By Aaron Bearden
A look at the Cup Series playoff situation leaving April’s trip to Talladega Superspeedway.
Race: GEICO 500
Race No.: 10/36
Winner: Tyler Reddick
Stage Winner(s): Austin Cindric, Joey Logano
Winners
- Tyler Reddick: The No. 45 team was already in a good place points-wise relative to the playoff bubble entering Talladega. But Reddick’s late surge to the front made points a non-factor. Now the Californian is locked into the playoffs and his team can go to work to try to improve on last year’s Round of 8 appearance.
- Austin Cindric and Joey Logano: This Team Penske duo didn’t get the win they were after. But Cindric and Logano at least earned stage wins to take potential playoff points away from the Talladega weekend. That’s better than nothing.
- Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman: Neither veteran earned an elusive victory, but Keselowski and Bowman each finished in the top-five on a day when most playoff contenders faltered to help their standing in the points. Bowman is now 16 points above the cutline in 10th, while Keselowski is nine points up in 14th.
Losers
- Underdogs: It might not seem like it, but Sunday was one of the final great upset opportunities of the regular season. The only remaining superspeedway for the next 16 weeks is the Aug. 24 trip to Daytona International Speedway. So for drivers that entered well below the cutline and had a chance in the closing laps, this is going to be a chance that slipped away.
- Ford: In a year where Chevrolet and Toyota – namely Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing – are siphoning away all the wins and playoff points, Ford had a chance to stop the bleeding in Talladega and get a small boost. It saw its drivers leading the way off of Turn 4 only to crash and allow Toyota’s Reddick slip by for the win. That’s a major miss at a time when Ford remains winless.
- Kyle Larson (maybe): For the second-straight week, the No. 5 team is on hot ice for issues tied to the pit crew. This time an unapproved adjustment on the way to the qualifying gird saw Larson forced to sit out time trials and take a pass-through penalty under green. It hampered his day in Talladega – now we wait to see if penalties come from it.
- The Rest of Toyota: While Reddick went the victory lane, the bulk of the Toyota contingent was caught out in a vicious crash during the final stage. Erik Jones was sent to a local hospital for evaluation and everyone else finished outside of the top-10, with five Toyota drivers taking the last six spots. Lost opportunity.
- Chris Buescher and Kyle Busch: These two ended up with finishes of 25th and 27th, dropping them into the last two spots outside of the current playoff grid. The good news is that most of the gimmicky races of the regular season are now behind them, so the pair can focus on grinding out consistent finishes moving forward.
Playoff Grid
| Rank | Driver | Wins | Points | Gap |
| 4 | William Byron | 3 | 335 | 81 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 2 | 308 | 63 |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 1 | 359 | 167 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 337 | 104 |
| 5 | Tyler Reddick | 1 | 316 | 71 |
| 13 | Christopher Bell | 1 | 255 | 10 |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 221 | -24 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 0 | 344 | 99 |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | 302 | 57 |
| 8 | Ty Gibbs | 0 | 296 | 51 |
| 9 | Ross Chastain | 0 | 277 | 32 |
| 10 | Alex Bowman | 0 | 261 | 16 |
| 11 | Bubba Wallace | 0 | 257 | 12 |
| 12 | Chase Briscoe | 0 | 256 | 11 |
| 14 | Brad Keselowski | 0 | 254 | 9 |
| 15 (t) | Joey Logano | 0 | 245 | 0 |
| Playoff Cutoff | ||||
| 15 (t) | Chris Buescher | 0 | 245 | 0 |
| 17 | Kyle Busch | 0 | 233 | -12 |
| 19 | Austin Cindric | 0 | 192 | -53 |
| 20 | Erik Jones | 0 | 181 | -64 |
| 21 | Carson Hocevar | 0 | 172 | -73 |
| 22 | John H. Nemechek | 0 | 164 | -81 |
| 23 | Ryan Preece | 0 | 162 | -83 |
| 24 | Todd Gilliland | 0 | 161 | -84 |
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 0 | 160 | -85 |
| 26 | Michael McDowell | 0 | 157 | -88 |
| 27 | Noah Gragson | 0 | 154 | -91 |
| 28 | Josh Berry | 0 | 151 | -94 |
| 29 (t) | Daniel Hemric | 0 | 140 | -105 |
| 29 (t) | Corey LaJoie | 0 | 139 | -106 |
| 31 | Austin Dillon | 0 | 136 | -109 |
| 32 | Harrison Burton | 0 | 117 | -128 |
| 33 | Justin Haley | 0 | 101 | -144 |
| 35 | Zane Smith | 0 | 86 | -159 |
Above the Cutline
(All But) Locked In
Winners: William Byron (3), Denny Hamlin (2), Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez
Drivers 60+ points up on the cutline: Martin Truex Jr.
