While the old NASCAR Cup Series playoff format was largely considered a "win and in" format, that was technically not the case.
With 16 postseason spots up for grabs over 26 regular season races, winning a single race didn't necessarily guarantee a driver a spot in the four-round, 10-race playoffs.
The 16 playoff spots were officially awarded to the regular season champion, even if he didn't win any races, as well as the 15 drivers who ranked highest in victories.
But because there could be no more than 13 multi-race winners during the regular season, winning twice did automatically lock a driver into the postseason.
Tyler Reddick not locked in, despite two wins
But in 2026, the format has changed, and regardless of each driver's win total, the 16 playoff spots are set to go to the 16 drivers who rank inside the top 16 in the point standings by the time the regular season ends.
Not since 2009 had a driver won back-to-back races to start the season, but 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick changed that on Sunday by winning at EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, after winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway a week ago by only leading the race's 200th and final lap.
Reddick rallied to the front after being involved in an incident at Atlanta, and he did so despite the fact that his No. 45 Toyota lost its front right fender in that wreck. He took the lead in overtime and hung on to beat Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe.
Reddick finds himself in the points lead after two races. He has a 40-point lead over teammate Bubba Wallace, although that lead would only be 10 points had NASCAR not altered the points format over the offseason by awarding 15 extra points to race winners. Wallace opened up the year with finishes of 10th and eighth.
The only other driver with back-to-back top 10 finishes in both races that have been contested so far this season is surprisingly Front Row Motorsports' Zane Smith, who is fifth in the standings after recording finishes of sixth and seventh.
Reddick is 81 points above the playoff cut line, and that gap is absolutely more significant now than an 81-point gap would have been in years past, when a single upset victory could shift the cut line up a full position. In 2022, for instance, third-place Ryan Blaney would have missed the playoffs had Kurt Busch not gotten injured, and fourth-place Martin Truex Jr. did miss out.
Full point standings can be found here.
The third race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the DuraMAX Grand Prix, which is set to be shown live on Fox from Circuit of the Americas, where Reddick also won in 2023, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 1. No driver has ever started a Cup Series season three-for-three. Can Reddick change that? Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the action from COTA!