The Cup Series regular season is complete, and NASCAR has reset the points for the playoffs. This makes Kyle Larson the top seed heading to Darlington Raceway.
The 2021 Cup Series champion enters the playoffs with a 26-point cushion to the cutline. Regular-season champion William Byron has the same cushion but fewer wins than Larson. He starts the Round of 16 as the second seed.
Denny Hamlin is the third seed as he heads to Darlington 23 points above the cutline. Ryan Blaney is fourth (+20), Christopher Bell is fifth (+17), Shane van Gisbergen is sixth (+16), Chase Elliott is seventh (+7), Chase Briscoe is eighth (+4), Bubba Wallace is ninth (+2), and Austin Cindric is 10th (+2).
Ross Chastain and Joey Logano are currently the first two drivers above the Round of 12 cutline. They each have a one-point cushion.
The four drivers below the cutline entering the Round of 16 are Josh Berry (-1), Tyler Reddick (-1), Austin Dillon (-2), and Alex Bowman (-5).
Larson ended the season third in the regular-season standings after winning three races and nine stages. He also took advantage of a new addition to NASCAR, the Xfinity Fastest Lap.
Before the season, NASCAR and Xfinity announced that the driver who posted the fastest single lap during a race would secure an extra point. Larson did so four times. He won the Xfinity Fastest Lap at Circuit of the Americas, Kansas Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and Mexico City.
How did Larson use the Xfinity Fastest Lap to his benefit? He got back on the track when other drivers would have headed to the hauler.
A crash collected Larson early at Mexico City. Instead of simply calling it a day, the No. 5 team spent extensive time making repairs to the Chevrolet. Larson headed back onto the track 42 laps behind the leaders. He then took advantage of clean air and used it to post the Xfinity Fastest Lap.
The No. 5 team had to contend with more issues during the trip to Watkins Glen International. Larson spun from 24th on Lap 6 of the road course race and immediately told his team that he had no brakes.
The team made the necessary repairs to get Larson back on the track, but he fell 15 laps behind the leaders. He couldn't win the race, but he could go for the Xfinity Fastest Lap.
These four bonus points, courtesy of Xfinity, meant that Larson ended the regular season third in the standings instead of fourth. This small difference meant that he will start the playoffs as the top seed instead of second or third.
In a sport where a single point can help one driver advance to the next round, this could make a major difference for Larson.