Full NASCAR point standings for 2021 if there were no playoffs

Always a topic of interest among NASCAR fans, here is how the 2021 Cup Series standings would have looked if not for the postseason.

The 18th installment of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and eighth installment under the current format wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson holding off teammate Chase Elliott and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin to win the 2021 title.

Larson’s victory in this race was his 10th of the season, the most since Jimmie Johnson won 10 races en route to his second career and consecutive title back in 2007, and it was his fifth of the playoffs.

Interestingly, if you remove the first 28 races of the 36-race season from only Larson in the record books, he still would have led the Cup Series in wins for 2021.

So it should come as no surprise, then, that even without any points resets, Larson would have been crowned champion, something that had only been the case seven times after the first 17 postseasons.

What would the full point standings among the 31 full-time drivers have looked like without the playoffs?

NOTES: This assumes that the Championship 4 drivers could actually score stage points in the season finale. Since stage racing was introduced in 2017, stage points are not tallied for these four drivers in this particular race. Actual standings finish is included to the right, after the colon. Top 16 in actual finish made the playoffs. It also assumes that all other things remain equal, an unlikely scenario considering the type of racing the playoffs produce.

1. Kyle Larson – 1,472 (-): 1st
2. Denny Hamlin – 1,435 (-37): 3rd
3. Chase Elliott – 1,228 (-244): 4th
4. Ryan Blaney – 1,158 (-314): 7th
5. Martin Truex Jr. – 1,150 (-322): 2nd
6. Kyle Busch – 1,147 (-325): 9th
7. Kevin Harvick – 1,137 (-335): 5th
8. William Byron – 1,134 (-338): 10th
9. Joey Logano – 1,122 (-350): 8th
10. Brad Keselowski – 1,079 (-393): 6th
11. Tyler Reddick – 963 (-509): 13th
12. Kurt Busch – 957 (-515): 11th
13. Austin Dillon – 935 (-537): 17th
14. Alex Bowman – 929 (-543): 14th
15. Christopher Bell – 886 (-586): 12th
16. Matt DiBenedetto – 775 (-697): 18th
17. Chris Buescher – 771 (-701): 19th
18. Ross Chastain – 729 (-743): 20th
19. Bubba Wallace – 699 (-773): 21st
20. Aric Almirola – 669 (-803): 15th
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 666 (-806): 22nd
22. Chase Briscoe – 655 (-817): 23rd
23. Michael McDowell – 645 (-827): 16th
24. Erik Jones – 641 (-831): 24th
25. Daniel Suarez – 634 (-838): 25th
26. Cole Custer – 575 (-897): 26th
27. Ryan Preece – 557 (-915): 27th
28. Ryan Newman – 546 (-926): 28th
29. Corey LaJoie – 448 (-1,024): 29th
30. Anthony Alfredo – 352 (-1,120): 30th
31. Quin Houff – 176 (-1,296): 31st

Notably, the championship battle still would have come down to the final race on points alone, though it would have been only between Larson and Hamlin and Larson would have entered the season finale with a 30-point lead that Hamlin would have had a tough time even coming close to erasing.

The 2022 season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 20 with the 64th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.