NASCAR: Daytona may not ‘matter’, but it still matters
By Asher Fair
A total of 13 drivers have already secured their spots in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, with a 14th basically needing to just show up to the regular season finale to do so. But even for those drivers, Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway still matters.
Following a third place finish at Pocono Raceway back in late June, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola, who hasn’t visited a NASCAR Cup Series victory lane since leading only the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway back in October of 2018, said that he wasn’t too unsatisfied with the fact that he had not yet won a race in 2020.
While winning is the simplest way to qualify for the playoffs, he noted that his goal was to make the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway “not matter”, even if that didn’t involve a win in one of the season’s first 25 races.
With one regular season race remaining, Almirola achieved that goal by securing his playoff position based on his point total despite the fact that he still hasn’t won a race in nearly two years.
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But even though Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 “doesn’t matter” for him, it still matters; it still matters for all drivers, even the 13 who have already secured their spots in the 16-driver playoffs.
This is because of two things, both centered on playoff points, which drivers get to carry through the playoffs all the way to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway if they are able to advance that far. First and foremost, there are still seven playoff points at stake in this 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval in Daytona Beach, Florida: one for winning stage one, one for winning stage two and five for winning the race.
So while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick has already clinched the regular season championship, even he can lock up seven more playoff points, all while preventing his competitors from locking up any.
Secondly, additional playoff points are earned by drivers who finish the regular season in the top 10 in the point standings.
So far, only Harvick is locked into his position in the top 10 in the point standings. He has secured his 15 additional playoff points for being the regular season champion.
But below him, it’s all to play for.
Here is how additional playoff points are awarded based on finish in the regular season standings.
- 1st place – 15 points
- 2nd place – 10 points
- 3rd place – 8 points
- 4th place – 7 points
- 5th place – 6 points
- 6th place – 5 points
- 7th place – 4 points
- 8th place – 3 points
- 9th place – 2 points
- 10th place – 1 point
Here is how the current point standings look among the 12 drivers who have a chance to finish anywhere in the top 10.
Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind), (Behind 10th, if applicable)
1st – Kevin Harvick, #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 1041 (0)
2nd – Denny Hamlin, #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 907 (-134)
3rd – Brad Keselowski, #2, Team Penske, Ford: 881 (-160)
4th – Martin Truex Jr., #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 845 (-196)
5th – Joey Logano, #22, Team Penske, Ford: 836 (-205)
6th – Ryan Blaney, #12, Team Penske, Ford: 818 (-223)
7th – Chase Elliott, #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 809 (-232)
8th – Aric Almirola, #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 740 (-301)
9th – Kyle Busch, #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 719 (-322)
10th – Kurt Busch, #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet: 700 (-341), (0)
11th – Clint Bowyer, #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 685 (-356), (-15)
12th – Alex Bowman, #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 662 (-379), (-38)
A total of 60 points can be scored by each driver in each race: 10 for winning stage one, 10 for winning stage two and 40 for winning the race. Every driver who competes is guaranteed to score one point, so assuming all 12 of these drivers compete, any one of them can make up 59 points over any of the others.
So here is the possible range of regular season point standings finishes for all 12 of these drivers who have a shot at the top 10.
Kevin Harvick
- Position: 1st (clinched)
- Playoff points: 15 (clinched)
Denny Hamlin
- Position: 2nd-3rd
- Playoff points: 8-10
Brad Keselowski
- Position: 2nd-5th
- Playoff points: 6-10
Martin Truex Jr.
- Position: 3rd-7th
- Playoff points: 4-8
Joey Logano
- Position: 3rd-7th
- Playoff points: 4-8
Ryan Blaney
- Position: 4th-7th
- Playoff points: 4-7
Chase Elliott
- Position: 4th-7th
- Playoff points: 4-7
Aric Almirola
- Position: 8th-11th
- Playoff points: 0-3
Kyle Busch
- Position: 8th-12th
- Playoff points: 0-3
Kurt Busch
- Position: 8th-12th
- Playoff points: 0-3
Clint Bowyer
- Position: 8th-15th
- Playoff points: 0-3
Alex Bowman
- Position: 9th-15th
- Playoff points: 0-2
So while 11 of these 12 drivers (Clint Bowyer being the exception, although he simply needs to score three points to clinch) are already locked into the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, they all have something to play for on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. Don’t miss the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on NBC beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.