The round of 12 field for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is set. How does the playoff picture look following the round of 16?
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott responded to two consecutive victories by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. to open up the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs by overcoming an embarrassing one-car wreck to win the round of 16 finale, the Bank of America Roval 400, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval.
But Truex and Elliott clinched spots in the round of 12, the second round of the four-round, 10-race playoffs, by winning these races.
Entering the round of 16 finale, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch had also clinched round of 12 berths based on their point totals.
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Throughout the 109-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway roval in Concord, North Carolina, several other drivers clinched round of 12 berths as a result of their point totals.
Elliott was one of them, so he would have been safe even had he not managed to go from first to 31st to first place over the course of only a few dozen laps in the third and final stage of the race.
As the laps wound down, the 12-driver field for the round of 12 began to get clearer. It appeared as though that 12th and final spot in this round would go to either Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman.
Following the race’s final restart, Elliott shot from third place to the lead and took off from the rest of the field. Bowman, meanwhile, shot from sixth to second, but he still sat one point behind Newman, and given Elliott’s pace, this meant that his fate was in the hands of those running around Newman.
Newman ultimately made a mistake and cut the chicane on the backstretch, and he was penalized as a result of it, sending Bowman into the round of 12 for the second time in two seasons since replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the wheel of the #88 Chevrolet.
Five teams are represented by the 12 drivers who are set to advance to the round of 12. Three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, three Team Penske drivers, three Hendrick Motorsports drivers, two Stewart-Haas Racing drivers and one Chip Ganassi Racing driver are set to advance.
Here is the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture following the 2019 Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval.
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind), Playoff Points (Rank)
1st – Kyle Busch – #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 3046 (+41), 46 (1st)
2nd – Martin Truex Jr. – #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 3041 (+36), 41 (2nd)
3rd – Denny Hamlin – #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 3030 (+25), 30 (3rd)
4th – Joey Logano – #22, Team Penske, Ford: 3029 (+24), 29 (4th)
5th – Kevin Harvick – #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 3028 (+23), 28 (5th)
6th – Brad Keselowski – #2, Team Penske, Ford: 3024 (+19), 24 (6th)
6th – Chase Elliott – #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 3024 (+19), 24 (6th)
8th – Kyle Larson – #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet: 3006 (+1), 6 (8th)
————————— ROUND OF 8 CUT LINE —————————
9th – Alex Bowman – #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 3005 (-1), 5 (9th)
10th – Ryan Blaney – #12, Team Penske, Ford: 3004 (-2), 4 (10th)
11th – William Byron – #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 3001 (-5), 1 (11th)
12th – Clint Bowyer – #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 3000 (-6), 0 (12th)
The Drydene 400 is scheduled to get the round of 12 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs underway on Sunday, October 6, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.