DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - With a stage win and a playoff point to go with a sixth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Kyle Larson did enough to leap from fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season points standings to a tie for the top seed in the NASCAR playoffs along with Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.
By finishing third in the postseason hierarchy, Larson earned an additional nin playoff points and his total of 32 is tied for the most. Clinching the regular season championship last week at Richmond Raceway, Byron added 15 bonus points to his 17 playoff points to reach 32 total as well.
Chase Elliott enters the playoffs with 13 playoff points, slotting him in seventh. And finally, despite being caught up in chaos not of his own doing early in the race, Alex Bowman secured the 16th and final playoff spot thanks to Ryan Blaney's win.
Here's a look at the postseason standings heading to Darlington Raceway next weekend.
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NASCAR playoff standings
| Driver | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| t-1. Kyle Larson | 2,032 | +26 |
| t-1. William Byron | 2,032 | +26 |
| 3. Denny Hamlin | 2,029 | +23 |
| 4. Ryan Blaney | 2,026 | +20 |
| 5. Christopher Bell | 2,023 | +17 |
| 6. Shane van Gisbergen | 2,022 | +16 |
| 7. Chase Elliott | 2,013 | +7 |
| 8. Chase Briscoe | 2,010 | +4 |
| t-9. Bubba Wallace | 2,008 | +2 |
| t-9. Austin Cindric | 2,008 | +2 |
| t-11. Joey Logano | 2,007 | +1 |
| t-11. Ross Chastain | 2,007 | +1 |
| ------------- | ---- | |
| t-13. Josh Berry | 2,006 | -1 |
| t-13. Tyler Reddick | 2,006 | -1 |
| 15. Austin Dillon | 2,005 | -2 |
| 16. Alex Bowman | 2,002 | -5 |
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NASCAR regular season standings
| Driver | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Denny Hamlin | 778 (ADV) | 4 |
| 2. Shane van Gisbergen | 485 (ADV) | 4 |
| 3. Kyle Larson | 800 (ADV) | 3 |
| 4. Christopher Bell | 782 (ADV) | 3 |
| 5. William Byron | 863 (ADV) | 2 |
| 6. Ryan Blaney | 808 (ADV) | 2 |
| 7. Chase Elliott | 798 (ADV) | 1 |
| 8. Chase Briscoe | 719 (ADV) | 1 |
| 9. Bubba Wallace | 640 (ADV) | 1 |
| 10. Joey Logano | 639 (ADV) | 1 |
| 11. Ross Chastain | 630 (ADV) | 1 |
| 12. Austin Cindric | 544 (ADV) | 1 |
| 13. Josh Berry | 504 (ADV) | 1 |
| 14. Austin Dillon | 473 (ADV) | 1 |
| 15. Tyler Reddick | 730 (ADV) | 0 |
| 16. Alex Bowman | 686 (ADV) | 0 |
| ------------- | --- | --- |
| 17. Chris Buescher | 656 (-30) | 0 |
| 18. Ryan Preece | 620 (-66) | 0 |
| 19. Ty Gibbs | 543 (-143) | 0 |
| 20. Kyle Busch | 541 (-145) | 0 |