A Beginner's Guide To NASCAR's Convoluted Playoff Points System - The Autopian (2024)

NASCAR returns to Darlington this weekend for the final race of the Cup Series regular season. The Xfinity Series regular season will conclude next month at Bristol Motor Speedway.

So how does the points system work in NASCAR? Let’s break it down, because, like many things in this sport, it’s both very straightforward and slightly overcomplicated.

(With that being said, there is going to be a lot of talk about points and playoffs for the remainder of the season. If you’d like to learn more about Darlington Raceway specifically, and what it takes to get around this track, you can check out my earlier piece from before the May race.)

How Points Are Awarded In NASCAR

So how does the points system work in NASCAR? Points are awarded three times during a race. Once at the end of each stage and once at the conclusion of the race. You can think of the stages in somewhat the same way as the Sprint races in Formula 1, where a small number of points are awarded to drivers at the front of the field. In NASCAR, the top 10 drivers are awarded points at the conclusion of each stage; 10 points for 1^st, 9 points for 2^nd on down to 1 point for 10^th. The conclusion of the race plays out similarly, except points are awarded to the entire field; 40 for 1^st, 35 for 2^nd, 34 for 3^rd, all the way down to 1 point for 36^th place or worse.

Additionally, something called playoff points are awarded at the end of both stages and the race. The winner of each stage receives 1 playoff point and the winner of the race receives 5 playoff points. These are special additional points that drivers get to take with them throughout the postseason, which we will get to momentarily.

The Cup Series playoffs consist of 16 drivers and the Xfinity Series playoffs consist of 12 drivers. Any full-time driver who wins a race is automatically guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, with the remaining spots being filled up based on points.

Let’s take a look at the Cup Series playoff cut line. Going into this weekend at Darlington Raceway 13 different drivers have won at least 1 race. That means that there are three spots remaining and they will go to the three highest-ranked drivers in points without a win.

The playoff math becomes trickier for teams and drivers without a win when a driver lower than them in points wins a race, like what happened last Saturday in Daytona. Harrison Burton is ranked last in points, but now has a win. By elevating himself into the playoffs, Burton eliminated one position that would have been awarded based on points, essentially bumping a driver out. In this case, it was Bubba Wallace.

Had Harrison Burton not won the race last week, Wallace would be the last driver in on points and Ross Chastain would be out by only 6 points.

After the conclusion of this Sunday’s Southern 500, the playoff field will be officially set. One final round of playoff points will be awarded based on the final regular season standings. The driver with the highest number of points in the regular season will be awarded 15 playoff points, 10 for 2^nd, 8 for 3^rd and then decreasing by 1 point per position to award 1 playoff point to the 10^th highest driver in the standings.

So how do the playoffs work, and why do these playoff points matter so much? For the Cup and Xfinity Series, the playoffs are made up of three race rounds after which the bottom 4 drivers will be eliminated. A win automatically advances a driver to the next round. What makes this interesting is that the points reset to zero for every round, with the exception of playoff points.

Kyle Larson currently has four race wins, eight stage wins, and is ranked 2^nd in overall points. This translates to 38 playoff points, meaning that when the standings reset in each round he will start with 38 points. By contrast, the last driver currently in the playoff is Chris Buescher with 0 race wins, 2 stage wins, and ranked 11^th in overall points. That means he will start each round off with only 2 points. The playoff points exist to reward season-long performance and give drivers a boost in each round of the playoffs.

You will often see teams change up their strategy during the regular season after they’ve won a race and secured their spot in the playoffs. On a day when they may only have a 7^th place car for example, teams can alter their strategy to go after a stage win and try to collect a playoff point when they know that they aren’t going to have a shot at the overall victory.

Like any sport, a racing season is built up of a million moments that culminate into something much grander. The magic lies in knowing that each of these moments is important when you’re living them, but not knowing how until they’re well into the past. After the checkered flag falls on Sunday evening, we will finally be able to see how all of the trials and tribulations have shaken out for the Cup Series drivers as the regular season ends and the playoffs begin.

Entering the final race of the regular season, there were so many key moments that helped shape the current playoff picture. The second race of the 2024 NASCAR season took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in February. The race featured an iconic three-wide finish and is arguably the first of our “season-changing” moments.

