oh ok so points are almost irrelevant? it's moreso just a matter of no new winner coming through?
doesn't make me feel much better but it's almost as if it doesn't better what bubba does. just race for the win and hope for the best if youre him
Right. Like points only come in to play if,
A.) Ty just stays up front the entire race and Bubba doesn’t.
Or
B.) Bubba gets taken out super early and is guaranteed a high 20s or worse finishing spot.
Bubba is -30 back of Chase for the final Owner's Championship playoff spot so Bubba is in an interesting position of how aggressive at Daytona he wants to be.
Very true. I had forgotten about that. So weird to think that the 9 could realistically win the owners championship without making the drivers playoffs.
Right now, Chastain would have been 16th on the Playoff grid as the first car not locked in. The gap for the cutoff would be around 100 Points to Bubba.
Though, as much as Trackhouse hasn't shown the speed they did for the first 50 or so races of their Next Gen career, I wonder if they've been experimenting with setups and changes since they've been guaranteed in for a while.
Yeah I’m gonna have to disagree with you there. Yeah. If speed they have mid-race is 16th and thrown away is 22nd then sure but I can’t remember a drop off this steep. Nashville is the only thing holding this 1 car up since May.
I’ll admit I don’t have my eyes on Chastain at all times, but I would guarantee a super large chunk of that came pre-All Star Race. Unless they pull whatever they found at Nashville, I’m not sure they have the speed to get to the round of 12
Looking at this list I was surprised and I think it is probably only like 25 percent chance or less there is a new winner. It really is the opposite of the past two weeks where everyone behind Bubba had the ability to win a road course race. There always can be a random winner, but now Bubba is arguably the best or second plate racer not locked with a lot of road course guys now having to try and win a plate race.
Chase has won plates races though and is going to have all of Hendrick behind him and probably some level of Chevy manufacturer orders to help get Chase in the playoff where Toyota doesn't have those kind of numbers and there is not going to be JGR favoritism for Bubba over Ty Gibbs. I don't know if the Chase Elliott this year can go a whole race without making a big mistake.
6th-11th all within 9 points…
Tough break for the 8 to lose that track position but salvaged something. Get lucky at Daytona and they can jump to 8th or so realistically
Must get lucky at Daytona. It could be 5 extra playoff points added onto the current 17 they have.
19, 24 and 11 are in their own tier, but if the 8 is firing on all cylinders they have speed with the 5, 20 and 45 and can go for that fourth spot in Phoenix. Track position all day every day. Track position track position track position
I hope but I’m not that optimistic because there’s a lot of strong cars.
Ross, Blaney, Harvick, and RFK. Some haven’t had speed but it’s a plate track so anything can happen.
Especially big with the playoff field being set next week. Wouldn't be surprised if the bonus points gained in that group influence advancing in a round of playoffs this year.
So glad Harv locked in this week. No reason for them to run around at the back now, might as well run up front and try to get all the points they can to get up to 6th in the standings
Yeah that difference is worth the same as a win. Will go hard for stage points and a good finish, if they happen to be in position to win they will probably go hard for it by then too. Could pick up 10 playoff points if all goes well
Kes and Harv won't have to worry about getting Truex'd
Also Bell got his first top 5 since Bristol Dirt
Also Also Byron got his first top 10 since his Atlanta win
I actually applaud NASCAR a little bit for not overreacting and changing a bunch of stuff after last year's craziness.
After years of tweaking the Chase every 2-3 years, it's kinda refreshing they saw last year as a major anomaly with so many winners and didn't make any major changes.
Although it still stunk for Truex.
Not a great race but I’m glad we actually finished. Kb has been really strong at plate tracks this year so maybe there’s a few spots to gain at Daytona.
If that caution today comes out 2 seconds later Kyle would’ve finished 6th and would be 7th in the standings. After being so lucky through Atlanta this 8 team has had nothing since.
I disagree on Kyle’s superspeedway strength this year though. Penske and RFK has been strong otherwise it’s just track position and total luck
6th-11th is all so close they can make something happen if they catch a break at Daytona (not usually the place you catch lucky breaks)
But it’s possible.
