (Homestead, Bristol, Kansas)
Key quantity: 25 — Percentage of playoff races (10 of 40) Larson has gained since 2021.
What to know: Larson has led 873 of the final 1,000 laps at Bristol, successful the final two races there, together with earlier this season. Bristol is the cutoff race within the opening spherical. … Of the 885 laps Larson has led this yr, 78.6% (696) had been at tracks that additionally will host a playoff race. … Larson has made it to the Round of 8 in three of the final 4 years.
Key query: Can he lead Hendrick Motorsports to its first Cup championship since his 2021 title?
2. William Byron
Points 2032 (25 factors above cutline)
Wins: 2 (Daytona 500, Iowa)
Key quantity: 11 — Number of top-five finishes, together with one win, within the final 20 playoff races (2023 and ’24)
What to know: Byron seeks to achieve the Championship 4 for a 3rd consecutive season. … He led a season-high 915 laps. … He gained the pole, gained the primary two levels, led the primary 243 laps and completed second at Darlington within the spring. The playoffs open this weekend at Darlington. … He led the factors after 21 of 26 races within the common season.
Key query: Since 2020, the champion has had a minimum of two playoff wins. Byron has one profession playoff victory. Is this the yr Byron can rating a number of wins on the way in which to a title?
3. Denny Hamlin
Points: 2029 (22 factors above cutline)
Wins: 4 (Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan, Dover)
Key quantity: 44 — Hamlin’s age (he turns 45 about two weeks after the season). The oldest Cup champion is Bobby Allison at 45 years, 11 months, 17 days in 1983. Hamlin can be a yr youthful than Allison if he gained the title this yr.
What to know: Time is operating out for Hamlin to be a Cup champion. He signed a two-year contract extension for after this season and that probably might be it for his Cup driving profession. However, Hamlin typically thrives in chaos. What might be extra chaotic than the continuing lawsuit Hamlin’s 23XI Racing, together with Front Row Motorsports, has towards NASCAR? The trial is scheduled to start Dec. 1. Could Hamlin be within the courtroom as the present champion? … Two of his 4 wins got here at playoff tracks (Darlington and Martinsville). … Hamlin has made it to the Round of 8 six consecutive seasons.
Key query: Same as in previous years. Is this the yr he wins a Cup championship?
4. Ryan Blaney
Points: 2026 (19 factors above cutline)
Wins: 2 (Nashville, Daytona II)
Key quantity: 3 — Consecutive seasons a Team Penske driver has gained the championship. Blaney gained in 2023 and Joey Logano gained in 2022 and 2024.
What to know: Blaney seeks to make the championship race a 3rd yr in a row. … He completed second in factors within the common season (earlier than the reseeding) regardless of failing to complete seven of the 26 races. … Blaney enters the playoffs with six consecutive top-10 finishes, the longest lively streak. … Blaney has scored factors in 9 consecutive levels. … Blaney completed fifth at each Darlington and Bristol earlier this season. Both are within the first spherical. … Blaney had 10 top-five finishes within the 19 common season races he completed (52.6%).
Key query: Can Blaney keep away from the DNFs that plagued his common season?
Daytona win offers Blaney eight-playoff level swing
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5. Christopher Bell
Points: 2023 (16 factors above cutline)
Wins: 3 (Atlanta I, COTA, Phoenix)
Key quantity: 0 — Cup championships gained by Joe Gibbs Racing since Phoenix started internet hosting the title race in 2020.
What to know: Bell gained at Phoenix earlier this season — the second consecutive season he’s gained the observe’s spring occasion. … Bell is the one driver aside from Shane van Gisbergen to win on a street course this season, taking the checkered flag at Circuit of the Americas in March. … Bell has 15 top-five finishes within the final 30 playoff races (2022-24). … Bell narrowly missed making the championship race a 3rd consecutive season final yr.
Key query: Will Bell return to victory lane for the primary time since March throughout these playoffs?
6. Shane van Gisbergen
Points: 2022 (15 factors above cutline)
Wins: 4 (Mexico City, Chicago Street Race, Sonoma, Watkins Glen)
Key quantity: 6 — Pit street dashing penalties van Gisbergen has had this season, most amongst playoff drivers.
What to know: If he makes it into the second spherical, he’ll be the favourite to win on the Charlotte Roval. A victory there would ship him into the third spherical. … He’s by no means raced at World Wide Technology Raceway, which is the center race of the opening spherical.
Key query: Will his 22 playoff factors be sufficient to assist him advance past the primary spherical?
7. Chase Elliott
Points: 2013 (6 factors above cutline)
Wins: 1 (Atlanta)
Key quantity: 11.9 — Elliott’s common end this season, greatest within the collection.
What to know: Elliott has made it to the Round of 8 the final seven instances he’s been within the playoffs (he didn’t make the playoffs in 2023). … This is Elliott’s tenth season paired with crew chief Alan Gustafson, the longest lively driver/crew chief pairing within the collection.
Key query: With solely two wins since 2023, can Elliott rating a number of victories within the playoffs to make it to the championship race?
