NASCAR: Here’s how the 16 playoff drivers stack up
By Asher Fair
The 16-driver field for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is set. Here is how those 16 drivers are set to open up the postseason.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron closed out the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season with a victory at Daytona International Speedway, the first win of his career, to secure himself a spot in the four-round, 10-race playoffs.
Byron became the 11th driver to win a race in 2020 and the 15th driver to lock up a spot in the 16-driver field, with the 16th and final driver to do so being Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto. That left Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson on the outside looking in.
While Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick dominated the regular season championship, winning by 115 points over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in second place, now the point totals for each of the 16 playoff drivers have been reset.
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Each of these 16 drivers starts with playoffs with 2,000 points, plus the amount of playoff points they have accrued by winning stages (one point each), winning races (five points each), and finishing the regular season in the top 10 in the point standings (from one to 15 points, depending on position).
Drivers can continue to accrue playoff points throughout the playoffs via winning stages and races, and they carry all of their playoff points with them through the round of 8 and up until the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, provided they make it that far.
Of these 16 drivers, 12 are set to advance to the round of 12 following the three-race round of 16, so the current cut line sits between the 12th and 13th place drivers. Here is how they stack up heading into the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway.
Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Manufacturer: Points (Behind)
1st – Kevin Harvick, #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 2057 (+53)
2nd – Denny Hamlin, #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 2047 (+43)
3rd – Brad Keselowski, #2, Team Penske, Ford: 2029 (+25)
4th – Joey Logano, #22, Team Penske, Ford: 2022 (+18)
5th – Chase Elliott, #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 2020 (+16)
6th – Martin Truex Jr., #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 2014 (+10)
7th – Ryan Blaney, #12, Team Penske, Ford: 2013 (+9)
8th – Alex Bowman, #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 2009 (+5)
9th – William Byron, #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet: 2007 (+3)
10th – Aric Almirola, #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 2005 (+1)
10th – Austin Dillon, #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet: 2005 (+1)
10th – Cole Custer, #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 2005 (+1)
——————ROUND OF 12 CUT LINE——————
13th – Clint Bowyer, #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford: 2004 (-1)
14th – Kyle Busch, #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota: 2003 (-2)
15th – Kurt Busch, #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet: 2001 (-4)
16th – Matt DiBenedetto, #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford: 2000 (-5)
Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark
Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 6 for the live broadcast of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoff-opening Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway.