Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Drivers made runs to land a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, and those who didn’t win needed some help to get in.
A win guarantees a spot in the playoffs unless there are more winners than spots available. The 16 spots go to the regular-season champion and then 15 drivers based on wins with tiebreakers by points.
Here’s a breakdown of who’s in and who’s out when it comes to the playoffs.
Guaranteed Spots With Wins
Drivers with wins locked into the playoffs: Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen with four wins, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell with three and William Byron and Ryan Blaney with two. Plus those with one win: Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Austin Dillon.
Bubble Saved
Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman got the two spots available on points. Chris Buescher, 10th in the overall standings was the first winless driver out. Reddick finished 75 points ahead of Bueacher; Bowman was 31 points ahead.
Tyler Reddick is still searching for his first win of 2025.
Missed The Playoffs
The other 20 drivers need a win at Daytona to make the playoffs: Chris Buescher (-31), Ryan Preece (-66), Ty Gibbs (-143), Kyle Busch (-145), AJ Allmendinger (-170), Brad Keselowski (-171), Michael McDowell (-176), Erik Jones (-182), Carson Hocevar (-195), John Hunter Nemechek (-200), Daniel Suarez (-218), Zane Smith (-239), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-250), Justin Haley (-257), Todd Gilliland (-268), Ty Dillon (-299), Cole Custer (-346), Noah Gragson (-376), Riley Herbst (-392) and Cody Ware (-501).
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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