NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after 2018 Federated Auto Parts 400
By Asher Fair
With two races down and one race to go in the first of four rounds in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, how does the playoff picture look?
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch ended the three-race winning streak of Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski by winning the penultimate race of the round of 16, the opening round of the four-round, 10-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, at Richmond Raceway.
Busch passed Keselowski for the lead of the 400-lap Federated Auto Parts 400 at the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond Raceway oval at Richmond, Virginia with 37 laps to go and never looked back en route to becoming the second river to clinch a berth in the second round of the playoffs, the round of 12.
Just one race remains in the opening round of the playoffs, and there are several drivers who are either right above the round of 12 cut line or right below it.
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Realistically speaking, only the two drivers who have clinched berths in the round of 12 by winning one of the first two races of the round of 16, the one driver who has mathematically clinched a berth in the round of 12 (Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.), and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick are safe as far as advancing to the round of 12 is concerned.
The 10 drivers who are currently between fifth and 14th place in the playoff picture are separated by just 27 points heading into the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, and there is not much separation between any of them. At most, just six points separate two of them.
A big reason why this is the case is because of the fact that all 16 playoff drivers finished the Federated Auto Parts 400 in the top 19. All 12 drivers who finished the race in the top 12 are playoff drivers.
Of those 12 playoff drivers, nine are currently above the round of 12 cut line while three are below it. Of the four playoff drivers who did not finish the race in the top 12, three are above the round of 12 cut line and one is below it.
Here is the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture with two races completed and one race remaining in the round of 16. The totals listed in the “behind” column show where each driver currently stands in relation to the round of 12 cut line.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer | Points | Behind | Playoff Points (Rank) |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 1 WIN | 1 WIN | 55 (1st) |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford | 1 WIN | 1 WIN | 25 (4th) |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota | 2141 | +85 | 38 (3rd) |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 2113 | +57 | 50 (2nd) |
| 5 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford | 2081 | +25 | 14th (T-6th) |
| 6 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 2079 | +23 | 1 (14th) |
| 7 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet | 2073 | +17 | 5 (T-10th) |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 2071 | +15 | 14 (T-6th) |
| 9 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet | 2066 | +10 | 5 (T-10th) |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 2066 | +10 | 8 (8th) |
| 11 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 2061 | +5 | 0 (T-15th) |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford | 2060 | +4 | 7 (9th) |
| 13 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford | 2056 | -4 | 15 (5th) |
| 14 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet | 2054 | -6 | 0 (T-15th) |
| 15 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 2039 | -21 | 5 (T-10th) |
| 16 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota | 2031 | -29 | 3 (13th) |
Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark
The Bank of America Roval 400 is the third and final race of the round of 16, and it is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 30. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to tune in to see which four drivers will be eliminated from NASCAR Cup Series playoff contention before the round of 12 gets underway.