NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after 2018 First Data 500

With one race down and two races remaining in the round of 8 of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, how does the playoff picture look?

By winning the opening race of the round of 8, which is the third of four rounds in the 10-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Team Penske’s Joey Logano became the first driver to secure his spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 18.

Logano won the 500-lap race, the First Data 500, around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia in semi-controversial fashion in his #22 Ford, as he bumped the #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. out of the way on the final lap after Truex Jr. raced him clean for several laps leading up to the white flag.

Truex Jr. ended up having to settle for third place after the two drivers bumped and banged with one another coming down the front straightaway to take the checkered flag, as Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who is not one of the eight round of 8 drivers, snuck up and took second away from the defending Cup Series champion in his #11 Toyota.

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Aside of Logano and Truex Jr., four other round of 8 drivers ended up finishing in the top 10. Two of those four drivers are the other two drivers aside of Logano and Truex Jr. who are currently above the Championship 4 cut line. Those two drivers are Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who finished in fourth and 10th place in their #18 Toyota and #4 Ford, respectively.

The two round of 8 drivers who failed to finish in the top 10 were Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer. They finished in 11th and 21st place in their #10 Ford and #14 Ford, respectively. As a result, they are the lowest two drivers in the playoff picture and are both well below the Championship 4 cut line.

At this point, the distance between Truex Jr., the final driver above the Championship 4 cut line, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch, the first driver below the Championship 4 cut line, is fairly large. A total of 25 points separates these two drivers even with just one race of the round of 8 in the books.

That said, the fact that there are still two races remaining in the round of 8 means that nothing aside of Logano having secured his spot in the Championship 4 is certain, especially in this playoff format in which wins automatically qualify drivers for the next round, which, in this case, is the Championship 4.

Here is the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture with one round of 8 race in the books and two races remaining on this year’s round of 8 schedule. The totals in the “behind” column show where each driver is currently positioned in relation to the Championship 4 cut line.

Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind), Playoff Points (Rank)
1st – Joey Logano, #22, Team Penske, Ford: 1 WIN (1 WIN), 21 (4th)
2nd – Kyle Busch, #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 4104 (+46), 55 (1st)
3rd – Kevin Harvick, #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 4083 (+25), 54 (2nd)
3rd – Martin Truex Jr., #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota: 4083 (+25), 38 (3rd)
5th – Kurt Busch, #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 4058 (-25), 15 (T-6th)
6th – Chase Elliott, #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 4052 (-31), 18 (5th)
7th – Clint Bowyer, #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 4041 (-42), 15 (T-6th)
8th – Aric Almirola, #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 4033 (-50), 6 (8th)

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The AAA Texas 500 is the next race on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. This race, which is the second race of the round of 8, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 4 at 3:00 p.m. ET, at which time it is set to be broadcast live from Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas on NBC Sports Network.

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