A NASCAR Playoff Explainer for Newcomers to the Sport

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Has playing racing games ever made you funny astir real-life motorsports, but you haven’t been definite wherever to start? Well, now’s the clip to leap in, with the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs successful afloat swing. You tin ticker the champion of the champion look disconnected successful their pursuit for glory.

There was a heated pursuit for the last playoff spots this season, with aggregate not being decided until the past races of the regular season. It was a peculiarly beardown twelvemonth for Team 23XI, who saw 2 drivers (Bubba Watson and Tyler Reddick) and squad co-owner Denny Hamlin (the different co-owner is NBA fable Michael Jordan) each among the 16 drivers to qualify.

If nary of that meant thing to you, don’t worry. We’re present to springiness you a clang people connected the playoffs: How drivers qualify, however eliminations work, and however you tin ticker the action. Let’s get into it.

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Explained

A full of 16 drivers suffice for the playoffs, and the easiest portion to recognize is “win and you’re in.” There are 26 races during the regular season, and if a full-time operator wins 1 of them, they suffice for the playoffs. This year, 14 of the 16 playoff drivers qualified by winning astatine slightest 1 race. The last 2 were decided by points, and you tin spot the bracket with each 16 playoff drivers successful the representation below.

Points are awarded aft each contention based connected finishing presumption arsenic good arsenic show successful the archetypal 2 stages of each race. So adjacent if you don’t win, you inactive get rewarded for finishing precocious up the leaderboard. For example, Tyler Reddick qualified for the playoffs contempt not winning immoderate races acknowledgment to 5 Top 5 finishes and 9 Top 10 finishes.

Now, you mightiness beryllium wondering: “There are 26 races and 16 playoff spots, truthful what happens if much than 16 radical triumph a race?” Well, that’s ne'er happened before, but if it did, spots would beryllium chosen based connected who had the astir wins. Ties would beryllium breached by full points.

Once the tract is set, the playoffs statesman and hap crossed 4 rounds. The archetypal 3 rounds dwell of 3 races each, with drivers eliminated betwixt each round. That leads to a last radical of 4 drivers who look disconnected successful a “winner takes all” title race. So that’s 10 playoff races to determine the eventual champion.

The “win and you’re in” doctrine carries implicit to the playoffs, too. If a operator wins 1 of the races during a playoff round, they automatically determination connected to the adjacent round. The Round of 16 is presently happening, and determination person been 2 contention winners: Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. So they’re present guaranteed spots successful the Round of 12. If a antithetic operator wins the last contention of the archetypal round, they’ll beforehand too. The remainder of the spots are determined by points, and this is wherever “playoff points” travel successful and wherever things tin get a small confusing for those who don’t travel the sport.

Drivers physique up playoff points passim the regular play and into the playoffs. Winning a contention nets them 5 playoff points, and winning a signifier wrong a contention nets one. Then they get further playoff points based connected wherever they finished successful the last regular play standings. The wide victor gets 15 playoff points, and everyone other successful the Top 10 besides gets a gradually decreasing fig of playoff points.

When the playoffs begin, each driver’s constituent totals get reset backmost to a basal of 2,000, but past their playoff points get added connected top. So let’s accidental a operator amasses 30 playoff points; that means they’ll commencement the playoffs with 2,030 points. At the extremity of each round, the 4 drivers with the lowest constituent totals who didn’t triumph a contention that circular are eliminated. The points are past reset backmost to 2,000, playoff points re-added, and the process repeats until the last 4 racers are determined.

To sum this up successful layman’s terms: Drivers are rewarded for peculiarly beardown show successful the regular play by getting a limb up successful the playoffs. It creates a benignant of buffer, making it easier for them to beforehand past the archetypal mates rounds of the playoffs. It’s a reward for drivers who excel each play and prevents them from coasting if they triumph an early-season contention and fastener up a playoff spot. But the “win and you’re in” doctrine makes it imaginable for drivers to beforehand adjacent with constituent totals that would usually destruct them. And erstwhile the last title contention arrives, each the points are thrown retired and the champion is decided by which of the last 4 drivers has the champion decorativeness successful that 1 race.

Plus, what makes NASCAR unsocial compared to different sports is that drivers inactive instrumentality portion successful races aft they’re officially eliminated. That includes those who didn’t marque the playoffs, truthful playoff drivers inactive person to contend with a afloat racetrack of competitors going aft each race’s prize money.

How to Watch the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

So present you’re caught up connected however each this works, here’s however you tin ticker the playoff races this year. They’ll beryllium breached down by round, with the sanction of the race, the raceway wherever it’s happening, the day and time, and wherever you tin ticker unrecorded connected TV oregon by streaming: