NASCAR: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t clinch a playoff spot
By Asher Fair
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. opened up the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season with a victory in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, but that doesn’t guarantee him a playoff spot.
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season officially got underway on Sunday afternoon with the 65th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was declared the leader when the caution flag came out on the final lap, officially making him the winner of the 212-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval for the first time in his career.
The win is the third of his career and first since he won at Daytona International Speedway in July 2017.
But one thing Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Daytona 500 victory did not do was clinch him a spot in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
There are 16 playoff spots, and there are still 25 races remaining on the regular season schedule. So the “win and in” nature of the format isn’t guaranteed to prove true.
We almost got a taste of this last year, when the regular season saw 16 different race winners. With 19 total winners in 2022, the regular season very well could have seen more than 16, in which case a single win wouldn’t have been enough for a driver to clinch a spot in the postseason.
The playoff spots officially go to the regular season champion and the next 15 drivers with the most wins. All multi-race winners clinch, as there can be no more than 13 of them over the course of the regular season. Even if the regular season champion is winless, only 14 of 16 spots would be filled.
If there are more than 16 total winners, the tiebreaker to determine which single-race winners get in and which don’t becomes points. If there are fewer than 16 total winners, the tiebreaker among non-winners to fill the postseason field also becomes points.
Next. All-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list. dark
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season’s second race, the Pala Casino 400, is scheduled to take place next Sunday, February 26. It is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Auto Club Speedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. It is expected to be the final race on the 2.0-mile configuration of the Fontana, California track. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss it!