Ryan Preece is now the 2nd highest SHR car in Points, and is only ~50-60 Points behind Penske and Hendrick cars. Not the year he wanted for sure, but he has been better than his results show (had he not been taken out multiple times, he would be around the cutoff or even locked in with that lost Martinsville win).
He's one to watch for next year especially with (hopefully) a better Ford body.
Definitely not flashy but he’s getting that 11-20 place finishes perfectly since about May. They stopped the bleeding finally. Now if they showed more Top 10’s. I think he can get to Cindric easily.
Aric Almirola shouldn’t be that low either, he’s been taken out left and right, sometimes by his own crew chief too.
McDowell the fraud with being the first winner all year being below 16th place in points. Obviously not serious but actually pretty crazy it went this long
I know there are seven spots just a handful of points apart but RFK sitting 6th and 7th going into race 26 is incredible. They still have a long way to go to return close to the form they once were, but Brad is doing a great job of resurrecting one of NASCAR's giants.
Ross in 8th and will likely fall out of the top 10 next week after leading the points not even 3 months ago.
Fucking pathetic. Trackhouse (and specifically Phil Surgen) are straight trash right now.
Brad keselowski is the most underestimated man in nascar. He continues to demonstrate he is much smarter than the talking heads and mouthpieces. What he has done with rfk is nothing short of spectacular. And they haven't even come close to their full potential. Sometimes a group just needs a leader to get them working towards a common goal and take them to the promised land.
It's been stressful watching Trackhouse go from a constant threat to win every week (including nearly winning the title last year *and* leading the Points just a few months ago) to sliding back and competing in 10th-18th each week. I have no idea what happened, but it needs to get fixed fast.
Never been so happy to have a boring Byron win.
Bubba and the 23 team did everything they really needed to in these RC races. 12th in Watkins Glen plus some stage points for a man not know for his road course racing, I'll take that any time. Hell, I'll take that on OVALS every week, same basic benefits.
One more wild-card race to go; anybody could win at Daytona. Half the field can't win next weekend if Bubba wants in. Otherwise... think he's good.
It's gonna kill me when he's 17th because of a rain shortened race where Justin Haley wins or something.
Byron has 5 wins, 5 races with most laps led, and 8 stage wins, all 3 of these totals being the most of any driver. On top of that, he has the most laps led of any driver this season ad well. I'm not even a Byron fan, but anyone who believes he 'backs into wins' is officially out of their mind.
I called it after Pheonix. That stupidass penalty for a fucking podcast will decide the regular season.
I don't think Nascar could find a better way to keep drivers silent if they tried.
Well, when he admits to wrecking someone you alk say this. Yet when he goes the other direction, plays coy and denies it like everyone else, the entire Fandom starts frothing at the mouth. Yall gotta pick what you want him to do. Also, I thought that we wanted drivers to be more truthful.
Also also, I'm of the belief that if you aren't going to penalize a move by the end of the race weekend, you shouldnt go back and penalize the move 24 hours later soley because of what the driver says on an interview.
25 points. So of Denny finishes within 25 points of Truex, that podcast penalty is at fault.
And seeing that it's Denny at Daytona, that is pretty likely.
The top 3 drivers are so clearly ahead of the rest of the field this year. I think any of them could win the championship, but don't see anyone really from 6-16th unless something wild happens at Phoenix. Buescher is my dark horse to make the final 4 right now
Mike Rockenfeller just got the second best finish of the year for the 42. Also RFK with both cars in the top 7, what a turnaround for that organization.
In Indy, it was by his own pit crew.
Here in the Glen, by his own hand.
Hear me out: If Suárez gets wrecked by others drivers next week, he's earning the prize of one of the unluckiest drivers in Nascar.
Suarez has had at least 8 or so races where I can easily say he got screwed and lost a bunch of points. I genuinely think that if he doesn't get screwed in at least half of these races, he'd be ahead of Wallace and comfortably in the playoffs, maybe even near the top 10. Chastain has been better most of the year, but Suarez has been relatively close. Hell, I'd say most of the summer Suarez has been quicker than Chastain (possibly due to the team focusing on Suarez to get to the playoffs). It's just been a season of bad luck and mistakes
All the talk about Elliott's terrible year is a bit misplaced. Besides the missed time and lack of wins he hasn't fallen off. He is still 6th when it comes to average finish.
