After a bold tire strategy gamble went the way of Alan Gustafson and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team in Sunday's Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, Chase Elliott found himself in victory lane with his second grandfather clock.
Elliott became the season's fourth different winner, and notably its first from Hendrick Motorsports, with his triumph in Sunday's 400-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Ridgeway, Virginia oval. Seven races into the season marks the earliest point at which he has ever won a race during his 11-year career.
However, one early-season victory is not enough to lock a driver into the postseason under NASCAR's new playoff format, which abolished the "win and in" element of the previous format that had been in place since 2014.
Chase Elliott not locked into NASCAR playoffs
The 16 playoff drivers are simply the 16 drivers who finish the 26-race regular season in the top 16 in the point standings. If the 17th place driver happens to win a race, good for him, but he won't be a part of the 10-race "Chase".
Interestingly, even under the old format, winning a single race this early in the year also technically wasn't enough to secure anybody playoff spot, since the format technically wasn't "win and in", despite being labeled as such.
The 16 playoff spots officially went to the regular season champion and then the 15 drivers who ranked highest in wins. With 26 regular season races, there could be more than 16 different winners, in which case points would have broken the tie for the final few playoff spots.
However, there could be no more than 13 multi-race winners during the regular season, so winning twice would have been enough.
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, winner of four of the 2026 season's first seven races, would be the only driver locked into this year's postseason under the previous format.
This year's four winners are the four drivers who occupy the top four spots in the point standings. Reddick is the points leader, and he sits ahead of Team Penske's Ryan Blaney in second place and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin in third. Elliott moved up to fourth with his Martinsville win.
All four drivers are still in great shape in terms of their chances to get into the playoffs, even with the elimination of "win and in". Reddick, Blaney, Hamlin, and Elliott sit 195 points, 113 points, 101 points, and 91 points, respectively, above the cut line between the 16th and 17th place drivers.
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's eighth race is the Food City 500, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from Bristol Motor Speedway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 12, after the Cup Series' off weekend for Easter. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!