NASCAR: Joey Logano not locked into playoffs after Atlanta
By Asher Fair
Joey Logano isn’t officially locked into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, despite winning Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano secured his first win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season in the season’s fifth race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
Logano, who started from the pole position, led a race-high 140 laps of the 260-lap Ambetter Health 400 around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval en route to securing his first ever win at the track and the 32nd of his career.
The 2023 season is Logano’s 12th straight winning season, which is the second longest active streak. He has won in all 11 of his seasons with Team Penske.
However, Joey Logano isn’t yet officially locked into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
There have been four winners so far this year, so with 21 races remaining on the regular season schedule, there could still be more than 16 winners.
If there are more than 16 winners (or more than 15, in the event that the regular season champion is winless), then not all winners will get into the playoffs. The 16 playoff spots officially go to the regular season champion and the 15 drivers who rank next highest in wins.
If there are more playoff-eligible drivers than playoff spots, a points tiebreaker is used to determine which single-race winners get in and which don’t.
Logano currently sits highest among the three single-race winners in the standings, as he is the points leader after becoming the first driver to win from pole in 2023.
Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, who won at Auto Club Speedway, sits in seventh place, while JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, sits in 12th.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron is the only driver locked into the playoffs so far this year, despite the fact that he was hit with a deduction of 100 points and 10 playoff points after the race at Phoenix Raceway following the confiscation of the team’s hood louvers.
He has already won twice, first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and then at Phoenix Raceway, and there can be no more than 13 multi-race winners in 26 races.
Next. All-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list. dark
The season’s sixth race is the first road course race on the 2023 schedule. The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, which was won by Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain last year, is set to be broadcast live from Circuit of the Americas on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 26. If you haven’t already done so, start a free trial of FuboTV now!