Daniel Suarez currently sits 17^th in the regular season points standings and had he been mere inches behind at the finish of this race he would currently be sitting 131 points below the cut line. Had second-place driver Ryan Blaney, who currently sits 4^th in points won the race there would be an additional playoff berth available to a non-winner, which would put Bubba Wallace into the post-season instead of the first driver out. Third-place finisher Kyle Busch currently sits 106 points below the cut line, and 0.007 seconds would have elevated him into the postseason.

The 12^th race of the Cup series season at Kansas Speedway came down to the closest finish in NASCAR history with a margin of 0.001 seconds as Kyle Larson swept past Chris Buescher coming to the checkered flag. Half an inch would have guaranteed Buescher a spot in the playoffs, but currently, he is the last driver advancing to the postseason. His twenty-one-point advantage over Bubba Wallace is modest, but a bad day could see it quickly evaporate, and a new winner would eliminate him automatically.

Buescher appeared to be set for redemption the following week at Darlington Raceway as he led in the closing laps over Tyler Reddick. Reddick had dominated the race, leading over 60% of the laps and did not want to let the victory slip away. In a perhaps ambitious move to retake the lead with ten laps to go, Reddick and Buescher made contact and both drivers suffered a punctured tire. Brad Keselowski won the race while Buescher finished 30^th and Reddick 32^nd.

When the Cup series visited World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis for the 15^th race, it looked as though Ryan Blaney was going to cruise to victory just over a second ahead of his Penske Racing teammate Austin Cindric. Coming back to begin the final lap, Blaney inexplicably ran out of fuel allowing Cindric to steal the victory. Currently, Cindric sits 19^th in regular season points and without this win he would be 172 points below the cut line, and Bubba Wallace would be the last driver into the postseason. Half a gallon of fuel in Ryan Blaney’s car is all it took to elevate Cindric from a forgettable season to a playoff contender.

The 19^th race of the Cup series season took place at Nashville Superspeedway. With 2 laps to go, Denny Hamlin was cruising to victory with a roughly half-second advantage over Ross Chastain. Contact between Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson for 20^th place brought out a caution flag, triggering a record number of overtime attempts. Joey Logano won the race while Denny Hamlin finished eleventh and Ross Chastain finished 33^rd. Without this victory, Logano would be sitting 72 points below the playoff cut line. Chastain lost 32 points from where he should have finished and currently sits 27 points outside of the playoffs.

One week later, the NASCAR Cup series found itself racing around the streets of Chicago. The race concluded in mixed conditions after it had rained on and off throughout the event. Alex Bowman and several other drivers elected not to pit, attempting to nurse their wet weather tires to the finish on the quickly drying circuit while the rest of the field chased them down on slick tires. The strategy call proved fortuitous as Bowman was able to hang on and secure his first road course victory. Without this win, Bowman would be sitting 10 points outside of the playoffs.

It’s not just the headline-making wins that change the shape of a driver’s year. The smallest moments matter when you’re sitting there staring at the cut line desperately searching for a few more points.

In the final laps of the 9^th race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway, Ross Chastain looked poised for a solid Top 5 finish after starting 12^th and leading 33 laps during the event. With 15 laps to go, Chastain was running in 4^th position when Ricky Stenhouse Jr spun and brought out a caution. The ensuing restart saw another caution, setting up an overtime finish. On the final restart of the day, Chastain lined up on the outside of the front row. He fell into 2^nd position until contact with William Byron sent him spinning on the final lap. Chastain was credited with a 32^nd place finish for the day. The difference between 2^nd and 32^nd is 33 points. Again, Chastain currently sits 27 points outside of the playoffs.

The 11^th race of the season took place at Dover Motor Speedway. Prior to a green flag pit stop cycle, Bubba Wallace was running in 10^th position. A caution flag for Ricky Stenhouse Jr spinning jumbled up the field as not everyone had completed their pit stops at the time of the accident. Wallace was leading, about to make his pit stop, when the caution flag flew. After pitting under yellow he lined up for the restart in 18^th position. Contact with Zane Smith sent Wallace spinning off the exit of Turn 2 and ultimately ended his day. Wallace was credited with a 32^nd place finish costing him 22 points relative to where he was running prior to the pit cycle. Currently, Wallace is 21 points outside the playoffs.

Sometimes, it’s just about survival. Daytona winner Harrison Burton narrowly avoided being collected up in the big one with 9 laps to go.

The NASCAR season is the longest season in sports, but every race matters, every lap matters and every point matters. Sunday’s running of the Southern 500 will be the culmination of 6 months worth of little moments. Some teams will leave heartbroken, and some will leave relieved to have made it into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.