Twelve drivers have won Cup Series races this season. Only four spots remain in the 16-driver playoff field. Here is the updated picture heading to the streets of Chicago.
The drivers currently in the playoffs with a win are William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Shane van Gisbergen, Chase Elliott, and Ross Chastain.
The four drivers above the playoff cutline with eight races remaining in the regular season are Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, and Bubba Wallace. The four drivers immediately below the cutline are Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, AJ Allmendinger, and Carson Hocevar.
As the updated playoff picture shows, only Reddick can feel remotely comfortable after Elliott won at EchoPark Speedway. He sits 128 points above the cutline after finishing fourth and winning a stage. Yet, he's not fully comfortable.
"I got shuffled too far back to fight truly for the win there, so just disappointing for sure, but it was nice to get a playoff point and score some points at a superspeedway," Reddick said after Saturday's race.
"Just more and more new winners, so we have to find a way to victory lane."
Chase Elliott gets his first win of the season and advances to the playoffs 🏁🔥
What a race in Atlanta 👏 pic.twitter.com/l8syCsiwBC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 29, 2025
Buescher is 52 points above the cutline, but as he learned last season, points are not enough in the Gen 7 era. Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe winning from the below the cutline in the final two weeks of the regular season knocked him out of the playoffs.
Another driver who fell victim to new winners last season was Wallace, and he finds himself in a similar situation once again.
Wallace started the season with several points-heavy performances, which put him inside the top 10 in the Cup Series standings. Since Talladega, however, Wallace has dealt with significant struggles.
He four finishes of 33rd or worse in the last eight races. He crossed the line 22nd last weekend at EchoPark Speedway, but he was two laps down after multiple on-track incidents. The 23XI Racing driver is now the last one above the cutline with only a 23-point advantage over Preece.
Of course, the playoff picture will only continue to change as the regular season continues, especially with Chicago next on the schedule. This is a race that a previous winner could use to boost their playoff points, or it could be one that features a brand-new winner.
Bowman, who sits 39 points above the cutline, used this event as his playoff ticket last season. He will aim to do so once again to avoid a late elimination from the 16-driver field.