NASCAR Cup Series standings: Chase Elliott closes the gap after Chicago

What a wild week in Chicago. Shane van Gisbergen wins the race and Chase Elliott is starting to close to points gap on the playoff bubble. For the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, the win from SVG was a good thing. It made sure a full-time driver couldn’t fill up another precious playoff spot.

As the regular season winds down, Chase Elliott has to be perfect. He has now put himself within 55 points of the playoff cutline. He would rather win a race to get into the playoffs, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Currently 24th in the standings, Elliott has eight races to do his thing and get into the top-16. He’s on pace to do it, but he will need to be perfect – and hope drivers don’t start winning out of nowhere.

Shane van Gisbergen did all of those drivers on the bubble a favor by beating Justin Haley. Had Haley won the race, the driver in 21st place would now be in the playoffs. As for other drivers on the bubble, Alex Bowman has now dropped to 20th overall after his DNF in Chicago.

Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs kicks Daniel Suárez from playoff contention. Gibbs, now 16th overall, is just nine points from catching Bubba Wallace in 15th. This is going to be a close battle for the final spots in the playoffs. Especially for Chase Elliott.

Elliott has said time and again that he wants to win to get into the playoffs. His thinking is sound, if he can’t win now, how is he going to win in the playoffs? Although, I’m sure he won’t turn down a spot in the playoffs if he points his way in.

Chase Elliott on the bubble, Martin Truex Jr. still leads

While the battle on the bubble keeps going, Martin Truex Jr. has now led the NASCAR standings for a month. He is still on top of the point standings, however, it is a close race for the regular season championship.

William Byron is not far behind, just nine points from Truex Jr. Of course, Ross Chastain is coming on as of late and has moved into third overall in the standings. He is another nine points back from Byron.

One interesting thing about the top-10 right now is Kevin Harvick. He is the top winless driver in the standings. The Closer has been pretty consistent throughout the year and it shows in his seventh-place standing right now.

Kyle Busch is in fifth place after the Chicago Street Race. He salvaged a P5 finish after wrecking early in the race. With this, Busch now has six top-5 finishes and 11 top-10s. He leads the Cup Series in top-10 finishes this season.