Austin Dillon secured a NASCAR Cup Series playoff berth via his win in the Cook Out 400 on Aug. 16 at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon, who is 25th in regular-season points, earned a victory at Richmond for the second consecutive year but this time without on-track controversy.
The playoff cutline narrowed by a spot, leaving Alex Bowman 60 points ahead of Chris Buescher for the final spot but exposed to a possible new winner at Daytona.
With a poor finish on Aug. 16, Tyler Reddick was unable to secure a playoff spot. Two spots are up for grabs in next weekend’s finale at Daytona. Reddick’s advantage over Bowman is 29 points.
Atop the standings, William Byron clinched the regular-season points title with a race to spare after finishing 12th coupled with Chase Elliott’s DNF at Richmond.
Here’s the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings:
Through 25 races
- Denny Hamlin (4 wins)
- Shane van Gisbergen (4 wins)
- Kyle Larson (3 wins)
- Christopher Bell (3 wins)
- William Byron (2 wins)
- Chase Elliott (1 win)
- Ryan Blaney (1 win)
- Chase Briscoe (1 win)
- Bubba Wallace (1 win)
- Joey Logano (1 win)
- Ross Chastain (1 win)
- Austin Cindric (1 win)
- Josh Berry (1 win)
- Austin Dillon (1 win)
- Tyler Reddick +89 ahead of playoff cutline
- Alex Bowman +60
- Chris Buescher -60 behind 16th
- Ryan Preece -94
- Kyle Busch -148
- Ty Gibbs -173
- AJ Allmendinger -181
- Brad Keselowski -189
- Carson Hocevar -197
- Michael McDowell -207
- Erik Jones -213
- John Hunter Nemechek -226
- Zane Smith -244
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -251
- Daniel Suarez -252
- Justin Haley -296
Unofficial after Richmond
- William Byron: 839 points (2 wins, 17 playoff points, clinched regular-season title)
- Chase Elliott -68 (1 win, 6 playoff points)
- Denny Hamlin -73 (3 wins, 24 playoff points)
- Kyle Larson -80 (3 wins, 23 playoff points)
- Ryan Blaney -83 (1 win, 11 playoff points)
- Christopher Bell -91 (3 wins, 17 playoff points)
- Tyler Reddick -125 (2 playoff points)
- Chase Briscoe -141 (1 win, 7 playoff points)
- Alex Bowman -154
- Bubba Wallace -200 ( 1 win, 8 playoff points)
- Chris Buescher -214 (-3 playoff points)
- Joey Logano -223 (1 win, 7 playoff points)
- Ryan Preece -248 (2 playoff points)
- Ross Chastain -250 (1 win, 6 playoff points)
- Austin Cindric -296 (1 win, 8 playoff points)
- Kyle Busch -302
- Ty Gibbs -327
- AJ Allmendinger -335
- Brad Keselowski -343 (2 playoff points)
- Carson Hocevar -351
- Michael McDowell -361 (1 playoff point)
- Josh Berry -363 (1 win, 6 playoff points)
- Erik Jones -367
- Shane van Gisbergen -375 (4 wins, 22 playoff points)
- Austin Dillon -379 (1 win, 5 playoff points)
- John Hunter Nemechek -380
- Zane Smith -398
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -405
- Daniel Suarez -406
- Justin Haley -450
