Ten races remain in the Cup Series regular season after Shane van Gisbergen's Mexico City win. This is precious little time for the playoff-hopeful drivers to battle for the six remaining spots.
Van Gisbergen was the 10th driver to win a race this Cup Series season. He joined Denny Hamlin (three wins), Christopher Bell (three wins), Kyle Larson (three wins), William Byron (one win), Ryan Blaney (one win), Josh Berry (one win), Joey Logano (one win), Austin Cindric (one win), and Ross Chastain (one win) in the playoffs.
The big difference, however, is that van Gisbergen entered the Mexico City weekend outside the top 30 in points. His win moved the cutline and changed the drivers battling on the bubble. For example, Ryan Preece entered Mexico City on the cutline. He then won a stage and finished 15th. However, he fell to 19 points below the cutline.
Preece's RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher holds the final playoff spot despite being 13th in points. He is immediately behind Alex Bowman (+22), Chase Briscoe (+39), and Bubba Wallace (+57).
Shane van Gisbergen entered Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race ranked 33rd in the standings.
He's leaving Mexico with a playoff spot. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/mUAyH3H2jJ
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 16, 2025
The other drivers in fairly close proximity to the cutline and playoff spots are Michael McDowell (-43), AJ Allmendinger (-45), and Kyle Busch (-50). They are all behind Preece in the battle for the final playoff spots.
Only two drivers are in a comfortable position after the trip to Mexico City. Tyler Reddick is 123 points above the cutline despite only finishing 20th without stage points. Chase Elliott is 146 points above the cutline after a third-place finish. Elliott continues to seek his first win since Texas last season, but he has finished inside the top 20 in every single race this year.
This is the playoff picture heading to Pocono Raceway, but it will inevitably change in the remaining 10 regular-season races. The final stretch leading up to the Round of 16 includes multiple non-traditional events.
Next up is Pocono, a track where fuel strategy is a defining factor in the race's outcome. The Cup teams then head to EchoPark Speedway, a drafting track known for crashes and wild finishes. Will a surprise winner capture this event and a playoff spot? It will be a big opportunity for drivers buried in the points, such as Brad Keselowski and Daniel Suarez.
After that is the Chicago Street Course, which Bowman used to turn his season around last year. This is a race that a playoff driver could win, but someone like McDowell or Allmendinger could also capture the event and further disrupt the playoff picture.
What follows Chicago? The Cup Series drivers head to another road course, Sonoma Raceway. This could be another opportunity for the road course "ringers." The teams then head to a concrete oval (Dover Motor Speedway) and another fuel mileage track (Indianapolis Motor Speedway).
August is the final month of the regular season, and it is by no means a simple stretch. It features a short track (Iowa Speedway), a road course (Watkins Glen International), a short track (Richmond Raceway), and a superspeedway (Daytona International Speedway).
None of these events particularly favor one driver, so the battle for the final playoff spots will only grow more intriguing during this pivotal summer stretch.