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Winners and losers in NASCAR's playoff pack
By alley - Sep 9, 2017, 11:58 PM ET

Winners and losers in NASCAR's playoff pack

Despite NASCAR overtime, the 16 drivers who entered Richmond holding down playoff spots are the 16 drivers who leave the regular season finale officially competing for the championship.

Kyle Larson grabbed the last five bonus points available by winning the Federated Auto Parts 400. The No. 42 team was first off pit road to take the lead from a dominant Martin Truex Jr., putting Larson in position to drive away on the restart as the field fought behind him.

Joey Logano, who needed Saturday night's victory to secure a spot in the playoffs, came out of the mayhem second. But a second-place finish was not enough for the Team Penske group and Logano will miss the postseason for the first time since 2012.

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"This is the test of our character, not only as a driver but as a team and the way we handle these next 10 races," Logano (pictured above) said. "We don't want to roll over. We want to help our teammates try to win a championship, and ultimately we want to win 10 races. That's what the goal is at this point. It may be the end of our championship run this year, but it's not the end of our season. There's still a lot of races and a lot of stats we can rack up to make up for what still hurts right now."

Also missing the playoffs is Furniture Row Racing rookie Erik Jones, who lined up fifth on the restart but did not take off well and quickly fell through the field.

Clint Bowyer also needed a win to earn a playoff berth but finished 24th after two pit road penalties. Bowyer had run in the top 10 during portions of the race but was penalized for his crew being over the wall too soon during one pit stop and then an uncontrolled tire on his final pit stop.

Truex Jr. will go into the playoffs as the number one seed. After leading 198 laps, Truex was denied his fifth victory of the year when the caution flew inside five laps to go. However, Truex was officially presented with the trophy for winning the regular season championship after the race and receives the 15 bonus points for being atop the leaderboard.

The 2017 playoff field (with seeding and playoff points adjusted):

Martin Truex Jr. – 2,053

Kyle Larson – 2,033

Kyle Busch – 2,029

Brad Keselowski – 2,019

Jimmie Johnson – 2,017

Kevin Harvick – 2,015

Denny Hamlin – 2,013

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 2,010

Ryan Blaney – 2,008

Chase Elliott – 2,006

Ryan Newman – 2,005

Kurt Busch – 2,005

Kasey Kahne – 2,005

Austin Dillon – 2,005

Matt Kenseth – 2,005

Jamie McMurray – 2,003

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