LONG POND, Pa. — Alex Bowman holds the final playoff spot with nine races left in the Cup regular season after his 11th-place finish Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
Bowman fell a spot to just above the cutline in the standings. He entered Pocono three points ahead of Chris Buescher, who held the final playoff spot. Buescher finished fourth Sunday and scored 48 points to Bowman’s 27 to leapfrog Bowman.
Buescher also passed Bubba Wallace in the playoff standings after Wallace finished 36th and scored one point after an accident.
Bowman holds a 20-point lead on Ryan Preece for the final playoff spot heading into Saturday night’s race at EchoPark Speedway, the track formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. Wallace is 29 points ahead of Preece. Buescher is 38 points ahead of Preece.
The playoff field will be set after the Aug. 23 race at Daytona International Speedway on NBC.
A look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup race at Pocono Raceway.
Chase Briscoe’s victory Sunday at Pocono made him the 11th different winner this season. That leaves five playoff spots via points at this time.
Here is a look at the playoff standings. Those in yellow have scored a win this season.
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