In 2024, Team Penske's Joey Logano was eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
But Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman was disqualified after the race, and because of the points he lost, he dropped out of the round of 8, and Logano was effectively reinstated since he had initially been the top driver below the cut line.
Logano ultimately used that lifeline to win the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, advance to the Championship 4, and win his third career championship at Phoenix Raceway, despite a mediocre 15th place finish in the regular season standings.
For the second year in a row, NASCAR has changed the results after the Charlotte Roval cutoff race with a post-race disqualification. This time, however, the disqualification hasn't changed the playoff picture for the upcoming round of 8.
NASCAR changes Charlotte Roval playoff results
23XI Racing's Riley Herbst, who is 35th of 36 full-time drivers in the point standings and did not qualify for the playoffs, finished Sunday's 109-lap Bank of America Roval 400 around the 17-turn, 2.32-mile (3.734-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina in 31st place, but he was disqualified and officially scored in 37th after failing post-race weights.
The driver of the No. 35 Toyota did not score any stage points, so the top 10 finishers in the first and second stages were unaffected.
The six drivers who each moved up a spot in the race results because of Herbst's demotion from 31st to 37th were Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones, Garage 66's Josh Bilicki, Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski, and Team Penske's Austin Cindric.
Of those six drivers, only Cindric entered the race still championship eligible, but he did not advance to the round of 8, and he didn't even gain a point by moving up from 37th to 36th place; the other five drivers each gained a single point following Herbst's disqualification.
A full look at the opening round of 8 playoff picture can be found here.
The South Point 400 is set to be broadcast live on USA Network from Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 12. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the round of 8 opener!