One spot remains up for grabs on the playoff grid, and it’ll be determined in an unpredictable regular-season finale.
Kevin Harvick became the 15th driver to clinch a postseason berth after a 14th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. Harvick, who a year ago won the regular-season championship, clinched this season on points as he is winless.
Tyler Reddick is the driver on the bubble going into Daytona (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, NBC). Despite a 29th-place finish, Reddick grew his advantage on teammate Austin Dillon to 25 points. Dillon finished 36th after crashing at the end of Stage 2 on Sunday.
Dillon is the only driver below the cutline who can mathematically make the playoffs on points. All other drivers must win Daytona to earn a spot.
The regular-season championship is also up for grabs. Kyle Larson took the point lead from Denny Hamlin after the race at Watkins Glen and now leads Hamlin by 28 points.
The playoff grid going to Daytona:
- Kyle Larson: 5 wins, 37 playoff points
- Martin Truex Jr.: 3 wins, 20 playoff points
- Alex Bowman: 3 wins, 15 playoff points
- Kyle Busch: 2 wins, 15 playoff points
- Ryan Blaney: 2 wins, 14 playoff points
- Chase Elliott: 2 wins, 12 playoff points
- Joey Logano: 1 win, 9 playoff points
- William Byron: 1 win, 8 playoff points
- Kurt Busch: 1 win, 8 playoff points
- Brad Keselowski: 1 win, 7 playoff points
- Christopher Bell: 1 win, 5 playoff points
- Michael McDowell: 1 win, 5 playoff points
- Aric Almirola: 1 win, 5 playoff points
- Denny Hamlin: 0 wins, 5 playoff points
- Kevin Harvick: 0 wins, 0 playoff points
- Tyler Reddick: 0 wins, +25 points on the cutline
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- Austin Dillon – 25 points
- Matt DiBenedetto – 120 points
- Chris Buescher – 135 points
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 173 points
At the end of the regular season, the top 10 drivers in the point standings will earn additional playoff points. The regular-season champion receives 15 playoff points, and 10 points go to the second-place driver. From there, it’s eight points to the third-place driver and the points awarded thereafter decline by one down to the 10th place driver.
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