Key questions for NASCAR Cup playoff drivers

A look at the 16 Cup playoff drivers, key facts and a key question for each as NASCAR’s postseason begins this weekend at Darlington Raceway.

USA Network’s coverage of the Southern 500 will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday. The race is scheduled to begin shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

1. Kyle Larson

Points: 2032 (25 points above cutline)

Wins: 3 (Homestead, Bristol, Kansas)

Key number: 25 — Percentage of playoff races (10 of 40) Larson has won since 2021.

What to know: Larson has led 873 of the last 1,000 laps at Bristol, winning the last two races there, including earlier this season. Bristol is the cutoff race in the opening round. … Of the 885 laps Larson has led this year, 78.6% (696) were at tracks that also will host a playoff race. … Larson has made it to the Round of 8 in three of the last four years.

Key question: Can he lead Hendrick Motorsports to its first Cup championship since his 2021 title?

2. William Byron

Points 2032 (25 points above cutline)

Wins: 2 (Daytona 500, Iowa)

Key number: 11 — Number of top-five finishes, including one win, in the last 20 playoff races (2023 and ’24)

What to know: Byron seeks to reach the Championship 4 for a third consecutive season. … He led a season-high 915 laps. … He won the pole, won the first two stages, led the first 243 laps and finished second at Darlington in the spring. The playoffs open this weekend at Darlington. … He led the points after 21 of 26 races in the regular season.

Key question: Since 2020, the champion has had at least two playoff wins. Byron has one career playoff victory. Is this the year Byron can score multiple wins on the way to a title?

3. Denny Hamlin

Points: 2029 (22 points above cutline)

Wins: 4 (Martinsville, Darlington, Michigan, Dover)

Key number: 44 — Hamlin’s age (he turns 45 about two weeks after the season). The oldest Cup champion is Bobby Allison at 45 years, 11 months, 17 days in 1983. Hamlin would be a year younger than Allison if he won the title this year.

What to know: Time is running out for Hamlin to be a Cup champion. He signed a two-year contract extension for after this season and that likely will be it for his Cup driving career. However, Hamlin often thrives in chaos. What could be more chaotic than the ongoing lawsuit Hamlin’s 23XI Racing, along with Front Row Motorsports, has against NASCAR? The trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 1. Could Hamlin be in the courtroom as the current champion? … Two of his four wins came at playoff tracks (Darlington and Martinsville). … Hamlin has made it to the Round of 8 six consecutive seasons.

Key question: Same as in past years. Is this the year he wins a Cup championship?

4. Ryan Blaney

Points: 2026 (19 points above cutline)

Wins: 2 (Nashville, Daytona II)

Key number: 3 — Consecutive seasons a Team Penske driver has won the championship. Blaney won in 2023 and Joey Logano won in 2022 and 2024.

What to know: Blaney seeks to make the championship race a third year in a row. … He finished second in points in the regular season (before the reseeding) despite failing to finish seven of the 26 races. … Blaney enters the playoffs with six consecutive top-10 finishes, the longest active streak. … