After winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, William Byron locked himself into the Round of 8.
Seven spots remain with only two races left in the Round of 12, with arguably the biggest wildcard in the playoffs approaching this weekend — Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
It’s anyone’s game at the 2.66-mile superspeedway and the points are bound to shakeup with “the big one” always a possibility.
Here is a look at where things stand on the playoff grid after Texas:
Solidly Safe
2. Denny Hamlin (+37)
After winning at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago, Denny Hamlin solidified himself as one of the favorites for the championship.
He continued his hot streak at Texas with a fifth-place finish. It was his third consecutive top-five finish.
Hamlin enters Talladega with a hefty 37-point margin after gaining 16 points at Texas. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two wins at the superspeedway and an average finish of 16.6.
3. Chris Buescher (+22)
Chris Buescher’s breakout season continues. Buescher wheeled his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford to a respectable 14th-place effort at Texas after starting second.
While it wasn’t a top-10 finish, Buescher racked up plenty of stage points throughout the event. He gained 12 points on the cutline to pad his margin to 22 markers.
Buescher finished third at Talladega in April for his best finish at the track.
4. Christopher Bell (+20)
Christopher Bell finished fourth at Texas, though, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver felt vastly different after the 267-lap race, stating the No. 20 Toyota team “had to overcome a slow performance.”
“We got away with one today,” Bell said. “We didn’t have the pace to run fourth for sure. The restarts worked out in our favor, and we were able to sneak by on the bottom and get a good finish out of it.
“This is one of those days that I’m going to be really, really happy on Wednesday or Thursday, but right now, I’m pretty disappointed because the performance wasn’t there. I’ve got to figure out what I was missing in the Interstate Batteries Camry and produce a lap time that the other guys could.”
While Bell felt his car wasn’t up to par with the leaders, his fourth-place finish was a third straight top 10.
Bell gained 15 points at Texas, after kicking off the Round of 12 with a measly five points above the cutline. The 28-year-old has two poles at Talladega, and an eighth-place finish in the spring.
5. Martin Truex Jr. (+19)
After narrowly escaping elimination in the Round of 16, Martin Truex Jr.’s Cup Series Playoff run continued to take a downward spiral at Texas.
Finishing outside the top 15 for the fifth consecutive week, Truex dropped from 25 points above the cutline to 19 points to the good.
While it may not seem like a lot, the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team hasn’t had much positive momentum since the postseason began.
Truex has never won at Talladega.
On The Bubble
6. Ross Chastain (+12)
Ross Chastain’s results have quietly picked up recently. A stout runner-up effort at Texas vaulted Chastain from three points below the cutline to 12 markers above it.
While it’s been a mixed bag of results since the playoffs started at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway with two top-five finishes and two finishes outside the top 10, his solid finishes may be a sign of things to come.
The Trackhouse Racing driver won at Talladega in the spring of 2022 and scored a fourth-place finish last fall.
7. Brad Keselowski (+8)
Nobody’s had a more consistent playoff run so far than Brad Keselowski. The RFK Racing driver is the only playoff driver to score top-10 runs in all four races.
Fresh off a seventh-place finish at Texas, the driver of the No. 6 jumped from three markers below the cutline to eight points ahead.
Tied for the second most wins at the superspeedway (six), the 2012 Cup Series champion may be in line to break a winless streak that dates back to 2021.
8. Kyle Larson (+2)
A crash at the end of the race at Texas broke Kyle Larson’s streak for consecutive top-five finishes in the playoffs, where he had an average finish of 2.3 in the three races prior.
The accident severely hurt Larson’s cushion on the cutline, as he entered Texas 12 points to the good, and exited a mere two markers above.
Now, the 2021 Cup Series champion faces Talladega, a track he’s finished 20th or worse in 10 of his 17 starts.
Outside Looking In
9. Bubba Wallace (-2)
Despite being below the cutline, Bubba Wallace is in a more manageable position than he was before the green flag dropped at Texas. After squeaking his way into the Round of 12, Wallace was 14 points in the hole.
The 23XI Racing driver started on the pole, led a race-high 111 laps and finished third at Texas.
Only two markers behind Larson, Wallace heads to Talladega with a full head of steam, as he’s won at the track previously and consistently contended for victories.
10. Tyler Reddick (-3)
Only two weeks ago, Tyler Reddick had the hot hand with a win at Kansas Speedway to lock into the Round of 12. Now, he sits three markers below the cutline with only two races remaining in the Round of 8.
A dismal 25th-place finish at Texas bumped Reddick to the danger zone aboard the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota.
Reddick owns two top-10 finishes at Talladega, with his last one coming in the spring of 2021.
11. Ryan Blaney (-11)
Ryan Blaney looked to be in for a strong points day at Texas, as he raced inside the top 10 for much of the day. However, a pit-road speeding penalty pinned the No. 12 Team Penske crew toward the rear of the field.
Shortly after, Blaney was involved in a six-car pileup that ended his run in 28th. Blaney dropped five points in the standings to 11 below the cutline.
Blaney has won twice at Talladega and finished second in the last two races there.
12. Kyle Busch (-17)
Kyle Busch’s day at Texas went up in smoke after crashing hard into the outside wall prior to the end of Stage One.
Busch wound up 34th and spiraled down the playoff grid from sixth (+8) to 12th, 17 markers below the cutline.
Busch will need to make up ground if he’s to avoid a must-win situation the following week at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL. For what it’s worth, Busch won at Talladega in April.