I really appreciate drivers saying what is on their mind.

Catching up, here are the last three regular season winners.

From NASCAR on NBC, Chase Briscoe scores 2nd consecutive Southern 500 win, moves to next round of playoffs.

From https://diecastcharv.com/standings/ and https://tobychristie.com/

OK @theguru I haven't watched any of these races and don't understand the playoffs here.  I'm ok with that.  I'd like Kyle Larson to win the Cup.  My question is from here what does he have to do to make that happen?

On 9/3/2025 at 9:22 AM, Purple88 said:

OK @theguru I haven't watched any of these races and don't understand the playoffs here.  I'm ok with that.  I'd like Kyle Larson to win the Cup.  My question is from here what does he have to do to make that happen?

To quote Al Davis, just win baby!

First, here is part of what the Google AI Overview says about it:

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is a 10-race, elimination-style tournament with 16 drivers competing for the championship. After the regular season, the field is cut in a four-round structure: the Round of 16, Round of 12, Round of 8, and the Championship 4. In each of the first three rounds, the four drivers with the lowest points are eliminated. A win in a playoff race guarantees a driver a spot in the next round. After the Round of 8, the four remaining drivers compete in a single championship race, with the highest-finishing driver among them crowned the champion.

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So last week was the first round of the playoffs with 16 drivers competing for the championship.  Briscoe won so he automatically advances to the Round of 12.  Any other of the 15 remaining drivers in the playoffs (everyone races but only the top 16 matter for the first three rounds of the playoffs) automatically advance to the Round of 12 if they win.  After the winners automatically qualify for the next round, then the rest of the drivers with the highest point totals advance.  Right now Larson is looking pretty good to advance to the Round of 12 because he had a strong regular season.  With that said, a DNF and a bad race would probably knock him out.  So in summary, you have to keep winning and if you don't win you have to finish well/win stages for points to advance.  Then in the final race it is cut down to four drivers and the top finisher that day is the overall champ.

Here are the winners from the last few weeks.

Kansas is up next in the Round of 12.  Blaney is automatically in the Round of 8 with the win yesterday.  Ross, Austin, Tyler, and Bubba desperately need a win. 

Here is an update on the winners from the last three races:

And the standings after Hamlin won yesterday to punch his ticket to the Final 4.

Chase Briscoe won today at Dega to punch his ticket to the final 4.  Two races left, Martinsville next week and the championship at Phoenix in two weeks.  Here are the standings.

NASCAR final four is set.  Three Toyotas and a Chevy.  Hamlin, Byron, Bell and Reddick.