There are two NASCAR Cup Series drivers for whom points technically no longer matter during the round of 12, as they have already punched their tickets to the round of 8 by finding victory lane over the past two weekends. Those two drivers are Team Penske's Ryan Blaney and Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott.
Blaney shot to the top of the point standings following his victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to open up the quarterfinal round, but he fell to sixth after a 24th place finish on Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway. Elliott moved up from seventh to fifth with his surprise Kansas victory.
The top four drivers in the point standings are all drivers who are not yet locked into the round of 8, and they are led by Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson.
Kyle Larson quietly takes NASCAR points lead
Larson's most recent win came at Kansas four and a half months ago, and he has had an uncharacteristically quiet season since then. Yet despite having put up relatively lackluster numbers since mid-spring, he finds himself in the best possible position to advance to the round of 8 without necessarily ending his win drought.
Larson failed to finish higher than 12th place in the three races of the round of 16, but he comfortably advanced due to his substantial playoff point tally from the regular season. But in the round of 12, he has kicked things off with finishes of seventh and sixth at New Hampshire and Kansas, respectively, and finds himself 54 points above the cut line.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are in second and third in points (fourth and fifth in the playoff picture), while Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron is fourth (sixth).
The other two drivers above the cut line are Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe and Team Penske's Joey Logano.
A full playoff picture breakdown heading into the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval can be found here.
The Bank of America Roval 400 is set to be shown live on USA Network from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 5. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action to see which six drivers are set to join Blaney and Elliott in the round of 8!