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. 1 Kyle Busch 4 4,046
No. 2
 Martin Truex Jr. 6 4,042
No. 3
 Denny Hamlin 5 4,037
No. 4 Joey Logano 2 4,030
No. 5 Kevin Harvick 3 4,028
No. 6 Chase Elliott 3 4,024
No. 7 Kyle Larson 1 4,011
No. 8 Ryan Blaney 1 4,009
No. 9 Brad Keselowski 3 2,229
No. 10 William Byron 0 2,181
No. 11 Clint Bowyer 0 2,181
No. 12 Alex Bowman 1 2,165
No. 13 Aric Almirola 0 2,148
No. 14 Kurt Busch 1 2,130
No. 15 Ryan Newman 0 2,121
No. 16 Erik Jones 1 2,072
No. 17 Jimmie Johnson 0 772
No. 18 Daniel Suarez 0 757
No. 19 Paul Menard 0 699
No. 20 Chris Buescher 0 644
No. 21 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 0 620
No. 22 Matt DiBenedetto 0 614
No. 23 Austin Dillon 0 613
No. 24 Ty Dillon 0 551
No. 25 Ryan Preece 0 449
No. 26 Daniel Hemric 0 447
No. 27 Michael McDowell 0 441
No. 28 Bubba Wallace 0 435
No. 29 Corey LaJoie 0 373
No. 30 Matt Tifft 0 352
No. 31 David Ragan 0 349
No. 32 Reed Sorenson 0 112
No. 33 Quin Houff 0 73
No. 34 Jamie McMurray 0 19
No. 35 Austin Theriault 0 17
No. 36 Andy Seuss 0 9
No. 37 Stanton Barrett 0 2
No. 38 Casey Mears 0 1

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