Even if there aren’t more than 16 winners in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, there are still two drivers who wouldn’t be in with a win.
There has been a ton of recent talk about the possibility of having more than 16 different winners before the 26-race 2021 NASCAR Cup Series regular season ends at Daytona International Speedway at the end of August, and for good reason; we’ve already seen 13 through 22 events.
But let’s take a few seconds to assume that we don’t hit 16 different winners and therefore we don’t see a winner miss the playoffs because of a points tiebreaker among single-race winners.
Even in that case, there are still two full-time, points eligible drivers who would not get into the playoffs — not even with a win.
Why? Because a win only counts toward securing a driver a playoff berth if that driver ranks inside the top 30 in the point standings.
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Right now, there are two full-time, points-eligible drivers who rank outside of the top 30 in points, and none of them are even remotely close to 30th place.
The 30th place driver is Front Row Motorsports rookie Anthony Alfredo, who has scored 222 points through the first 22 races of the season. The 31st place driver is Rick Ware Racing’s Josh Bilicki, who has scored 107 points, which is less than half of Alfredo’s total. Sitting behind Bilicki is StarCom Racing’s Quin Houff, who has scored 96.
For all intents and purposes, Bilicki and Houff can’t get into this year’s playoffs. All non-winners who currently rank inside the top 30 still have that “win and in” chance, but not these two.
Of course, there are other drivers who aren’t in “win and in” scenarios as well, such as the driver who actually ranks ahead of Houff in 32nd place in the point standings: Rick Ware Racing’s James Davison.
But that is because these drivers either aren’t full-time drivers or aren’t points eligible — or both. Davison, who has been one of the most under-the-radar, solid drivers of the year considering his equipment, has scored 102 points, but he has actually only competed in 15 races.
The 23rd of 26 races on the regular season schedule is the Go Bowling at The Glen, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Watkins Glen International beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon.