Entering Sunday night's Window World 450 NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the first points race at the track since 1996, two drivers had already clinched spots in this year's 10-race "Chase" postseason.
But they clinched based on points, since NASCAR removed the "win and in" element of the playoffs when they got rid of the knockout-style format that had been used from 2014 to 2025. The two drivers whose spots were already secured were Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, the top two drivers in the standings.
Now a third driver has joined them, and as we discussed on Monday morning after the race, it was not Team Penske's Joey Logano, because once again, there is no more "win and in".
Ryan Blaney clinches NASCAR Cup playoff spot
Teammate Ryan Blaney, who does have two wins to his name this season, became the latest driver to solidify his postseason berth, doing so with an 11th place finish at North Wilkesboro.
As a result, 13 spots are still open with five races remaining on the regular season schedule at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Richmond Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Daytona International Speedway.
There was never any doubt that the 2023 champion would clinch a playoff spot, but the reason why he did it now is simple: there is no longer any way he can mathematically fall outside of the top 16 in the point standings, and the 16 playoff spots are simply set to be awarded to the16 drivers who rank top 16 in points after the Daytona race in late August.
There are 380 points on the table over the course of the regular season's final five races, with 76 available in each race (55 for the race win, 10 for winning stage one, 10 for winning stage two, and one for running the fastest lap).
So why has Blaney clinched with only a 293-point gap above the playoff cut line?
Because that 293-point gap is to one driver. Even if the 17th place driver, Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones, somehow manages to make up that gap over the driver of the No. 12 Ford over the next five races, there would not be enough points to go around for 13 other drivers to pass him as well.
Non-winners can score no more than 56 points in a single race, meaning that there are only 280 points still on the table for anybody who doesn't win at any point from now until the end of the regular season.
Seeing as how 14 different drivers can't win each week, Blaney is officially safe, along with Hamlin (+380) and Reddick (+312).
And it shouldn't be long before more drivers join those three, as seven others currently have cutoff advantages of more than 100 points.
The 22nd race on the 26-race 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule is the Brickyard 400, which is set to be shown live on TNT from Indianapolis Motor Speedway starting at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, July 26. Don't miss the crown jewel race that is also set to double as the championship race for NASCAR's In-Season Challenge!
