Under NASCAR's old "win and in", knockout-style playoff format, this past Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway would have brought an end to the first of three three-race rounds of the postseason in the buildup to the Championship 4.
We've already covered what the hypothetical (and, by all accounts, technically meaningless) standings would look like with seven races remaining on the schedule had NASCAR abandoned the playoffs entirely. But what if the format hadn't changed?
First things first, one driver who made the playoffs, Team Penske's Austin Cindric, would not have done so. He finished the regular season standings in 15th, which was the lowest among drivers who did not win a race. Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen, who won twice, missed the playoffs in 17th.
SVG would have been in instead of Cindric under the old format; he was the only race winner (among full-time drivers) who missed the postseason.
Under "win and in", race wins were worth five playoff points and stage wins were worth one each. Additional playoff points were awarded to the top 10 drivers in the regular season standings, on a 15-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale.
Here's how the standings would have looked to begin the playoffs.
NASCAR pre-playoff standings under the old format
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin | 2040 | 0 |
2 | Tyler Reddick | 2034 | -6 |
3 | Ryan Blaney | 2033 | -7 |
4 | Ty Gibbs | 2022 | -18 |
5 | Chase Elliott | 2015 | -25 |
6 | Joey Logano | 2014 | -26 |
7 | Shane van Gisbergen | 2012 | -28 |
8 | Chase Briscoe | 2011 | -29 |
9 | Kyle Larson | 2009 | -31 |
10 | Christopher Bell | 2008 | -32 |
11 | Ryan Preece | 2007 | -33 |
12 | Daniel Suarez | 2006 | -34 |
13 | Carson Hocevar | 2005 | -35 |
14 | William Byron | 2003 | -37 |
15 | Bubba Wallace | 2002 | -38 |
16 | Chris Buescher | 2001 | -39 |
Three drivers, Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson, and Team Penske's Joey Logano, would have won their way into the next round (round of 12), thanks to their victories at Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and Bristol Motor Speedway, respectively.
They also would have closed out the round in the top three in the point standings, so the top 12 drivers in points technically all would have advanced. Those eliminated? SVG, Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott, Spire Motorsports' Daniel Suarez, and RFK Racing's Chris Buescher.
Here's how it would have looked.
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Larson | 2170 | 0 |
2 | Joey Logano | 2169 | -1 |
3 | Christopher Bell | 2147 | -23 |
4 | Denny Hamlin | 2145 | -25 |
5 | Ty Gibbs | 2126 | -44 |
6 | Tyler Reddick | 2114 | -56 |
7 | Ryan Blaney | 2112 | -58 |
8 | Carson Hocevar | 2106 | -64 |
9 | Bubba Wallace | 2106 | -64 |
10 | Ryan Preece | 2089 | -81 |
11 | Chase Briscoe | 2075 | -95 |
12 | William Byron | 2073 | -97 |
13 | Chase Elliott | 2064 | -106 (-9) |
14 | Shane van Gisbergen | 2054 | -116 (-19) |
15 | Daniel Suarez | 2053 | -117 (-20) |
16 | Chris Buescher | 2053 | -117 (-20) |
With the additional race wins and stage wins from the would-be round of 16 factored in, here's how the standings would have looked to start the round of 12 this coming weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin | 3040 | 0 |
2 | Tyler Reddick | 3035 | -5 |
3 | Ryan Blaney | 3034 | -6 |
4 | Ty Gibbs | 3022 | -18 |
5 | Joey Logano | 3021 | -19 |
6 | Kyle Larson | 3015 | -25 |
7 | Christopher Bell | 3014 | -26 |
8 | Chase Briscoe | 3011 | -29 |
9 | Ryan Preece | 3007 | -33 |
10 | Carson Hocevar | 3005 | -35 |
11 | William Byron | 3003 | -37 |
12 | Bubba Wallace | 3002 | -38 |
The actual championship standings, of course, feature Larson as the leader by one point over Hamlin, after Hamlin opened up the postseason with a 25-point lead over Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, based on a predetermined list of point values assigned after the post-regular season reset, the one and only reset before the end of the season.
Kansas Speedway is scheduled to host the Hollywood Casino 400 this Sunday, September 27, with USA Network set to provide live coverage beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick won at Kansas in April. Don't miss the fourth race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase!
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