It's setting up to be a battle to get into the first 16-driver postseason field of the new NASCAR Cup Series playoff era, and perhaps nothing illustrated that better than what happened at the cut line in Sunday's Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe had a historically poor start to the 2026 season, recording three finishes in which he scored only a single point over the season's first four race weekends.
He hasn't completely turned it around since, but back-to-back top five finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway in April played a role in getting him back positioned above the cut line. Even though he dropped out briefly at Talladega Superspeedway, he moved back into the top 16 a week ago at Texas Motor Speedway.
Briscoe finished fourth in Sunday's 100-lap race around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen, New York road course, yet he dropped back out of the provisional playoff field.
Chase Briscoe is not currently in the NASCAR playoffs
Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen vaulted his way back into the top 16 by winning the race, and the difference is the 15 bonus points that NASCAR now awards to race winners.
Van Gisbergen currently occupies the 16th and final spot by six points ahead of Briscoe, who would otherwise be nine points ahead.
Of course, under the old format, Briscoe would actually be a net 17th anyway, despite the fact that he'd be 16th in total points, as SVG would have shot ahead of all non-winners in the playoff standings. But there is no more "win and in" this year.
Chase Briscoe still needs a true resurgence
While the fourth place finish, his fourth top five result of the year, is a nice confidence booster after a rough start, the No. 19 team simply needs to dig deeper in the second half of the regular season to get back to anywhere close to where they were a year ago.
Briscoe is both 16th in stage points and 16th in points excluding stage points, illustrating that, while the team has dealt with issues out of their control, the speed they boasted throughout the 2025 season, which produced three wins, seven pole positions, and a Championship 4 appearance in only his first year behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota, simply hasn't been there yet in 2026.
It feels inevitable that more drivers near the cut line are going to eventually find victory lane, and the more times somebody not named Briscoe collects that 55-point winner's haul, the harder it's going to be for him to reestablish himself as a true playoff contender.
It's not panic time yet, but the longer he lingers in the 15th to 20th range, the more likely that is to change.
The Coca-Cola 600 is the next points race on the schedule, and it's scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 24, with live coverage set to be provided by Amazon Prime Video from Charlotte Motor Speedway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Tune in and don't miss the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season's longest race!
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