NASCAR playoff standings, Cup points updated after Chris Buescher Kansas penalty

A huge penalty hit Chris Buescher and his RFK Racing team earlier today after his No. 17 Ford was taken to the R&D Center. Following the Kansas race, NASCAR found that Buescher’s car had issues. The NASCAR standings have changed majorly.

That inspection, which is essentially a complete teardown of the car at the R&D Center, found a front bumper cover violation. As a result, Chris Buescher was penalized 60 points and a $75,000 fine to the team.

This is going to shake up the NASCAR regular season and playoff standings. A drop of 60 points in a field this tightly contested is a major hit. He has lost the equivalent to a clean sweep of two stages and a race win.

NASCAR playoff standings updated after Chris Buescher penalty

Rank	Driver	Wins	Playoff Points
1	Kyle Larson	3	23
2	Christopher Bell	3	16
3	Denny Hamlin	2	12
4	William Byron	1	8
5	Joey Logano	1	7
6	Austin Cindric	1	7
7	Josh Berry	1	6
8	Chase Elliott	0	+134
9	Ryan Blaney	0	+118
10	Tyler Reddick	0	+113
11	Alex Bowman	0	+81
12	Bubba Wallace	0	+66
13	Ross Chastain	0	+56
14	Chase Briscoe	0	+34
15	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	0	+14
16	Ryan Preece	0	+7
17	Kyle Busch	0	-7
18	John Hunter Nemechek	0	-17
19	Carson Hocevar	0	-21
20	Michael McDowell	0	-23

NASCAR Cup points updated after Kansas penalty report

During the regular season, there is a lot to race for. Wins, points, and most importantly, bonus playoff points. When you become a regular-season champion, it gives you a boost of 15 playoff points, the equivalent of three race wins.

So, here is how the regular season standings sit currently, 1st through 30th. Will we see any other surprise penalties this season that shake the Cup Series garage?

Rank	Driver	Points	Leader
1	Kyle Larson	469	0
2	William Byron	434	-35
3	Christopher Bell	384	-85
4	Chase Elliott	378	-91
5	Ryan Blaney	362	-107
6	Tyler Reddick	357	-112
7	Denny Hamlin	346	-123
8	Alex Bowman	325	-144
9	Joey Logano	318	-151
10	Bubba Wallace	310	-159
11	Ross Chastain	300	-169
12	Chase Briscoe	278	-185
13	Austin Cindric	273	-191
14	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	258	-211
15	Ryan Preece	251	-218
16	Josh Berry	244	-225
17	Kyle Busch	244	-225
18	John Hunter Nemechek	234	-235
19	Carson Hocevar	230	-239
20	Michael McDowell	228	-241
21	Austin Dillon	227	-242
22	Zane Smith	227	-242
23	Todd Gilliland	227	-242
24	Chris Buescher	224	-245
25	AJ Allmendinger	218	-251
26	Ty Gibbs	217	-252
27	Daniel Suárez	209	-260
28	Justin Haley	206	-263
29	Erik Jones	196	-273
30	Ty Dillon	188	-281