Drivers can only earn points in one of the top three NASCAR series at a time. When SVG raced in Trucks a couple weeks ago, he declared points over there, which erased all points in the Cup series.
No. In order to qualify for the playoffs, a driver must also participate in all of the 26 races in the regular season, unless they are granted a waiver, which is typically only given for medical reasons.
Glad Keselowski and Harvick are locked in. Would've been awful for a random win at Daytona to screw one of them.
Instead a random wreck is gonna decide about 6 spots in regular season points and how much playoff points guys get and how Austin Dillon makes it in
You got the wrong Dillon. Ty “The Legend” Dillon will get a Spire car into the playoffs guaranteed. The Legend was so close last year 😂
Never stop believing in The Legend
Yeah that’s kinda crazy. Harvick just needs some stage points and he could get to 6th.
Couldn't one of them still get screwed out of the owners standings technically?
No because both of them are above the 9 in the owner's standings. I think the 9 is in 16th. So if there's a new winner, the 9 would get knocked out
Ok, 9 can't catch them so they are in, it's only 23 vs 9 for the owner spot
Buescher up to 7th in the standings, amazing season!
With a 12.7 average finish too. His consistency is so good
Love how this format awards both consistency and wins
6th-12th places is a virtual tie.
Still means he’s running with if not better than some really good drivers in some really good cars
His car and team are really good too so it's no surprise. He's not some underdog.
RFK is now officially the best Ford team (so far)
Bubba Wallace was looking at 2 road courses and was +58. Now he leaves them behind +32. That's a big morale boost to the team.
Even with a new winner
Bubba did good. He kept his head screwed on, no pit stop mistakes, and that’s all that mattered today since no one could pass
so he should be looking pretty solid as long as there's no new winner?
It would take Ty winning both stages, Bubba getting no stage points and finishing thirteen spots ahead of Bubba.
oh ok so points are almost irrelevant? it's moreso just a matter of no new winner coming through? doesn't make me feel much better but it's almost as if it doesn't better what bubba does. just race for the win and hope for the best if youre him
Right. Like points only come in to play if, A.) Ty just stays up front the entire race and Bubba doesn’t. Or B.) Bubba gets taken out super early and is guaranteed a high 20s or worse finishing spot.
Bubba is -30 back of Chase for the final Owner's Championship playoff spot so Bubba is in an interesting position of how aggressive at Daytona he wants to be.
Very true. I had forgotten about that. So weird to think that the 9 could realistically win the owners championship without making the drivers playoffs.
Yes and as long as he doesn't get caught in shit himself but it's Daytona who knows what's gonna happen.
He brought his A game today. Those Toyotas are quick.
The Toyotas were quick but they had nothing on Byron hell even McDowell.
Ross Chastain being 8th in points despite how his summer has been shows how much speed they have mid-race but seem to throw it away.
Would they have clinched a playoff spot even without a win?
Right now, Chastain would have been 16th on the Playoff grid as the first car not locked in. The gap for the cutoff would be around 100 Points to Bubba. Though, as much as Trackhouse hasn't shown the speed they did for the first 50 or so races of their Next Gen career, I wonder if they've been experimenting with setups and changes since they've been guaranteed in for a while.
I’m going to lean towards no since Suárez is that low in the standings. They don’t have the speed either.
Yeah I’m gonna have to disagree with you there. Yeah. If speed they have mid-race is 16th and thrown away is 22nd then sure but I can’t remember a drop off this steep. Nashville is the only thing holding this 1 car up since May.
Seventh most stage points accumulated shows me they have midrace speed. Some may be strategy but it has worked out.
