NASCAR standings 2019: Updated points for Cup series playoffs after the Bojangles' Southern 500

Thomas Lott

NASCAR standings 2019: Updated points for Cup series playoffs after the Bojangles' Southern 500 image

There was an extended delay as weather pushed back the start of the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The race went well into the night and saw Erik Jones take home the checkered flag in his 100th start.

"I can guarantee I ain't going to bed," Jones said on the TV broadcast after the race.

It's the second to last race before the playoffs, which makes every position count even more, especially for players on the bubble.

Kyle Larson finished in second while Kyle Busch — who led for 118 laps before slamming into the wall allowing Jones to take the lead — finished in third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Brad Keselowski fifth.

There was one of seven caution flags on Lap 274 after a big crash involving a number of drivers including Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

Here are your updated point standings.

NASCAR points standings 2019

Below are the updated standings following the Bojangles' Southern 500. Winners are in bold and are guaranteed a playoff spot.

Rank Driver Wins Points
No. 1 Kyle Busch
4
966
No. 2
Joey Logano
2 916
No. 3
Denny Hamlin  4 863
  Kevin Harvick 2 863
No. 5 Martin Truex Jr. 4 860
No. 6 Brad Keselowski 3 826
No. 7 Chase Elliott 2 775
No. 8 Kurt Busch 1 771
No. 9 Ryan Blaney 0 710
No. 10 Kyle Larson 0 700
No. 11 Alex Bowman  1 694
No. 12 Erik Jones 1 686
No. 13 William Byron  0 680
No. 14 Aric Almirola 0 674
No. 15 Clint Bowyer  0 620
No. 16 Ryan Newman 0 617
  Daniel Suarez 0 617
No. 18 Jimmie Johnson 0 586
No. 19 Paul Menard 0 548
No. 20 Chris Buescher 0 531
No. 21 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 0 483
No. 22 Matt DiBenedetto 0 467
No. 23 Austin Dillon 0 454
No. 24 Ty Dillon 0 417
No. 25 Daniel Hemric 0 370
No. 26 Ryan Preece 0 333
No. 27 Bubba Wallace 0 317
No. 28 Michael McDowell 0 304
No. 29 Corey Lajoie 0 280
No. 30 David Ragan 0 268
No. 31 Matt Tifft 0 263
No. 32 Reed Sorenson 0 75
No. 33 Quin Houff 0 71
No. 34 Jamie McMurray 0 19
No. 35 Austin Theriault 0 10
No. 36 Andy Seuss 0 9
No. 37 Stanton Barrett 0 1
No. 38 Casey Mears 0 1

Who’s on the Cup Series playoff bubble? 

Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez are tied for 16th with 617 points.

Jimmie Johnson is in 18th place with 586 points while Paul Menard is 19th with 548 points.

Every spot counts and there is just one race left for drivers to move into playoff contention.

How are NASCAR driver points awarded per race?

Each finishing spot in the field earns driver points with the maximum being 40 for a win. These points accrue over the season as do owner points.

Drivers can also earn points based off of their finishes in the first two stages of the race. The driver who finishes first earns 10 points, the man who finishes in second earns nine and so on and so forth, points earned in those stages are then added to the points earned at the finish of a race.

The points are added up over all of the races and there is a reset after the regular-season finale in the 26th race. Drivers who have earned wins or finish in the top 16 of the Cup Series standings then move on to the playoffs.

Drivers accumulate playoff points earning five bonus points for a win and one for a stage win. Those points are added to a driver's total at the start of the playoffs.

For a more in-depth look at how scoring works, click here.

Thomas Lott