Field will be cut from 12 to 8 on Sunday.
- Chase Elliott leads the 12-driver championship lineup going into the 109-lap, 253-mile race. He’s two points ahead of Ryan Blaney.
- The Round of 12 began at Texas two weeks ago, went to Talladega last weekend, and ends on Sunday on the Charlotte Roval.
- The upcoming Round of 8 at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville will determine the Championship 4 for the Nov. 6 season-finale near Phoenix.
One of the season’s most unpredictable races will trim NASCAR’s 12-driver Championship Playoff field to eight at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. The original 16-driver field was cut to 12 hopefuls after the recent Playoff races at Darlington, Kansas City, and Bristol.
The Round of 12 began at Texas two weeks ago, went to Talladega last weekend, and ends on Sunday on the Charlotte Roval. The upcoming Round of 8 at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville will determine the Championship 4 for the Nov. 6 season-finale near Phoenix.
The Charlotte Roval is a 2.32-mile, 17-turn, multi-elevational road course that incorporates much of the better-known 1.5-mile oval and a significant portion of the infield road circuit. It is one of six road courses on the Cup Series schedule after COTA (Ross Chastain), Sonoma (Daniel Suarez), Elkhart Lake (Tyler Reddick), Indianapolis (Reddick), Watkins Glen (Kyle Larson), and Charlotte. It is the only road course on the 10-race Playoff schedule.
Ryan Blaney won the Roval debut in 2018 after leader Jimmie Johnson wrecked near the finish. Former champion Elliott won in 2019 and 2020, and defending champion Larson won in 2021. All three are among the 12 drivers still eligible for this year’s Cup Series championship.
Elliott leads the 12-driver championship lineup going into the 109-lap, 253-mile race. He’s two points ahead of Blaney, but better still his victory last weekend at Talladega gave Elliott a guaranteed spot in the Round of 8 that opens next weekend at Las Vegas.
Behind Elliott and Blaney are Chastain (six behind the leader), Denny Hamlin (13 back), former champion Joey Logano (16 behind), Larson (minus-16), William Byron (minus-20), and Daniel Suarez, 22 points behind Elliott but fairly comfortably above the cutline. (Byron gained invaluable ground midweek, when a NASCAR appeal panel returned 25 driver points it had penalized him for spinning Denny Hamlin at Texas. The successful appeal brought Byron from below the cut line to above it).
The four lowest-ranked drivers face a difficult uphill battle to stay in championship consideration. Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric and fellow first-time winner Chase Briscoe are 12 points behind the cutline. Christopher Bell is 45 below the transfer spot and Alex Bowman (at minus-88) is all but officially eliminated. He fell far behind by missing Talladega and missing Charlotte with concussion-like symptoms from his recent crash in Texas.
Saturday Qualifying
In Saturday afternoon qualifying, Team Penske star Logano (Playoffs) in a Ford won the pole at 103.424 miles per hour. That easily beat the 103.300 mph lap of Byron (P), driving a Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports.
The rest of the top-10 for the Bank of America 400: Suarez (P) and Reddick in Chevys, Cindric (P) and Blaney (P) in Fords, Xfinity Series pole-winner AJ Allmendinger in a Chevy and Christopher Bell (P) in a Toyota and Chevy drivers Elliott (P) and Chastain (P).
The other three Playoff drivers didn’t fare as well: Bell was 17th, Larson was 18th, and Hamlin was 24th.
NASCAR Playoff Points Standings
Field will be cut to 8 after Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval)
- *Chase Elliott 3,103
- Ryan Blaney 3,101
- Ross Chastain 3,097
- Denny Hamlin 3,090
- Joey Logano 3,087
- Kyle Larson 3,087
- William Byron 3083
- Daniel Suarez 3,081
- Chase Briscoe 3,069
- Austin Cindric 3,069
- Christopher Bell 3,036
- Alex Bowman 3,015
* – Automatically advances to the Round of 8 thanks to a win in the current three-race Round of 12.
Keyword: NASCAR Cup Playoff Update: Standings Breakdown Heading to Charlotte Roval