The race for the Cup regular season championship and the race for the final playoff berth tightened this past weekend at Pocono Raceway.
Chase Elliott took the points lead from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson at Pocono. Elliott leads Larson by three points.
But it’s not just Elliott and Larson racing for the regular season title. Tyler Reddick is third in the standings, 15 points behind Elliott. Denny Hamlin is fourth in the standings, 20 points behind Elliott.
Cup points standings after Pocono
The regular season champion receives 15 playoff points. The regular series runner-up receives 10 playoff points. It then goes from eight playoff points for third in the standings to one point for 10th.
Five races remain in the regular season, including Sunday’s race on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC).
The 15 playoff points for winning the regular season are important for any driver but especially Elliott and Reddick. Elliott has scored only six playoff points this season, winning one race and one stage. Six drivers have scored more playoff points than Elliott so far this season.
Reddick has only eight playoff points, scoring a win and three stage victories.
Christopher Bell has scored a series-high 24 playoff points. Larson is next with 23 playoff points. Hamlin has 20 playoff points.
Playoff points could have more meaning this season with the makeup of tracks in the early rounds of the playoffs.
The first round features a drafting track (Atlanta on Sept. 8), a road course (Watkins Glen on Sept. 15) and a short track (Bristol on Sept. 21) as the cutoff race. The potential for chaos is high.
The second round won’t be any easier. After racing at a 1.5-mile speedway (Kansas on Sept. 29), the series goes to Talladega on Oct. 6 and has its cutoff race Oct. 13 at the Charlotte Roval.
While the race at the top intensifies, it also is building for the final playoff spot.
Ross Chastain’s crash at Pocono led to a 36th-place finish and dropped him to the final playoff spot. He has a 27-point lead on Bubba Wallace, the first driver outside a playoff position.
The remaining races in the regular season are:
July 21 — Indianapolis (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC)
Aug. 11 — Richmond (6 p.m. ET on USA)
Aug. 18 — Michigan (2:30 p.m. ET on USA)
Aug. 24 — Daytona (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC)
Sept. 1 — Darlington (6 p.m. ET on USA)