NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid After Talladega

Oct 19, 2025; Talladega, Alabama, USA; Miss Alabama Emma Terry at right presents a victory wreath to NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe (19), celebrating his win in victory lane at the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Chase Briscoe came back from a speeding penalty in Stage 1 to win Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. As he drove his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE to victory lane, Briscoe secured his place in the Championship 4.

Race Results: YellaWood 500 at Talladega

This marks the first-ever Championship 4 appearance for the 30-year-old driver, and he joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in being locked into the Championship 4 this year.

While two of the slots in the Championship 4 field have been decided, two are still up for grabs, and with Martinsville Speedway serving as the venue for the final race of the Round of 8, you never know what you will see at the 0.526-mile short track.

We've seen Ross Chastain move to the Championship 4 there with a hail melon in 2022, and we saw all sorts of shenanigans in the closing laps result in William Byron advancing over Christopher Bell a season ago. With Bell and Kyle Larson separated by just a point for the final two spots inside the top-four of the Playoff standings, a driver below the cutline could really make things stressful for them both next weekend.

All four drivers below the cutline (William Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott) essentially find themselves in a must-win situation next weekend.

Here are the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings after the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the 34th race of the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series season, and the second race of the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.

Rank	Car	Driver	Points	Cutline
1	19	Chase Briscoe	4116	ADV
2	11	Denny Hamlin	4103	ADV
3	20	Christopher Bell	4107	+37
4	5	Kyle Larson	4106	+36
		CUTLINE
5	24	William Byron	4070	-36
6	22	Joey Logano	4068	-38
7	12	Ryan Blaney	4059	-47
8	9	Chase Elliott	4044	-62
		ELIMINATED
9	45	Tyler Reddick	2270	--
10	23	Bubba Wallace	2236	--
11	1	Ross Chastain	2210	--
12	88	Shane van Gisbergen	2172	--
13	48	Alex Bowman	2152	--
14	2	Austin Cindric	2123	--
15	3	Austin Dillon	2114	--
16	21	Josh Berry	2093	--