NASCAR playoff standings 2019: Updated points for Cup chase after the Federated Auto Parts 400

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Martin Truex Jr. has never earned back-to-back wins in his career, but on Saturday, the veteran driver came away with the checkered flag for the second consecutive NASCAR Playoff race.

He edged out Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones at the Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.

"I don't even know what to say, I really don't," Truex told the NBC broadcast after the race. "I'm speechless.

"We kept plugging away at it, kept plugging away at it, as we always do. We just keep digging and we never quit. Next thing you know I’m catching (Kyle Busch) for the lead. I’m like, ‘Cool, here we go.' The sweep at Richmond, finally, is awesome."

Truex, who led for 109 laps, had to rebound from a spin with 85 laps left in the race.

He spun out after contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while leading and then restarted in third place. Truex eventually passed Kyle Busch, who led for 202 laps, with 26 to go.

The top 10 was rounded out by Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez.

Jones, however, failed the postrace inspection, his crew chief, Chris Gayle, told SiriusXM Radio.

Both Busch and Harvick were able to clinch spots in the second round on points.

NASCAR playoff points standings 2019

Rank Driver Wins Points
No. 1 Martin Truex Jr. 6 2,141
No. 2
Kevin Harvick  3 2,120
No. 3
Kyle Busch 4 2,117
No. 4 Brad Keselowski 3 2,106
No. 5 Denny Hamlin  4 2,105
No. 6 Joey Logano 2 2,101
No. 7 Chase Elliott 2 2,088
No. 8 Kyle Larson 0 2,076
No. 9 Ryan Newman 0 2,065
No. 10 Ryan Blaney 0 2,059
No. 11 Aric Almirola  0 2,054
No. 12 William Byron 1 2,053
No. 13 Alex Bowman 0 2,051
No. 14 Clint Bowyer  0 2,049
No. 15 Kurt Busch 1 2,039
No. 16 Erik Jones 1 2,008
No. 17 Daniel Suarez 0 700
No. 18 Jimmie Johnson 0 666
No. 19 Paul Menard 0 608
No. 20 Chris Buescher 0 579
No. 21 Matt DiBenedetto 0 529
No. 22 Austin Dillon 0 525
No. 23 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  0 522
No. 24 Ty Dillon 0 473
No. 25 Daniel Hemric 0 405
No. 26 Bubba Wallace 0 390
No. 27 Ryan Preece 0 371
No. 28 Michael McDowell 0 353
No. 29 David Ragan 0 318
No. 30 Corey LaJoie 0 314
No. 31 Matt Tifft 0 292
No. 32 Reed Sorenson 0 91
No. 33 Quin Houff 0 72
No. 34 Jamie McMurray 0 19
No. 35 Austin Theriault 0 15
No. 36 Andy Seuss 0 9
No. 37 Stanton Barrett 0 2
No. 38 Casey Mears 0 1

How the NASCAR playoffs work:

At all three NASCAR national series, there are a number of eliminations that will take place as the playoffs progress. This will leave a crop of drivers for the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where they will race “straight-up” for the title as the first of the four championship-eligible drivers to cross the finish line is crowned the champion.

Round-by-round

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
– 16 drivers, four rounds
– Playoffs begin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
– Cutoff races: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Kansas Speedway, ISM Raceway at Phoenix

How drivers earn points:

– Win Stage 1 or Stage 2 in a race: 1 playoff point (point awarded per stage win)
– Win a race: 5 playoff points
– Win the regular-season championship: 15 playoff points

Second place in the final regular-season standings earns 10 playoff points, third place receives eight points, and the points awarded decline to one point for 10th (4th = 7 points, 5th = 6 points, etc.).

Championship-contending drivers can accumulate additional playoff points throughout the playoffs via stage and race wins and may use all the playoff points they earn, from both the regular season and the playoffs, to advance all the way up to the Championship 4.

Playoff points are added to a championship-contending driver’s reset points total at the start of every round of the Playoffs until they are eliminated from championship contention.

If a driver accumulates playoff points during the regular season but does not qualify for the playoffs, their playoff points are eliminated from the scoreboard.

At Homestead-Miami, playoff points are off the table and the Championship four drivers enter the “winner-take-all” race tied in the standings. 

Cup playoff information provided by NASCAR .

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