There are just four races remaining on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule following the off weekend post-Brickyard 400, and the playoff battle is heating up.
Following the offseason points boost for winners, there are 76 points available for each driver in each race, with 55 going to the winner, 10 going to the stage one winner, 10 going to the stage two winner, and one going to the driver who runs the race's fastest lap.
It means that there are 304 points still on the table in the races at Iowa, Richmond Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Daytona International Speedway to wrap up the 26-race regular season. As a result, only Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware, who is 335 points outside of the top 16, has been mathematically eliminated.
Of course, each driver can only make up 75 points on any other driver in a single race, since the last-place finisher scores a point as well, so provided that all of the full-time drivers show up each weekend, Trackhouse Racing's Connor Zilisch is basically eliminated as well, as he's 302 points outside of the provisional playoff picture.
After this weekend's Iowa Corn 350, several drivers other than Zilisch will likely be mathematically eliminated as well, since there will be just 228 points left on the table. Including the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, nine drivers are facing elimination in Sunday's 350-lap race around the four-turn, 0.894-mile (1.439-kilometer) Newton, Iowa oval.
9 drivers facing elimination at Iowa
Hyak Motorsports' Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-154), Legacy Motor Club's John Hunter Nemechek (-163), Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon (-169), Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman (-208), Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer (-248), Front Row Motorsports' Noah Gragson (-250), Kaulig Racing's Ty Dillon (-252), Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry (-254), and Zilisch (-302) can all be eliminated this weekend.
Every single one of them can theoretically fall to at least 228 points below the cutoff on Sunday. The lowest driver not facing elimination is 23XI Racing's Riley Herbst, who is 25th in the standings and 148 points below the cut line. Therefore, provided he competes, he can be no more than 223 points out heading into next weekend's race at Richmond.
It may not seem like a huge deal, but this could be where the aspect of the removal of "win and in" comes into play. Unlike in previous years, drivers in the 20s and 30s cannot win their way into the playoffs by scoring an upset victory at Daytona to conclude the regular season.
As things stand right now, the top 16 drivers in the point standings are the 16 drivers who actually would be in the provisional playoff picture under the previous playoff format (go figure, right?); there haven't been any true "upsets" this season, but NASCAR fans all know that if there's one track where that can change, it's Daytona.
The difference is that an upset this year might not translate to a surprise playoff spot, like what we saw two years ago when Harrison Burton won his way into the postseason at Daytona despite a 34th place (last) in the standings.
The Iowa Corn 350 is set to be shown live on USA Network from Iowa Speedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 9. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!
Add us as a preferred source on Google