NASCAR playoff standings 2019: Updated points for Cup chase after Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

Arthur Weinstein

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NASCAR playoff standings 2019: Updated points for Cup chase after Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas image

Denny Hamlin won the race at Kansas Speedway Sunday, but Chase Elliott came away with plenty to celebrate after the Hollywood Casino 400.

Elliott prevailed in a hard-fought battle through two overtimes to earn the final spot in the Round of 8 over Brad Keselowski.

Hamlin had a dominant car all afternoon, leading 153 of the 277 laps to claim his fifth victory of 2019 and career win No. 36.

"This is just a great feeling," Hamlin told NBC. "I've got to thank everyone who pushed me there on the restarts."

Behind Hamlin, Elliott and Keselowski scrambled for the eighth and final spot in the NASCAR Playoff field. Entering double overtime, Keselowski held a slim lead for the position, but he lost six spots after the restart, allowing Elliott, who finished second, to advance.

"I couldn't get anything to go on the restart … it was just all bad," Keselowski told NBC.

"I was under the impression (I had to win) … excited to move on," Elliott said.

The NASCAR playoffs continue Oct. 27 at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR playoff points standings 2019

Rank Driver Wins Points
No. 1Kyle Busch44,046
No. 2
Martin Truex Jr.64,042
No. 3
Denny Hamlin54,037
No. 4Joey Logano24,030
No. 5Kevin Harvick34,028
No. 6Chase Elliott34,024
No. 7Kyle Larson14,011
No. 8Ryan Blaney14,009
No. 9Brad Keselowski32,229
No. 10William Byron02,181
No. 11Clint Bowyer02,181
No. 12Alex Bowman12,165
No. 13Aric Almirola02,148
No. 14Kurt Busch12,130
No. 15Ryan Newman02,121
No. 16Erik Jones12,072
No. 17Jimmie Johnson0772
No. 18Daniel Suarez0757
No. 19Paul Menard0699
No. 20Chris Buescher0644
No. 21Ricky Stenhouse Jr.0620
No. 22Matt DiBenedetto0614
No. 23Austin Dillon0613
No. 24Ty Dillon0551
No. 25Ryan Preece0449
No. 26Daniel Hemric0447
No. 27Michael McDowell0441
No. 28Bubba Wallace0435
No. 29Corey LaJoie0373
No. 30Matt Tifft0352
No. 31David Ragan0349
No. 32Reed Sorenson0112
No. 33Quin Houff073
No. 34Jamie McMurray019
No. 35Austin Theriault017
No. 36Andy Seuss09
No. 37Stanton Barrett02
No. 38Casey Mears01

How the NASCAR playoffs work:

Sixteen NASCAR drivers qualified for the playoffs. Four were eliminated in the Sept. 29 race at Charlotte. Four more were eliminated in the Oct. 20 race at Kansas, and four more will fall out at Phoenix on Nov. 10, leaving the final four drivers to compete straight up for for the NASCAR Cup title Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the first of the four playoff drivers to cross the finish line is crowned the champion.

How drivers earn points:

– Win Stage 1 or Stage 2 in a race: 1 playoff point (point awarded per stage win)
– Win a race: 5 playoff points
– Win the regular-season championship: 15 playoff points

Second place in the final regular-season standings earns 10 playoff points, third place receives eight points, and the points awarded decline to one point for 10th (4th = 7 points, 5th = 6 points, etc.).

Championship-contending drivers can accumulate additional playoff points throughout the playoffs via stage and race wins and may use all the playoff points they earn, from both the regular season and the playoffs, to advance all the way up to the Championship 4.

Playoff points are added to a championship-contending driver’s reset points total at the start of every round of the playoffs until they are eliminated from championship contention.

At Homestead-Miami, playoff points are off the table, and the Championship 4 drivers enter the “winner-take-all” race tied in the standings. 

Cup playoff information provided by NASCAR.

Arthur Weinstein