NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture: Kentucky

Alex Bowman’s lousy night at Kentucky Speedway has opened the door for drivers looking to point their way into the playoffs.

Bowman is the bubble driver who finished last after suffering a tire failure and exiting the race on lap 108. So while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t have a spectacular night with a 26th-place effort, he’s still in the hunt to make the playoffs considering the amount of points he was able to snatch the previous week in Daytona.

Aside from that, not much changed at the top. Martin Truex Jr. added to his playoff point tally, pulling him closer to Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Busch still has a commanding point lead though, which again comes with 15 bonus points should be he stay there for seven more weeks.

Kyle Busch: 5 race wins, 30 playoff points

Kevin Harvick: 5 race wins, 27 playoff points

Martin Truex Jr.: 4 race wins, 25 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: +212 on cutoff, 4 playoff points

Kurt Busch: +183 on cutoff, 2 playoff points

Kyle Larson: +163 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Denny Hamlin: +141 on cutoff, 2 playoff points

Ryan Blaney: +128 on cutoff, 4 playoff points

Aric Almirola: +116 on cutoff, 1 playoff point

Jimmie Johnson: +66 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Chase Elliott: +51 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Alex Bowman: +9 on cutoff, 0 playoff points

Below the cutline is Stenhouse at -9, Paul Menard at -23, Ryan Newman at -79 and Daniel Suarez at -83.