NASCAR: Austin Cindric hasn’t clinched a playoff spot

Given the nature of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff system, Austin Cindric hasn’t officially clinched a playoff spot, even after winning the Daytona 500.

In his first race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver after replacing 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski behind the wheel of the #2 Ford, Austin Cindric delivered Team Penske their third Daytona 500 victory and first since 2015.

Cindric held off the #23 Toyota of 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace by just 0.036 seconds at the finish line in overtime to win the 64th annual running of the “Great American Race” at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona International Speedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In doing so, the 23-year-old Columbus, Ohio native was said to have punched his playoff ticket, which would make him the first rookie to qualify for the postseason since Cole Custer did so by winning at Kentucky Speedway in 2020.

However, technically speaking, Cindric hasn’t yet clinched a playoff berth.

This was a discussion that was had throughout much of the 2021 regular season, given just how many different winners there were during the final season of the Gen 6 car. With the uncertainty surrounding the Gen 7 car, we could very well get quite a few different winners throughout this year’s 26-race regular season.

So why has Cindric not officially clinched a playoff berth in a format commonly referred to as a “win and in” format?

The playoff field is set by taking the highest driver in the point standings, whether he wins one of the regular season’s 26 races or not, and the 15 drivers who rank highest in wins, provided they finish inside the top 30 in the regular season point standings.

If there are more than 15 other winners, the tiebreaker among the one-race winners is points. If there are fewer than 15 winners, the tiebreaker among non-winners for the final spot(s) is also points.

With 25 races remaining in the regular season, there is still the possibility of getting more than 16 winners.

The only way to truly clinch a playoff berth at this stage is by winning twice, since there can be no more than 13 two-race winners in the regular season.

Of course, a driver would still have to finish inside the top 30 in the point standings, but with only 32 full-time drivers, it pretty much goes without saying that any driver who manages to win more than once should finish in the top 30 quite comfortably.

Notably, there has never been a regular season with 16 different winners, so Cindric should be pretty safe regardless.

The second race on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is the WISE Power 400, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Auto Club Speedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, February 27. Begin your free trial of FuboTV and don’t miss a minute of the action!