We are just two races into the 26-race 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, and it's tough to read too much into the results of back-to-back superspeedway races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) to start the year, given the "wild card" nature of drafting racing.
But under NASCAR's new postseason format, points and points alone are what count in terms of setting the 16-driver playoff field, meaning that every point counts and that it's never too early to start looking at the playoff picture.
Five of the drivers who entered the 271-lap Autotrader 400 around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval above the playoff cut line are no longer above that cut line.
Hyak Motorsports' Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fifth in the standings, ahead of 23XI Racing's Riley Herbst in 11th, Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry in 13th, Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch in 14th, and Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson in 15th.
None of those drivers are still in the top 16.
They all crashed out at Atlanta, although Herbst was able to get back in the race, many laps down, and pick up a few extra points by "passing" other drivers who ended up wrecking out later on.
Stenhouse dropped to 22nd, Herbst dropped to 23rd, Berry dropped to a 25th place tie, Busch dropped to 24th, and Larson dropped to 21st.
For three of those five drivers, an eventual drop out of the playoff picture felt inevitable.
As for the five drivers who ascended from below the cut line to above the cut line, they include Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain, Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron, RFK Racing's Ryan Preece, Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, and Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen.
Chastain is 11th, Byron is tied for 12th, Preece is 14th, and both Briscoe and van Gisbergen are tied for 15th, placing them one point above the cut line that sits just ahead of Kaulig Racing's Ty Dillon in 17th.
Here's a look at the provisional playoff picture with two of the 26 races on the 2026 regular season calendar in the books.
NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after Atlanta
Rank | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
1 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 2100 |
2 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota | 2075 |
3 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 2065 |
4 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 2060 |
5 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford | 2055 |
6 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford | 2050 |
7 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 2045 |
8 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 2040 |
9 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford | 2035 |
10 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 2030 |
11 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | 2025 |
12 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford | 2020 |
13 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 2015 |
14 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford | 2010 |
15 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2005 |
16 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | 2000 |
NOTE: Point tallies shown are the reset points designated for each position, based solely on regular season points ranks.
Full point standings, based on current point totals, can be found here.
How much will the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture change after the season's third race at Circuit of the Americas? The DuraMAX Grand Prix, the first of four non-oval races on the regular season schedule, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 1, with live coverage set to be provided by Fox starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action!