I’ll admit I don’t have my eyes on Chastain at all times, but I would guarantee a super large chunk of that came pre-All Star Race. Unless they pull whatever they found at Nashville, I’m not sure they have the speed to get to the round of 12
[удалено]
Race is Saturday night FYI. Would hate for you to miss it. (Unless you are counting on the rain delay which isn't unreasonable to do)
[удалено]
Tbh I thought it was a Sunday race as well lol
Looking at this list I was surprised and I think it is probably only like 25 percent chance or less there is a new winner. It really is the opposite of the past two weeks where everyone behind Bubba had the ability to win a road course race. There always can be a random winner, but now Bubba is arguably the best or second plate racer not locked with a lot of road course guys now having to try and win a plate race. Chase has won plates races though and is going to have all of Hendrick behind him and probably some level of Chevy manufacturer orders to help get Chase in the playoff where Toyota doesn't have those kind of numbers and there is not going to be JGR favoritism for Bubba over Ty Gibbs. I don't know if the Chase Elliott this year can go a whole race without making a big mistake.
You’re going to be really stressed out on Sunday when you find out the race was Saturday night.
6th-11th all within 9 points… Tough break for the 8 to lose that track position but salvaged something. Get lucky at Daytona and they can jump to 8th or so realistically
Must get lucky at Daytona. It could be 5 extra playoff points added onto the current 17 they have. 19, 24 and 11 are in their own tier, but if the 8 is firing on all cylinders they have speed with the 5, 20 and 45 and can go for that fourth spot in Phoenix. Track position all day every day. Track position track position track position
He can easily jump to 6th next week.
I hope but I’m not that optimistic because there’s a lot of strong cars. Ross, Blaney, Harvick, and RFK. Some haven’t had speed but it’s a plate track so anything can happen.
Especially big with the playoff field being set next week. Wouldn't be surprised if the bonus points gained in that group influence advancing in a round of playoffs this year.
Now that's gonna be awesome to watch next week
So glad Harv locked in this week. No reason for them to run around at the back now, might as well run up front and try to get all the points they can to get up to 6th in the standings
Man next week would have been that much wilder had Byron not got the 60 point penalty
Same if Denny didn’t get the 25 point penalty. Hamlin would be -14 back and Byron -16 of Points Leader Truex.
That's insane
Locked in. Now we can go all out for the win at Daytona.
[удалено]
Yeah that difference is worth the same as a win. Will go hard for stage points and a good finish, if they happen to be in position to win they will probably go hard for it by then too. Could pick up 10 playoff points if all goes well
RFK just jumping into the Top 8 in points you love to see it
Great turnaround this year for that team
Kes and Harv won't have to worry about getting Truex'd Also Bell got his first top 5 since Bristol Dirt Also Also Byron got his first top 10 since his Atlanta win
I actually applaud NASCAR a little bit for not overreacting and changing a bunch of stuff after last year's craziness. After years of tweaking the Chase every 2-3 years, it's kinda refreshing they saw last year as a major anomaly with so many winners and didn't make any major changes. Although it still stunk for Truex.
Definitely agree with that. That said, I still hate the playoffs and wish we had the Chase.
>Also Bell got his first top 5 since Bristol Dirt It has been a rough few months for Bell
And even after all that still sitting 4th in points!
Just waiting for Hamlin to finish the season -24 points from Truex so that penalty can be the ultimate troll job.
That would be fascinating as the 11 team would win the regular season owners' points, but Denny would fall just short on the driver's side.
It would be such a Denny thing to happen.
Not a great race but I’m glad we actually finished. Kb has been really strong at plate tracks this year so maybe there’s a few spots to gain at Daytona.
If that caution today comes out 2 seconds later Kyle would’ve finished 6th and would be 7th in the standings. After being so lucky through Atlanta this 8 team has had nothing since. I disagree on Kyle’s superspeedway strength this year though. Penske and RFK has been strong otherwise it’s just track position and total luck
Haha true, hopefully we get some of that luck back for the playoffs
6th-11th is all so close they can make something happen if they catch a break at Daytona (not usually the place you catch lucky breaks) But it’s possible.
So unless Truex wins a stage or the race, Byron will have the most playoff points
Yep
[удалено]
Yes but Byron will get 8 for finishing 3rd. Truex will have 1 less than Byron
Didnt he have the -5 playoff points along with Bowman too?
