Updated NASCAR Playoff Standings: How Christopher Bell's Win Changed the Picture

• The NASCAR Cup Series season is getting down to the nitty gritty for drivers still hoping to make the Playoffs and have a chance at the season championship.

• By winning for the first time this year and only the second time in his career, Christopher Bell last week almost certainly took a Playoff spot from a handful of higher-profile drivers.

• If the season were to end today, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are the highest-ranked winless drivers, so they would get in the Playoffs.

Christopher Bell’s surprising victory last weekend at Loudon, N.H. created a sizable dent in almost everyone’s Championship Playoff office betting pool.

It’s sort of like when No. 16 Maryland-Baltimore County humiliated No. 1 Virginia by 20 in Round 1 of the 2018 NCAA basketball tournament. Nobody saw that one coming, either.

For NASCAR fans, the shock waves from Loudon will extend for a few weeks, until the end of the 26-race regular season. Bell is quiet and humble, generally overshadowed by Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Busch, his better-known and more successful teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing. Who would have thought his victory, although well-earned in every way, might have such an impact on the upcoming Cup Series Playoffs.

By winning for the first time this year and only the second time in his career, the 27-year-old Oklahoma racer almost certainly took a Playoff spot from a handful of higher-profile drivers. Bell was this year’s 14th winner, leaving only two places open in the 16-driver Playoff field. With six regular-season races remaining, it’s obvious a handful of “name” drivers will miss the 10-race series that will determine the champion. Until last weekend, Bell might have been one of them.

“Yeah, it’s been stressful,” he said after his first victory since the Daytona International Speedway road course in February of 2021. “After the first couple of races this year, I kind of wrote off ‘pointing’ our way into the championship; then we had a stretch of really good races and kind of turned that around. It went to, ‘hey, we may be able to do this.’

“Then you had guys who kept winning, and the (points) cutoff line kept creeping up and up and up. It feels really good to hopefully get myself above that cutoff line by a couple spots.” (Bell is eighth overall and third among the nine other one-race winners currently eligible).

Former series champions Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Brad Keselowski are among the winless drivers on the Playoff bubble. Ryan Blaney is also winless, but being third in points offers a huge safety net. The same goes for Truex Jr., whose fifth-place in points might be enough to give him a spot. For all the winless drivers, though, all bets are off if they can’t win in the next six weekends.

For 29th-ranked Keselowski, even that might not be enough. By rule, a winner can’t advance if he’s not top-30 in points after the August 27 race in Daytona beach. It’s generally agreed the rule was created to keep road course ringers—Boris Said, are you listening?—from stopping by The Glen or Sonoma or Road America, winning a one-off, and taking a Playoff spot. The top-30 clause is seldom mentioned since it’s never been needed.

As for Bell…

Technically, his Loudon victory didn’t guarantee a Playoff spot. He’s in decent shape, but would still miss out if several new winners emerge in the next six races and if he stumbles badly and plummets in the standings. If, say, 19 drivers win, the top-16 in points make the Playoffs, leaving three one-time winners on the outside. Bell’s not likely to be among them, but it could happen.

Adam Stevens, crew chief on last weekend’s winning No. 20 Toyota, expects more winners in coming weeks. “I think we’ll see at least one more,” he said. “I really do. To me, the fact that Blaney and Truex Jr. and Harvick haven’t won is astonishing. I think (everyone) had them on our potential winners’ list at the beginning of the year. They've shown the speed; maybe not every weekend, but certainly they’ve had weekends where they're as good as anyone. I would expect at least one of them in victory lane.”

If the Playoffs began right now—but they aren’t, so don’t call Vegas for odds—these multi-time winners are in without question: Chase Elliott (three victories), Ross Chastain (two), Joey Logano (two), William Byron (two), and Hamlin (two).

In order of their points position, one-time winners Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Bell, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe are in. Blaney and Truex Jr. are the highest-ranked winless drivers, so they’ll get in, too.

Of course, things great and small will change everything this weekend at Pocono. Expect lots of worrisome nights the next six weeks.

NASCAR Cup Series

Playoff Standings - The Race for 16

Drivers with victories in the regular season qualify for NASCAR Cup Playoffs. Should fewer than 16 drivers win races in the regular season, the open spots in 16-driver Playoff field will be filled with winless drivers with the most points. If more than 16 drivers win races in the regular season, the one-win driver(s) with the fewest points will be eliminated from the Playoff field to create the 16-driver field.

(Wins in parenthesis)

1. Chase Elliott 734 (3)

2. Ross Chastain 667 (2)

3. Joey Logano 582 (2)

4. William Byron 536 (2)

5. Denny Hamlin 441 (2)

6. Kyle Larson 616 (1)

7. Kyle Busch 594 (1)

8. Christopher Bell 570 (1)

9. Alex Bowman 510 (1)

10. Austin Cindric 489 (1)

11. Kurt Busch 485 (1)

12. Daniel Suarez 479 (1)

13. Tyler Reddick 474 (1)

14. Chase Briscoe 465 (1)

15. Ryan Blaney 656 (0)

16. Martin Truex Jr. 619 (0)

17. Kevin Harvick 551 (0)

18. Aric Almirola 490 (0)

19. Erik Jones 465 (0)

20. Austin Dillon 421 (0)

21. Michael McDowell 415 (0)

22. Justin Haley 391 (0)

23. Bubba Wallace 389 (0)

24. Chris Buescher 380 (0)

25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 348 (0)

26. Cole Custer 333 (0)

27. Harrison Burton 319 (0)

28. Ty Dillon 314 (0)

29. Brad Keselowski 296 (0)

30. Todd Gilliland 296 (0)e