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NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture: Daytona

Image by John Harrelson/LAT

By Kelly Crandall - Jul 8, 2018, 11:08 AM ET

NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture: Daytona

Erik Jones was already sitting within the playoff grid going into the Daytona weekend, but a victory Saturday now assures him of a postseason berth.

Just the seventh different winner this season, Jones joins teammate Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, and Austin Dillon breathing easier over the next eight weeks. As for the rest of the playoff contenders, Brad Keselowski continues to be the highest non-winner on the grid.

But the advantage for all drivers above the cutoff line did see a small decrease after Saturday night’s wreck-filled race. Bowman remains the bubble driver, now by just 19 points to Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Here’s the current playoff grid:

Kyle Busch: 5 race wins, 30 playoff points

Kevin Harvick: 5 race wins, 27 playoff points

Martin Truex Jr.: 3 race wins, 18 playoff points

Clint Bowyer: 2 race wins, 10 playoff points

Joey Logano: 1 race win, 7 playoff points,

Erik Jones: 1 race win, 5 playoff points

Austin Dillon: 1 race win, 5 playoff points

Brad Keselowski: +189 on cutoff, 4 playoff points

Kurt Busch: +159 on cutoff, 2 playoff points

Kyle Larson: +137 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Denny Hamlin: +131 on cutoff, 2 playoff points

Aric Almirola: +96 on cutoff, 1 playoff point

Ryan Blaney: +89 on cutoff, 4 playoff points

Jimmie Johnson: +54 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Chase Elliott: +37 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Alex Bowman: +19 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

By winning the first two stages of the Daytona race, Stenhouse now has two playoff points to use should he make the postseason. Paul Menard is 55 points below the cutoff, and Ryan Newman jumped up into the picture but is 94 markers behind. Daniel Suarez fell to 108 points back.

Kelly Crandall
Kelly Crandall

Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.

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