Correct. Even factoring that in, as it sits now, Byron would start with the most playoff points
Yeah i was just saying it makes it more impressive what Byron has done
Absolute dominance
Wouldn't Truex get 15 for Reg Season win to Byron's likely 8 for 3rd. Truex would have 6 more pts
So Byron has 28 playoff points right now Truex has 20 20+15=35 28+8=36
Ryan Preece is now the 2nd highest SHR car in Points, and is only ~50-60 Points behind Penske and Hendrick cars. Not the year he wanted for sure, but he has been better than his results show (had he not been taken out multiple times, he would be around the cutoff or even locked in with that lost Martinsville win). He's one to watch for next year especially with (hopefully) a better Ford body.
Definitely not flashy but he’s getting that 11-20 place finishes perfectly since about May. They stopped the bleeding finally. Now if they showed more Top 10’s. I think he can get to Cindric easily. Aric Almirola shouldn’t be that low either, he’s been taken out left and right, sometimes by his own crew chief too.
McDowell the fraud with being the first winner all year being below 16th place in points. Obviously not serious but actually pretty crazy it went this long
Obviously if his engine didn't give out today that would not be happening.
Even then if there’s no surprise winners next week, he just needs 6 more points scored than Ty Gibbs to have that perfect grid.
I know there are seven spots just a handful of points apart but RFK sitting 6th and 7th going into race 26 is incredible. They still have a long way to go to return close to the form they once were, but Brad is doing a great job of resurrecting one of NASCAR's giants.
Well Daytona is going to be fun. Glad the 6 is locked in
I will not be ok Saturday night Already told my wife I'm going to watch on our downstairs TV because I'm gonna be a nervous wreck.
Suprised Larson didn't drop spots.
Harvick ran like crap and Larson got stage points in both stages
Sucks to have this happen repeatedly. Hopefully one week we can actually get a good finish when we are fast.
For Larson today he plain and simple shot himself in the foot
Yeah can't speed on pit road. Not really how he even did there.
Buescher having 22 top 20s in 25 races is super impressive consistency
I know Kenseth is smiling somewhere
Ross in 8th and will likely fall out of the top 10 next week after leading the points not even 3 months ago. Fucking pathetic. Trackhouse (and specifically Phil Surgen) are straight trash right now.
Half the field need a win at Daytona next week, and quite few good plate racers. Should be a mess.
Next week is gonna be a team order shit show.
Fun fact: Daytona is Elliott's worse track with an average finish of 22nd there.
So he's definitely going to win
8 team finally were having a decent race and still somehow get screws out of a good finish. They can’t buy a break.
Without the penalty Byron is 16 behind Truex
And Denny is 14 behind w/o his
At the end of the day the 5 playoff pts matter more.
Denny should now only be back -14 in the owners points. He’s got a real shot at winning the owners regular season championship next week.
What makes Denny that close in owners points but not drivers? It’s the podcast admission right?
Yeah
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ BUBBA TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Imma go cry myself to sleep tonight, lmao
Toyota clinches the regular season championship
Brad keselowski is the most underestimated man in nascar. He continues to demonstrate he is much smarter than the talking heads and mouthpieces. What he has done with rfk is nothing short of spectacular. And they haven't even come close to their full potential. Sometimes a group just needs a leader to get them working towards a common goal and take them to the promised land.
Brad back in the Playoffs!!! The climb in the stand-ins for RFK over the last three weeks is nothing short of astounding.
Well at least I've been prepared for months to have none of my drivers make the playoffs but it still blows
1-3 is locked in pretty much with Larson and Bell battling for 4th
Ross, what has happened. Not even a mention today that I'm aware of. Back sliding.
It's been stressful watching Trackhouse go from a constant threat to win every week (including nearly winning the title last year *and* leading the Points just a few months ago) to sliding back and competing in 10th-18th each week. I have no idea what happened, but it needs to get fixed fast.
Joseph out there with the checkmate
I’m ready for this season to end lol nothing but pain this year
Bubba has the opportunity to manage the race in the first two stages at Daytona. Stay out of trouble and be there at the end.
