NASCAR playoff standings: How Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and other drivers can reach playoffs

On Saturday, 37 drivers will race at the Daytona International Speedway in the final regular season NASCAR Cup Series race. There are already 14 drivers that have punched their ticket to the playoffs. That leaves plenty still on the outside looking in.

Chief among those are Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., the two drivers with the most points and no Cup Series wins this season.

The playoff field each year is comprised of drivers that have won Cup Series races or those without wins that have the most points to fill out the field to 16 drivers. There have been 15 different drivers win Cup Series races, but because of his concussion-like symptoms, Kurt Busch will not be among the drivers in the playoffs.

Here's a look at how the current playoff field is set up and who can still reach the playoffs in 2022.

Who can reach the playoffs?

Of the drivers on the bubble, it is easiest to envision Blaney and Truex reaching the playoffs and rounding out the field.

That's largely because if any of the 14 drivers that have already won a race win again, there are no other drivers that could pass Blaney or Truex based on points. If Blaney or Truex win, the winner gets the automatic pass and the other advances into the field based on points.

That means the only way a driver can pass Blaney and Truex into the playoffs is if someone without a win and inside the top 30 in points with 26 attempted starts during the season can reach the playoffs. Here's a look at the full list of drivers that are still eligible to reach the playoffs:

Based on implied probabilities derived from odds at Sports Interaction, there is only a 28.6 percent chance someone from that list — not named Blaney or Truex — wins at Daytona.

Blaney, who won the race last year, has the best odds among the field to win at +1200 and Truex has the third-best odds in the group at +2000. Based on those odds, there is an 8.9 percent chance one of those two win. Bubba Wallace has the second-best odds to win at Daytona and punch his ticket to the postseason with odds of +1300.

If anyone from that list not named Blaney or Truex wins the race, it starts to get a bit more interesting. That would mean an automatic entrant for the winning driver, and that one of Blaney or Truex would advance based on points.

The road then gets especially difficult for Truex. He trails Blaney by 25 points. If neither driver wins a stage during the race, Truex could finish no lower than 10th and advance past Blaney. The best finish Blaney could have and still miss the playoffs would be 27th, if Truex places second. In all other scenarios, Blaney finishes ahead in the points standings.

There is also the possibility that Blaney and Truex could finish tied in total points. The first tiebreaker is the best finish of the year. Currently, Blaney holds the advantage with a third-place finish in Nashville. Truex could pass him by finishing second, but if he finishes third and they remain tied in points, Blaney would take the tiebreaker for finishing fourth four times this season, while Truex did it only twice.

Who's in the playoffs?

So far, there are 14 drivers that are guaranteed to be racing in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs when it begins.

When drivers reach the playoffs, their point totals will reset to 2,000 total, but there are bonus points that will be distributed to each driver. Each win during the regular season is worth five playoff points and stage wins are worth one. Then, drivers can also earn points based on where they finish in the regular-season standings:

*Chase Elliott has already clinched the regular-season championship

As the playoffs continue, drivers will continue to earn playoff points until reaching the Phoenix Raceway for the Championship 4, where the driver with the best finish in the race will win the title.

Here's a look at the drivers that have already punched their tickets to the playoffs, along with their current projected playoff points. Blaney currently has 2,013 projected playoff points and Martin Truex Jr. has 2,012.