NASCAR: Full Driver Playoff Standings After Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway
A look at the current playoff standings after Martin Truex Jr's win at Sonoma.
Ten different drivers have won the 16 races this season, with four of them winning multiple times. Martin Truex Jr is the latest to add his name to that list after his dominant victory today at Sonoma. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 51 of the 110 laps and cruised to a three-second win over runner-up Kyle Busch. It is the second win of the season for Truex, who moved from fifth to fourth in the playoff standings.
William Byron continues to lead the way by virtue of his three wins with Busch right behind him with his three. Byron's teammate Kyle Larson remains third in the standings after today's top-ten result. Ross Chastain moved ahead of Kevin Harvick by one point while Chris Buescher swapped places with his teammate and owner, Brad Keselowski. Alex Bowman was able to slide into the final playoff position (16th) taking it away from Daniel Suarez. That puts three of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the playoffs, with one glaring omission.
Chase Elliott returned to the seat of his No. 9 Chevrolet today after serving a one-race suspension last weekend at Gateway. Elliott has ten races remaining in the regular season to notch a win, which is what it will take for the 2020 Cup champion to make the postseason. It will be one of the biggest storylines to follow over the next couple of months.
Hamlin was not able to finish the race at Charlotte two weeks ago, when he was taken out by Elliott. He had another DNF today when he took himself out by smacking the concrete wall with 19 laps remaining. It was a brutal blow for the pole sitter, but Hamlin remains in 7th place in the playoff standings with his lone victory.
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings | |||
Pos | Driver | Team | Race Wins |
1 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | 3 |
2 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | 3 |
3 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | 2 |
4 | Martin Truex Jr | Joe Gibbs Racing | 2 |
5 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | 1 |
6 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | 1 |
7 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | 1 |
8 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | 1 |
9 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | 1 |
10 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | JTG Daugherty Racing | 1 |
11 | Ross Chastain | TrackHouse Racing | 0 |
12 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart Haas Racing | 0 |
13 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | 0 |
14 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | 0 |
15 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | 0 |
16 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | 0 |