Safe (For Now)
Drivers 40-59 points above the cutline: Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs
In the Danger Zone
Drivers within 40 points of the cutline: Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano
Below the Cutline
Within Reach
Drivers within 50 points of the bubble: Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch
Looking For A Win
Drivers 51+ points below the cutline: Austin Cindric, Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Justin Haley, Zane Smith
Race Results
- Tyler Reddick
- Brad Keselowski
- Noah Gragson
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Alex Bowman
- Anthony Alfredo
- William Byron
- Todd Gilliland
- Daniel Hemric
- Harrison Burton
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Chase Briscoe
- Ross Chastain
- Ryan Preece
- Chase Elliott
- Josh Berry
- Carson Hocevar
- Corey LaJoie
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Blaney
- Kyle Larson
- Ty Gibbs
- Austin Cindric
- Cody Ware
- Chris Buescher
- Daniel Suarez
- Kyle Busch
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Zane Smith
- Austin Dillon
- Michael McDowell
- BJ McLeod
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Justin Haley
- Erik Jones
- Bubba Wallace
- Denny Hamlin
- Christopher Bell
Stage Points
Results from Talladega
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 | ||||
| Pos. | Driver | Points | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Austin Cindric | 10 (+ 1 Playoff Point) | 1 | Joey Logano | 10 (+ 1 Playoff Point) |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric | 9 |
| 3 | William Byron | 8 | 3 | Kyle Larson | 8 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 7 | 4 | Austin Dillon | 7 |
| 5 | Kyle Busch | 6 | 5 | Ross Chastain | 6 |
| 6 | Harrison Burton | 5 | 6 | Tyler Reddick | 5 |
| 7 | Christopher Bell | 4 | 7 | Chris Buescher | 4 |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | 3 | 8 | Chase Elliott | 3 |
| 9 | Tyler Reddick | 2 | 9 | Ryan Preece | 2 |
| 10 | Alex Bowman | 1 | 10 | Ty Gibbs | 1 |
Total Stage Points
| Rank | Driver | Points | Wins |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 110 | 5 |
| 2 (t) | Denny Hamlin | 76 | 2 |
| 2 (t) | Ryan Blaney | 76 | 1 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | 75 | 1 |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 62 | 1 |
| 6 | Tyler Reddick | 60 | 1 |
| 7 | Bubba Wallace | 52 | 0 |
| 8 | William Byron | 50 | 0 |
| 9 | Austin Cindric | 47 | 2 |
| 10 | Christopher Bell | 46 | 2 |
| 11 | Joey Logano | 45 | 1 |
| 12 | Ross Chastain | 41 | 1 |
| 13 | Ty Gibbs | 40 | 2 |
| 14 | Brad Keselowski | 35 | 0 |
| 15 | Kyle Busch | 32 | 0 |
| 16 | Chase Briscoe | 27 | 0 |
| 17 | Daniel Suarez | 25 | 0 |
| 18 (t) | Alex Bowman | 24 | 0 |
| 18 (t) | Michael McDowell | 24 | 1 |
| 20 (t) | Chris Buescher | 18 | 0 |
| 20 (t) | Todd Gilliland | 18 | 0 |
| 22 (t) | Austin Dillon | 17 | 0 |
| 22 (t) | John H. Nemechek | 17 | 0 |
| 22 (t) | Josh Berry | 17 | 0 |
| 25 (t) | Erik Jones | 15 | 0 |
| 25 (t) | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 15 | 0 |
| 27 | Ryan Preece | 13 | 0 |
| 28 | Harrison Burton | 12 | 0 |
| 29 | Corey LaJoie | 4 | 0 |
| 30 | Noah Gragson | 3 | 0 |
| 31 | Daniel Hemric | 2 | 0 |
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(Top photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