8. Chase Briscoe
Points: 2010 (3 factors above cutline)
Wins: 1 (Pocono)
Key quantity: 10.3 — Briscoe’s common begin this season, greatest within the collection.
What to know: He gained final yr’s Southern 500, which was the ultimate race of the common season. … Briscoe certified fourth at Darlington within the spring earlier than ending twenty eighth. … Briscoe has three runner-up finishes this season (Sonoma, Dover and Iowa). … Had one win, three runner-ups and 5 top-five finishes within the final 10 races of the common season. … Briscoe has a series-high six poles this yr.
Key query: Can he develop into solely the third driver within the 2000s to win a Cup title of their first yr with a workforce (becoming a member of what Kevin Harvick did in 2014 with Stewart-Haas Racing and Kyle Larson did in 2021 with Hendrick Motorsports)?
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9. Bubba Wallace
Points: 2008 (1 level above cutline)
Wins: 1 (Indianapolis)
Key quantity: 100 — Race winless streak snapped together with his Indianapolis victory.
What to know: Has failed to complete seven races this season. … Made the playoffs with rookie Cup crew chief Charles Denike, who got here from the Truck Series. … Finished the common season with 4 prime 10s within the final six races.
Key query: Team has been up and down this season. Can it’s extra constant to make a deep playoff run?
10. Austin Cindric
Points Position: tenth
Points: 2008 (1 level above cutline)
Wins: 1 (Talladega)
Key quantity: 2 — Top-10 finishes within the 16 races since his Talladega victory.
What to know: He is the defending winner at World Wide Technology Raceway, the second race within the opening spherical. … Darlington is one among three tracks (Kansas and Phoenix are the others) the place Cindric has made a minimum of six begins and has but to attain a top-10 end.
Key query: He’s made it to the Round of 12 the 2 earlier instances he’s been within the playoffs. Can he transcend that?
11. Ross Chastain
Points: 2007 (0 factors above cutline)
Wins: 1 (Coca-Cola 600)
Key quantity: 21.9 — Average beginning place this season. Only teammate Shane van Gisbergen has a worst common beginning place (22.7) among the many playoff drivers.
What to know: Ranks thirteenth among the many 16 playoff drivers in stage factors scored this season (78). … Did not end higher than tenth within the remaining 11 races of the common season, doing so on the Chicago Street Race and Watkins Glen.
Key query: Can the workforce discover sufficient velocity to make a playoff run?
12. Joey Logano
Points: 2007 (On cutline)
Wins: 1 (Texas)
Key quantity: 40.5% — Fifteen of Logano’s 37 profession Cup wins (40.5%) have are available in playoff races.
What to know: Few, if any, considered Logano as a robust title contender final yr after successful solely as soon as within the common season, however he gained thrice within the playoffs to assert his third Cup title. … Logano’s championship spurred debate about NASCAR’s playoff system and led to NASCAR forming a committee to look at the problem. No announcement has been made if subsequent yr’s playoff format might be totally different. … Logano has by no means made it to the championship race in an odd-numbered yr.
Key query: Can Logano proceed his playoff success and rating a number of wins this yr?
13. Josh Berry
Points: 2006 (1 level beneath cutline)
Wins: 1 (Las Vegas)
Key quantity: 2 — Top-10 begins within the final 15 races.
What to know: Making his first Cup playoff look. … Has not led a lap within the final 15 races. … He has scored back-to-back prime 10s for the primary time since March, inserting eighth at Richmond and ninth at Daytona within the common season finale.
Key query: Can the workforce make it out of the primary spherical?
14. Tyler Reddick
Points: 2006 (1 level beneath cutline)
Wins: 0
Key quantity: 99.78 — Percentage of the 6,511 laps within the common season that Reddick has accomplished (6,497 laps), greatest within the collection.
What to know: Reddick made the championship race final yr after successful the common season title. … He has made it to a minimum of the Round of 8 every of the previous two seasons.
Key query: Only as soon as has Reddick had greater than back-to-back prime 10s this season. Can this workforce discover the consistency to make a deep playoff run?
15. Austin Dillon
Points: 2005 (2 factors beneath cutline)
Wins: 1 (Richmond)
Key quantity: 2014 — The final yr a Richard Childress Racing driver completed within the prime 10 in factors (Ryan Newman positioned second that season).
What to know: Dillon is the one playoff driver to not have a pit street dashing penalty this season. … This is his first playoff look since 2022.
Key query: Can he finish RCR’s top-10 drought?
16. Alex Bowman
Points: 2002 (5 factors beneath cutline)
Wins: 0
Key quantity: 42 — Race winless streak, the longest winless streak among the many playoff drivers.
What to know: Bowman didn’t safe a playoff spot till Ryan Blaney gained final weekend’s common season finale at Daytona. … Bowman scored seven top-10 finishes within the final 11 races of the common season.
Key query: Bowman has one playoff win (Martinsville 2021). Can he win to advance on this yr’s playoffs?