NASCAR Cup Series standings: Chris Buescher wins, playoff bubble shuffles again

While Richmond wasn’t the most exciting race, it did give us a clearer picture of the NASCAR Cup Series standings with Chris Buescher’s win. It wasn’t just Buescher locking himself into the playoffs, the bubble battles shifted around. Bubba Wallace has taken a step up, Michael McDowell creeps forward, and Ty Gibbs, the rookie, threatens to ruin it for somebody.

The NASCAR standings are full of storylines and battles. Up at the top with 744 points, Martin Turex Jr. has taken a 39-point lead for the regular season championship. Bolstered by his three wins, eight top-5s, and 12 top-10s – Truex is the only driver in the top-5 without multiple DNFs.

Now, Denny Hamlin has moved into second place in the standings with 705 points. William Byron is four points back from that in third and then there is a big gap of 48 points to Christopher Bell in fourth. Kyle Busch rounds out the top-5 with 648 points.

Cup grid (4 to go Mich IMSroad Glen Daytona): Byron-4w, Truex-3w, Busch-3w, Hamlin-2w, Larson-2w, Bell-1w, Chastain-1w, Blaney-1w, Logano-1w, Reddick-1w, Buescher-1w, Stenhouse-1w, Harvick +182, Keselowski +151, Wallace +54, McDowell +19, Gibbs -18, Allmendinger -22, Suarez -34 pic.twitter.com/Q1mx7F0bqy

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 31, 2023

Chris Buescher locked himself into the playoffs with his win at Richmond. It was a really strong performance as he held the field off on the final restart. His boss Brad Keselowski has not had a win this season. However, he is more than fine in the points standings and should be moving on to the postseason.

So, we have 12 winners in the postseason with four spots up for grabs in the last four races. With no surprise winners outside of the top-16 in points yet, the playoff field is shaping up. Still, one has to think that at least one driver like Chase Elliott or Alex Bowman, perhaps AJ Allmendinger could take a checkered flag and one of those limited spots in the playoffs.

NASCAR standings get heated on playoff bubble

The big moves in the second half of the NASCAR playoff standings came from Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs. Wallace remains in the 15th position after he had another strong points day. He is now 54 points above the cutline and 36 points above McDowell in 16th.

However, it was interesting to see what Ty Gibbs was able to accomplish. He moves from 19th to 17th in the standings, jumping both AJ Allmendinger and Daniel Suárez after Richmond. While those two drivers are strong on the road courses, so is Gibbs. Just 18 points away from McDowell and a spot in the playoffs, Gibbs could sneak into the postseason in his rookie year.

Chase Elliott picked up points and is 40 away from McDowell and the 16th spot. A win is his ultimate goal, but it doesn’t look likely. Elliott started off P4 in the Cook Out 400 but couldn’t make anything of it.

Moving on to Michigan, it could be another big weekend for Wallace in the NASCAR standings. He was the pole winner last season and has had some great qualifying runs lately. A win would lock any of these drivers into the playoffs, but there are limited opportunities to get it done.