Following Ryan Preece’s dramatic, walk-off-like overtime win on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Daytona, the field is officially set for NASCAR’s postseason.
This year, the format is a bit different. After 12 years of the win-and-in, elimination-style playoffs, the Chase has returned. This postseason system is designed to award consistency and drivers who have achieved success over the stretch of a long season — that began all the way back in February at the Daytona 500 — rather than drivers who simply won one race amid an otherwise mediocre season.
“It’s extremely important to keep rolling the things that your team does well from the season into the Chase. With the old playoffs, it was like three races at a time and then you start over again. There will
be no starting over in the Chase," Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, recently told USA TODAY Sports. "I think your mindset, your approach, is going to be different. There's going to be mistakes made along the way, but don't let those mistakes tear down your entire Chase.”
The top 16 drivers in the point standings make the Chase, a 10-race postseason that begins on Sunday, Sept. 6 in Darlington, South Carolina, at one of NASCAR’s crown jewel competitions, the Southern 500.
Entering this past weekend’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, just three open spots remained. Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric clinched the 14th and 15th spots with strong points days, and Preece — who entered the race outside the cutline — leapfrogged Shane van Gisbergen for the 16th and final spot with the improbable victory, the first of his Cup Series career.
"We put ourselves in position to win the race, and we did," Preece said. "It just comes down to — it's no different than my career a lot of times where one door shuts and we break down the next door, even if it’s locked. I’m going to kick through it. I had a fast race car to do that."
Denny Hamlin, the oldest active full-time driver in the Cup Series at 45, is still chasing his first championship and is seen as the favorite to win it all. The veteran driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing has won four races this season and has 14 top-five finishes. He wrapped up the regular season. With a seventh-place finish at New Hampshire on Aug. 23, Hamlin secured the regular-season championship and the top seed in the Chase.
"This is the time though that you’ve got to step up and find the next level and next gear. So, it’s on us to go out there and perform," Hamlin said after the Daytona race. "We’ve got a great final 10 weeks ahead of us. This is the grind of the season, but you’ve gotta go give a little more now.”
Here’s everything you need to know about NASCAR’s postseason:
Which drivers are in the Chase?
In order, the top 16 drivers in the postseason are:
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12 — Ford, Team Penske
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 — Toyota, 23XI Racing
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19 — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
- Joey Logano, No. 22 — Ford, Team Penske
- Christopher Buescher, No. 17 — Ford, RFK Racing
- Daniel Suarez, No. 7 — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77 — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports
- William Byron, No. 24 — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23 — Toyota, 23XI Racing
- Austin Cindric, No. 2 — Ford, Team Penske
- Ryan Preece, No. 60 — Ford, RFK Racing
The Chase features six Toyotas, five Fords and five Chevrolets. All four drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing made the postseason field, as did all three drivers for Team Penske.
Trackhouse Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Kaulig Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Legacy Motor Club are the multi-car teams that failed to put a car in the Chase.
Are points reset?
Yes, drivers will have advantages based on how they fared in the first 26 races of the season.
Points will be reset this way, with Hamlin, the regular-season leader getting a 25-point cushion over second place.
- 1st: 2,100
- 2nd: 2,075
- 3rd: 2,065
Then decreasing by five-point increments each spot through 16th, where Preece sits with 2,000 points.
What is the NASCAR Chase schedule?
- Sept. 6 — Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway
- Sept. 13 — Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois
- Sept. 19 — Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway
- Sept. 27 — Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway
- Oct. 4 — South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Oct. 11 — Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Oct. 18 — Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway
- Oct. 25 — YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
- Nov. 1 — Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway
- Nov. 8 — Cup Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway
The Chase features three short tracks, one superspeedway and zero road courses. Next year, the road course at Watkins Glen will be part of the Chase.
How to watch the NASCAR Chase
The first seven races of the Chase will air live on USA Network, while NBC will carry coverage of the final three races at Talladega, Martinsville and Homestead.
Subscribers to YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV can watch through those services as well, while HBO Max will carry live streams of in-car cameras for drivers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is in the Chase? NASCAR’s postseason field from Denny Hamlin to Ryan Preece
