NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings: William Byron steals one at Texas

The Cup Series went to the Lone Star State for a little Texas Two-Step and now the NASCAR Playoff standings have changed once again. We saw the points reset at the start of this round, 12 drivers are fighting for just 8 spots. There were successes and failures throughout the playoff field.

Of course, William Byron stole the show at the very end. He didn’t lead a single lap until he made the pass after the final restart. From there, he didn’t look back. It wasn’t just a major win to get him into the Round of 8, but also Hendrick Motorsports’ 300th Cup victory.

He came into the round as the points leader, tied with Martin Truex Jr. Those two could not have had a more different experience at Texas.

Right now, here is how the standings look heading to Talladega.
NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings:
William Byron – 3083, 1W
Denny Hamlin – 3074
Chris Buescher – 3059
Christopher Bell – 3056
Ross Chastain – 3049
Brad Keselowski – 3045
Kyle Larson – 3039
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Bubba Wallace – 3037
Tyler Reddick – 3036
Ryan Blaney – 3028
Kyle Busch – 3022

Plain and simple, we’ve had a lot of movement just from Texas. It is clear that Kyle Busch plummeted to the bottom after his early exit. However, Tyler Reddick struggled as well, he was above the line when the green flag dropped at Texas, now he’s below. 

Kyle Larson is another driver that has fallen back in the NASCAR Playoff standings. Seven DNFs on the year, another one at Talladega could mean disaster for the 5 team. 

NASCAR Playoff Standings: Winners and Losers from Texas

Winners:
William Byron – It is obvious that Byron was the big winner. He has never won a race this late in the season and he’s moving onto the Round of 8. He wasn’t dominant by any means at Texas, but was at the right place at the right time. Byron has at least one win at each of the final four tracks in the playoffs (Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville, Phoenix).

Denny Hamlin – Once again, Hamlin manages to pull off a top-5. He was hit on pit road by teammate Ty Gibbs. However, that didn’t stop him from making the most of his day at Texas. 37 points above the cutline, Hamlin is in a comfortable position.

Bubba Wallace – He didn’t win the race, but he won the pole, led 111 laps on the day, and came away with a P3 result. Not only that, he jumped over three other drivers to move himself into 9th overall, just two points from the cutline and Kyle Larson. Talladega is a strong track for Wallace, he just has to bring it home in one piece. 

Losers:
Martin Truex Jr. – Once again, it looks like the 19 team isn’t up to snuff. The regular season champion is struggling. He can’t find speed, his pit stops are bad, and he keeps falling off the pace. That includes in the NASCAR Playoff standings. He was +36 coming into Texas, now he’s just +19 after a P17 finish (his best of the playoffs so far).

Kyle Busch – The only driver that had a worse day in the playoffs than Truex Jr. has to be Busch. He wanted to run that second groove too soon, got his tires dirty, messed up his grip and then he finally spun out. A DNF on the day puts him -17 points to the cutline.

Kyle Larson – I know that it is hard to say a guy who led almost 100 laps was a “loser” on the day. However, that 7th DNF on the year didn’t help at all. Larson earned 16 points on the day and dropped like a rock to just barely above the cutline. He also DNFd at Talladega earlier this season. Something to watch for.