The second round of the Cup playoffs will end next weekend at the Charlotte Roval Stadium.
Four drivers will be eliminated. Below the mark are Joey Logano (-13 points), Daniel Suarez (-20), Austin Cindric (-29) and Chase Briscoe (-32).
Here's some good news and bad news for the Cup teams heading to Charlotte (2 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC).
23XI Races — Good news: Tyler Reddick is averaging 7.0 in four Cup starts at the Roval. … Bubba Wallace has finished in the top 10 in seven of the last 13 races. Bad news: Reddick has finished 20th or better in each of the last four races. … Reddick scored the fewest points (103) of any other postseason playoff driver.
Motorsport front row – good news: Michael McDowell has finished the season in the top 10 in each of the last three road course events, the longest streak among his active competitors. Bad news: McDowell's average score in six races at the Roval is 22.8. …Todd Gilliland has finished 23rd or better in six of the last eight races.
Hendrick Motorsports – Good news: William Byron is the only driver to have secured a spot in the next round ahead of Sunday's qualifying race at the Charlotte Roval. … Chase Elliott has two Roval wins. He is the only driver to have multiple victories in this event. … Alex Bowman scored 13 more points than any other driver in the playoffs. Bowman scored 189 points in the playoffs. … Bowman's 58 stage points in the playoffs are the most of any driver… Bowman is averaging 6.4 in five Roval starts. …Kyle Larson only needs 16 points at the Roval to secure a spot in the next round. …The organization has won four of the last six road course races. … Bad news: Although Elliott has seven road course victories, which ranks him third all-time, he has not recorded a victory in his last 18 road course starts.
The crash at Talladega changed the fortunes of some drivers in the playoffs ahead of the Charlotte Roval
Chase Elliott finished 29th at Talladega and is in the final transfer spot heading into Sunday's qualifying race at Roval on NBC.
Joe Gibbs Racing – good news: Christopher Bell only needs 11 points in the race to secure his place in the next round. … Bell has finished seventh or better in six of the last seven races this year. … Ty Gibbs has four top-5s in his last six road course starts, including a fourth-place finish at the Roval last year. …Martin Truex Jr. he has five road track wins and ranks second among active drivers. Bad news: Truex has finished 20th or worse in 10 of the last 13 races this season. … Denny Hamlin has a top 10 of 16 road course races in the next-gen car.
Christopher Bell maintains his top spot in the NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings
William Byron and Denny Hamlin are the biggest movers in the rankings this week.
JTG Daugherty Racing – Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won at Talladega, giving him back-to-back wins for the first time in his Cup career. Bad news: Stenhouse has never finished better than 17th in six Cup starts at Roval.
Winners, losers after the NASCAR Cup playoff race at Talladega
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had plenty to celebrate, but he wasn't the only driver who left Talladega in good spirits.
Kaulig Racing – good news: AJ Allmendinger won last year's race at the Roval. … Shane van Gisbergen will be in the No. 13 car at the Roval, joining Daniel Hemric and Allmendinger in the three-car race for Kaulig. Bad news: This season, the organization organized 11 DNFs in 31 races. Last year, the team had eight DNFs in the same period.
Legacy Motor Club – good news: The team announced this week that crew chief Ben Beshore will be moving from John Hunter Nemechek's staff to Erik Jones' staff, replacing Dave Elenz, who is no longer with the organization. Brian Campe, recently hired as the team's new technical director, will serve as Nemechek's interim crew chief. Bad news: Eleven times this season, the top-shelf car in the Legacy MC has finished outside the top 25.
Richard Childress Racing – good news: Kyle Busch has finished in the top five in each of the last three races at the Roval. …Austin Dillon finished 12th or better twice in a row. Bad news: Busch finished 19th or worse four times in a row after a streak of four straight top-10 finishes.
Rick Ware Racing – Good news: Kaz Grala is number 15 in the Roval. … Corey LaJoie has two top-10 finishes in the last six races. Bad news: The organization has never finished in the top 20 in a Roval in Cup competition.
RFK Racing – good news: Chris Buescher won at Watkins Glen in the final road course race. … Brad Keselowski's second-place finish at Talladega was his best finish since finishing second in the Coca-Cola 600 in May. … Keselowski's nine top-five finishes this season are more than he had all of last season. Bad news: Keselowski has finished in the top 10 once in his last 22 road course races. … Keselowski is winless in 47 career starts.
Spire Motorsports – Good news: Justin Haley finished seventh at Talladega in his second start since rejoining the organization. .. In the last road course event, all three Spire cars finished in the top 10 at Watkins Glen. …Carson Hocevar has finished 11th or better in four of the last nine races. Bad news: Hocevar has never competed in a Roval in NASCAR. … Zane Smith finished 30th in his lone Roval Cup start.
Stewart-Haas Racing – Good news: Chase Briscoe has five top-10 starts in the last seven races. … Briscoe has finished eighth or better in three of the last six races. …Ryan Preece has finished 12th or better in four of the last eight races. Bad news: Josh Berry has failed to finish four of his last seven races. … Noah Gragson has missed three of the last seven races due to an accident.
NASCAR clarifies decisions with caution late in the race, which confused some at Talladega
Elton Sawyer of NASCAR said, “We wanted to err on the competitor's side.”
Team Penske – good news: Austin Cindric has eight top-10 finishes in 19 career starts. …Ryan Blaney has four top-10 finishes in six Cup starts at Roval. … Joey Logano had five top-10 finishes in six Roval starts. Bad news: Cindric has finished in the top 10 in his last seven road course starts.
Track racing – good news: Ross Chastain has four top-10 finishes in the last six races. … Chastain has four top-10 finishes in his last five road course starts. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has one top-10 finish in the last 11 road course races. … Suarez finished no better than 13th in the Roval.
Wood Brothers Racing – good news: Harrison Burton's best result on a road course is third place at Indy in 2022. Bad news: Burton has one top-10 start in 16 on the road track.
