Michael McDowell and Bubba Wallace have provisional playoff spots heading into Sunday’s Cup race at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
McDowell kept his spot by scoring one point in the first stage and finishing the race a career-best 13th at New Hampshire.
Wallace entered the rain-postponed New Hampshire race three points below the cutline. He finished eighth at the 1.058-mile track and moved to 15th in the standings. He is two points above the cutline.
Daniel Suarez trails McDowell by one point with six races remaining in the regular season. AJ Allmendinger is 20 points back, and Ty Gibbs is 41 points back.
Suarez was above the cutline after finishing second at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He scored points in the first stage at New Hampshire but finished 16th after a day in which right rear issues plagued his crew on pit stops.
Gibbs was en route to a top-20 finish at New Hampshire, but he fell off the pace as he ran up against the wall exiting Turn 4 with two laps remaining. He fell to 27th before crossing the start-finish line for the final time.
Alex Bowman moved up two spots to 20th in the season standings. He scored points in stage 2 and finished 14th at New Hampshire, his first top 15 since Sonoma.
Six races remain in the regular season for the Cup Series. Eleven drivers have won this season. They are marked by the yellow box in the below graphic. That leaves five playoff spots via points at this time.
