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11 races have been completed in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Chase Elliott was the ninth different driver to secure his spot in the postseason.
Now that the first victory of the season is out of the way for the second generation superstar, he can focus on winning stages and getting the best position possible for the playoffs.
The teams will leave Dover Motor Speedway and begin their preparations for the Goodyear 500 this upcoming Sunday. Seven spots remain for the championship this fall.
Many teams are on the hunt to make sure they don't have to worry about getting into a must-win scenario in the last regular-season race down in Daytona this upcoming August.
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It will be interesting to see who desires the spot the most. Postseason births mean a lot to the driver, the teams, and the owners in terms of which direction they are heading into next season.
Some would say that jobs are on the line and maybe some open driver slots will be available due to how the current drivers perform.
The NASCAR playoff standings after 11 races this season are below (The top sixteen earn positions in the postseason):
- William Byron
- Chase Elliott
- Ross Chasitain
- Ryan Blaney
- Alex Bowman
- Kyle Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Chase Briscoe
- Denny Hamlin
- Martin Truex JR.
- Austin Cindric
- Joey Logano
- Aric Almirola
- Austin Dillon
- Kevin Harvick
- Christopher Bell
- Tyler Reddick
- Erik Jones
- Kurt Busch
- Daniel Suarez
- Chris Buescher
- Bubba Wallace
- Justin Haley
- Michael McDowell
- Ty Dillon
- Cole Custer
- Todd Gilliland
- Corey Lajoie
- Brad Keslowski
- Harrison Burton
NASCAR playoff landscsape
It's never too early to try to pick championship favorites, even in the month of May. The past few weeks have shown us some great racing from Ross Chastain. With two wins this season and a top-five finish, there are no signs of a slump.
Another driver with two wins is William Byron, who is looking like the top driver on Hendrick Motorsports this season. Now give it time because veterans like Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch will be in the mix to make their championship pushes as well.
