NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Reseeded driver points revealed after Bristol elimination race

The NASCAR Playoffs have shed four drivers, and the Round of 12 is upon us. Of course, the points reset now for those remaining. Alex Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Dillon, and Josh Berry were the four drivers eliminated after Bristol.

Things look a little different than they did in the first round of the NASCAR Playoffs. Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell picked up wins, giving them five more points to carry over round to round. It was enough to give Hamlin the points lead and the No. 1 spot in the Round of 12.

6th to 12th is a tight points battle already. Could we see drivers like Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace falter in the New Hampshire and Kansas races? Even Chase Briscoe, who you can argue has been the best in these NASCAR Playoffs, is not safe.

This is how the drivers are seeded going into New Hampshire. Everyone starts with 3000 points, and then playoff points for the season are added onto those totals. With all the points added up, Denny Hamlin stands above the crowd for now.

NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 Standings

Rank	Driver	Playoff Points
1	Denny Hamlin	+26
2	William Byron	+24
3	Kyle Larson	+24
4	Christopher Bell	+20
5	Ryan Blaney	+19
6	Chase Briscoe	+10
7	Chase Elliott	+5
8	Bubba Wallace	+1
9	Austin Cindric	-1
10	Joey Logano	-2
11	Ross Chastain	-2
12	Tyler Reddick	-3

So, things are going to ramp up. The Round of 16 has a few drivers who are major underdogs. Dillon, Berry, SVG – they weren’t expected to really make a deep run in the playoffs. Alex Bowman is really the big bust of the first round, only because Hendrick Motorsports expects excellence.

While a few drivers have 20+ point buffers to the cutline, others are not so fortunate. The last five drivers in the standings are within three points of each other, and they are essentially all fighting for one spot.

Of course, we could see top drivers in the NASCAR Playoffs have early DNFs and fall behind quickly. Josh Berry registered three straight last-place finishes. A similar situation could unfold for any of the remaining drivers.

Based on what we saw in the first round, Chase Elliott should be concerned. I think Austin Cindric is performing better than Elliott in many respects. The two are only separated by one point. Then there is Joey Logano. He is sneaking his way forward once again.

Imagine if Logano wins New Hampshire and gets two extra weeks to prep for Las Vegas? He’s won that race two of the last three years and both times he went on to win the championship. Back-to-back top-fives for Logano and the momentum is pointing towards a big weekend at New Hampshire.