Four drivers were eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs following the Round of 16 cutoff race on Sept. 13 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen and Josh Berry all were eliminated following Bristol. Bowman finished 8th, but fell 10 points short of advancing and needed to win the race to advance.
Austin Cindric was the final driver into the Round of 12 by points, finishing 33rd after a late-race issue with a fire inside the right-front wheel well.
Christopher Bell won the Bristol Night Race to advance, one of three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to win in the first round of the playoffs.
Here is the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after Bristol with the playoff points standings reset into the Round of 12:
Standings reset heading into Round of 12
1. Denny Hamlin +26 ahead of 9th
2. Kyle Larson +24
3. William Byron +24
4. Christopher Bell +20
5. Ryan Blaney +19
6. Chase Briscoe +10
7. Chase Elliott +5
8. Bubba Wallace +1
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9. Austin Cindric -1 behind 8th
10. Ross Chastain -2
11. Joey Logano -2
12. Tyler Reddick -3
- Aug. 31: Southern 500, Darlington Raceway (Winner: Chase Briscoe) Round of 16
- Sept. 7: Enjoy Illinois 300, World Wide Technology Raceway (Winner: Denny Hamlin) Round of 16
- Sept. 13: Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway (Winner: Christopher Bell) Round of 16
- Sept. 21: NASCAR Cup Series Race at New Hampshire, New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1 p.m., USA Network) Round of 12
- Sept. 28: Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway (2 p.m., USA Network) Round of 12
- Oct. 5: Bank of America Roval 400, Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (2 p.m., USA Network) Round of 12
- Oct. 12: South Point 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m., USA Network) Round of 8
- Oct. 19: YellaWood 500, Talladega Superspeedway (1 p.m., NBC) Round of 8
- Oct. 26: Xfinity 500, Martinsville Speedway (1 p.m., NBC) Round of 8
- Nov. 2: NASCAR Cup Series Championship race, Phoenix Raceway (2 p.m., NBC)
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