Heading into the penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series calendar, there’s still plenty of mystery to be uncovered.
NASCAR’s best and brightest will take their talents to Martinsville, Virginia, for Sunday’s Xfinity 500.
For six playoff drivers, the contest — a 263-mile romp through dust and mire — will be of special importance. There are but two spots in the Championship 4 field left after Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick punched their tickets to Phoenix over the past two weeks.
Some can get in with points. Others need wins. Either way you slice it, Sunday’s race should be one for the books, a captivating joust between the cream of the crop within NASCAR’s top flight.
Here’s what you need to know about the Cup Series playoff standings heading into the final race of the Round of 8.
NASCAR playoff standings 2024
Below is a current look at the top eight drivers in the Cup Series playoff standings heading into Sunday’s race at Martinsville. This section will be updated at the conclusion of the Xfinity 500.
| Driver | Playoff points |
|---|---|
| 1. Tyler Reddick | WIN |
| 2. Joey Logano | WIN |
| 3. Christopher Bell | 4,132 |
| 4. William Byron | 4,110 |
| 5. Kyle Larson | 1,103 |
| 6. Denny Hamlin | 4,092 |
| 7. Ryan Blaney | 4,072 |
| 8. Chase Elliott | 4,067 |
NASCAR Round of 4 scenarios for Martinsville
Christopher Bell
Bell is in the most comfortable position heading into Martinsville, holding a 29-point advantage over fifth-place Kyle Larson.
No points lead is guaranteed, and Bell will have business to attend to at The Paperclip. But he’s been strong at short tracks this year, finishing fourth, sixth and fifth in his last three races on tracks shorter than a mile in length. He needs just 33 points at Martinsville to officially qualify on points for the Championship 4. That’s a third-place finish if he doesn’t pick up any stage points.
As long as Bell has a clean day, he should be competing for a title next weekend. That’s a big if, though; Bell wrecked during the spring race at Martinsville.
William Byron
Byron holds a seven-point edge over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for the final Championship 4 spot heading into Sunday’s race. That’s not a particularly large gap, although Byron should be heartened by his pedigree at Martinsville.
Byron has two wins at The Paperclip to his name, one of which came during the spring. If Byron doesn’t win Sunday’s race, he can’t afford for a playoff driver outside of the current top-four to do so.
Kyle Larson
Larson has been an enigma of sorts during the postseason. On one hand, he has two victories in eight playoff races thus far. On the other, he’s tallied just three top-fives during that same span. He finds himself seven points off of Byron’s pace.
Larson can still technically make the Championship 4 on points. He would just need lots of help to do so. Fortunately for Larson, he is one of racing’s best short-track drifters. Larson won the Cup Series’ last short-track race at Bristol, leading 462 of 500 laps.
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin is desperate to capture his first Cup Series Championship. He’ll all but certainly need a win at Martinsville to do so.
Hamlin is 18 points short of Byron in fourth. He’s 40 points below Bell in third. He’s more than capable of picking up stage points at The Paperclip. But he hasn’t won at Martinsville since 2015 — before the advent of the Next Gen car.
Ryan Blaney
Sitting 38 points below the cut line, Blaney — the defending Cup Series champion — is almost certain to be eliminated if he doesn’t win at Martinsville. He put forth an impressive showing at The Paperclip this time last year, overcoming a seemingly insurmountable points deficit by winning in the Cup Series’ penultimate race. He’ll need a similar effort this time around to qualify for Phoenix.
Chase Elliott
Elliott has been a force in recent weeks, capturing top-five finishes in two of his last three races. Still, a 43-point gap isn’t what you want to be facing with one race in the Round of 8. Elliott needs a win to get in.
How do NASCAR playoff standings work?
The Cup Series playoffs consists of four rounds and 10 races. Four drivers are eliminated every three weeks, at which point the playoff field resets, with NASCAR wiping each playoff participant’s driver points tally clean — save for playoff points, which are tacked on ahead of each new round. Drivers can earn playoff points in a number of ways, including winning races and stages (five and one points, respectively) to finishing high in the regular season standings.
A win reigns supreme in the Cup Series postseason; wins guarantee entry into the next round of the playoffs. If a driver is unable to win over the course of a playoff round, they’ll have to finish with a higher point tally than four other postseason drivers to qualify for the next round.
All the action culminates with the Championship 4, which sees the four remaining playoff drivers duel with one another for a shot at a Cup Series title. The playoff driver with the highest finish in the final race of the season takes home the Cup Series title.
