Competition close at both ends of
NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings
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[August 21, 2024]
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A dramatic race at Michigan
International Speedway over the weekend has meant that for the
second consecutive week, the NASCAR Cup Series playoff outlook has
undergone a major change -- both atop the standings and on the
all-important cutoff line as the series heads to Daytona
International Speedway for Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400
(7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick earned his second trophy of the year.
His dogged work in the No. 45 Toyota -- along with a rare "off" day
for a couple of his closest regular-season championship contenders
-- has thrust the 28-year-old Californian atop the standings for the
first time in his young career.
Only two races remain to decide the regular-season champion and
which 16 drivers will qualify for the playoffs. Reddick now holds a
10-point advantage over Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott (804) in
the standings. Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin (786) moved up to
third place -- 28 points back -- thanks to an inspired ninth-place
drive at Michigan despite an early race spin.
Hendrick's Kyle Larson -- who has led the championship a series-best
14 weeks on the season, including the last two weeks and boasts a
series-best four wins -- dropped to fourth place (782), 32 points
behind Reddick after triggering a seven-car crash mid-race that
parked him with a 34th-place finish on Sunday.
It all sets up a tight, competitive bid for that 15-point bonus paid
to the regular- season champion -- a huge incentive that goes with
that driver for each playoff round he advances.
"We are going to go to Daytona and, hopefully, don't crash," Reddick
said. "Last time we were there, we won the Duels (in February), so
hoping to walk away from Daytona with the points lead. If we can do
that, it will set us up really good to close it out in Darlington
(on Sept. 1)."
Hamlin by far boasts the best Daytona record of the four drivers
atop the standings. A three-time Daytona 500 winner, he is the only
one among Reddick, Elliott and Larson to hoist a NASCAR Cup Series
trophy at the sport's most iconic speedway.
Reddick has both a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win (2015) and a
NASCAR Xfinity Series (2018-1) victory at Daytona. Elliott (2016,
one) and Larson (2018, two) have Xfinity Series wins at the big
track, but none among this threesome has won a NASCAR Cup Series
race there.
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Reddick's best work is a runner-up in the summer
race in 2022. Elliott has a pair of runner-up finishes in the 2020
summer 400-miler, then the following season-opening Daytona 500.
Larson has never had a top-five finish at Daytona. His best showing
is sixth place in the 2016 summer race.
The tight competition also is very evident at the
other end of the playoff standings, with three drivers -- Roush
Fenway Keselowski Racing's Chris Buescher, Trackhouse Racing's Ross
Chastain and 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace -- all safely inside the
top 16 at various times during Monday's rain-delayed Michigan race.
Ultimately, Buescher -- who is the defending winner of Saturday
night's Daytona race -- fared best with a sixth-place finish that
not only moved him up a position to 15th in the standings but gave
him a greater points cushion (16 above the line).
Despite bringing out the final caution of the race during the first
overtime, Chastain rallied back to a 25th-place finish which was
just good enough to secure a tenuous single-point advantage over
Wallace, whose No. 23 Toyota was dinged in two separate incidents
not of his doing and finished 26th.
Of these three fighting for that last playoff position -- only
Buescher has a previous NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona. Wallace
has been very close to a victory with back-to-back runner-up
finishes in the 2021 summer race and the 2022 Daytona 500. He has
five top-five results in 14 series starts. Chastain has never had a
top five in 12 races, but he did win a summer Xfinity Series race in
2019.
Busch Light Pole Qualifying for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is Friday
evening at 5:05 p.m. ET (USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Chastain won the pole position for last year's race.
--By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
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