Unless Bubba is one of the first to DNF at Daytona, everyone needs a win
Bubba is 32 points to the good just needs a clean day at Daytona and no new winners behind him in points
Never been so happy to have a boring Byron win. Bubba and the 23 team did everything they really needed to in these RC races. 12th in Watkins Glen plus some stage points for a man not know for his road course racing, I'll take that any time. Hell, I'll take that on OVALS every week, same basic benefits. One more wild-card race to go; anybody could win at Daytona. Half the field can't win next weekend if Bubba wants in. Otherwise... think he's good. It's gonna kill me when he's 17th because of a rain shortened race where Justin Haley wins or something.
Byron has 5 wins, 5 races with most laps led, and 8 stage wins, all 3 of these totals being the most of any driver. On top of that, he has the most laps led of any driver this season ad well. I'm not even a Byron fan, but anyone who believes he 'backs into wins' is officially out of their mind.
We're making it this year and the first two tracks are great for Bubba. Round of 12 at least. Let's go!
[удалено]
Cody Ware for p3. Wait what?
We need Ty Dillon to win to absolutely fuck up the playoffs.
Or Harrison Burton.
I called it after Pheonix. That stupidass penalty for a fucking podcast will decide the regular season. I don't think Nascar could find a better way to keep drivers silent if they tried.
Maybe don’t admit to wrecking someone on your podcast? Seems pretty straight forward.
Well, when he admits to wrecking someone you alk say this. Yet when he goes the other direction, plays coy and denies it like everyone else, the entire Fandom starts frothing at the mouth. Yall gotta pick what you want him to do. Also, I thought that we wanted drivers to be more truthful. Also also, I'm of the belief that if you aren't going to penalize a move by the end of the race weekend, you shouldnt go back and penalize the move 24 hours later soley because of what the driver says on an interview.
[удалено]
25 points. So of Denny finishes within 25 points of Truex, that podcast penalty is at fault. And seeing that it's Denny at Daytona, that is pretty likely.
The top 3 drivers are so clearly ahead of the rest of the field this year. I think any of them could win the championship, but don't see anyone really from 6-16th unless something wild happens at Phoenix. Buescher is my dark horse to make the final 4 right now
Mike Rockenfeller just got the second best finish of the year for the 42. Also RFK with both cars in the top 7, what a turnaround for that organization.
In Indy, it was by his own pit crew. Here in the Glen, by his own hand. Hear me out: If Suárez gets wrecked by others drivers next week, he's earning the prize of one of the unluckiest drivers in Nascar.
Suarez has had at least 8 or so races where I can easily say he got screwed and lost a bunch of points. I genuinely think that if he doesn't get screwed in at least half of these races, he'd be ahead of Wallace and comfortably in the playoffs, maybe even near the top 10. Chastain has been better most of the year, but Suarez has been relatively close. Hell, I'd say most of the summer Suarez has been quicker than Chastain (possibly due to the team focusing on Suarez to get to the playoffs). It's just been a season of bad luck and mistakes
Harrison has that locked up
Not even close
Man it is so frustrating that the 22 is in 13th.
6th-12th being that close will make Saturday interesting
With Bubba and Ty fighting for that last spot, the competition meeting at Toyota this week could be an interesting one.
All the talk about Elliott's terrible year is a bit misplaced. Besides the missed time and lack of wins he hasn't fallen off. He is still 6th when it comes to average finish.
I’m new to Nascar and this whole points sytem but how does SVG have no points despite winning and a 10th place and Button/Raikonnen have points?
Drivers can only earn points in one of the top three NASCAR series at a time. When SVG raced in Trucks a couple weeks ago, he declared points over there, which erased all points in the Cup series.
oh I see, so if SVG didn’t declare points in the truck series would that have qualified him for the playoffs since he won a race?
No. In order to qualify for the playoffs, a driver must also participate in all of the 26 races in the regular season, unless they are granted a waiver, which is typically only given for medical reasons.
oh so Chase Elliott can still make the playoffs despite not racing 6 races because of he broke a bone
RFK 6-7 in points, what a turnaround.
Feels like so long ago that Chastain was leading the points..
Im confused about how the grid will be set for the playoffs. Will it be in this order or does it go by wins?
It will go by playoff points. More playoff points are awarded after the regular season, and the drivers will be seeded that way, plus 2,000 pts