NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after 2018 Bank of America Roval 400

With the round of 16 in the books and the round of 12 set to begin, what does the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture look like?

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney closed out the first round of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the round of 16, by securing himself a position in the second round, the round of 12, with a win in the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval.

Blaney was one of five playoff drivers who finished the 110-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway roval in Concord, North Carolina in the top six, and he was one of eight playoff drivers who finished it in the top 10.

However, outside of the top 10, the other eight playoff drivers were fairly spread out, as they finished anywhere from 12th through 39th place. Four of them finished in 30th or lower.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

• NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
• NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
• NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
• NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
• NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500

As far as which 12 drivers would end up advancing from the round of 16 to the round of 12, it came down to a “battle” for position involving part-time driver Jeffrey Earnhardt. Yes, you read that correctly.

After Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson pretty much dominated the race, he was involved in a late wreck that knocked him below the round of 12 cut line.

Larson, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola were in a tight battle that ultimately resulted in three of them advancing to the round of 12. After Johnson spun out going into the final turn on the final lap and fell from second to eighth place and Bowman finished in fourth, Almirola crossed the finish line in 19th.

This put Bowman two points ahead of Almirola and Johnson, who were tied and occupied the final two positions above the round of 12 cut line. Larson was running in 26th place, and he needed to finish in 25th to tie Almirola and Johnson.

While Larson slammed the wall coming out of the final turn on the final lap of the race, he somehow still managed to beat Earnhardt to the finish line to secure a 25th place finish, tying him with Almirola and Johnson in the playoff picture.

Because Larson’s best finish of the round of 16 was his second place finish in the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Almirola’s best finish of the round of 16 was his fifth place finish in the race at Richmond Raceway while Johnson’s best finishes in the round of 16 were his eighth place finishes in the races at Richmond Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, Larson and Almirola advanced to the round of 12 while Johnson did not.

Here is the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture heading into the round of 12. The totals listed in the “behind” column show where each driver currently stands in relation to the round of 8 cut line.

NOTE: Each round of 12 driver’s overall point total was reset to 3,000 ahead of the round of 12, and the playoff point totals that have been accumulated by each round of 12 driver through the first 29 races of the 36-race season were added to their respective overall point totals.

The opening race of the second round of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the round of 12, is the Gander Outdoors 400, which is scheduled to take place at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware on Sunday, October 7. Be sure to tune in to the live broadcast of this race on NBC Sports Network beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.