After 160 laps of slicing and dicing at Daytona, the NASCAR Cup Series playoff field is set.
While the path to get there took some turns, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman earned the final two playoff berths after the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Aug. 23.
Reddick and Bowman each were involved in crashes in Stage 1, but Reddick was able to continue while Bowman’s damage in the Lap 28 crash involving 12 cars resulted in a DNF for the No. 48.
That meant Reddick was locked into the playoffs, while Bowman had to wait out the final results of Saturday’s race and hope for no new winner. Bowman got his wish when Ryan Blaney held off Daniel Suarez, Justin Haley and Cole Custer by less than five-hundredths of a second to win.
Bowman and Reddick join the 14 race winners across 26 regular-season races.
Here’s the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings, the first look at the playoff standings heading into the Southern 500 playoff opener:
Unofficial heading into Darlington, Race 1 of 3 in Round of 16;; top 12 drivers advance to next round, with a win locking drivers into next round
1. William Byron +26 ahead of 13th
2. Kyle Larson +26
3. Denny Hamlin +23
4. Ryan Blaney +20
5. Christopher Bell +17
6. Shane van Gisbergen +16
7. Chase Elliott +7
8. Chase Briscoe +4
9. Bubba Wallace +2
10. Austin Cindric +2
11. Ross Chastain +1
12. Joey Logano +1
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13. Josh Berry -1 behind 12th
14. Tyler Reddick -1
15. Austin Dillon -2
16. Alex Bowman -5
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