Thanks to a mini hot streak in the first half of June, featuring his two best finishes of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season at the time, Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones found himself where not many fans thought he'd be at any point this season: in contention to qualify for the "Chase" playoffs.
Jones' runner-up finish at Michigan International Speedway and subsequent sixth place finish at Pocono Raceway allowed him to spend several weeks above the provisional cut line, inside the top 16 in the point standings, despite having not placed higher than 10th in a race all year before then.
Jones went on to better that sixth place result with his second top five finish of the season at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) two weekends ago, and he entered Sunday's race at North Wilkesboro Speedway sitting eight points above the cut line.
But it's going to take more than the occasional top 10 finish for him to qualify for the playoffs, as he found out on Sunday.
Erik Jones falls out of NASCAR Chase playoff picture
Team Penske's Joey Logano, who had been the top driver below the cutoff, eight points behind Jones, dominated the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro and climbed his way not just to 16th but to 15th.
Team Penske's Austin Cindric, who finished 14th, is now the 16th and final driver above the cut line, and after Jones only managed a 21st place finish, Cindric owns a 33-point lead over the driver of the No. 43 Toyota for that 16th spot.
Given how quickly things have changed this season, and on more than one occasion, not all hope is lost for Jones with five races remaining on the regular season schedule, and the fact that he's even in this position is something that not many would have predicted entering the 2026 season, especially as teammate John Hunter Nemechek sits 26th, 145 below the cutoff.
But while it's great that he hasn't finished lower than 23rd since early March, merely racking up top 20 finishes over the course of the regular season's final five races simply won't be enough if Jones wants to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Can he make the jump back into the top 16, and if so, who will drop out?
The 22nd race on the 26-race 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule is the Brickyard 400, which is set to be shown live on TNT from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 26.
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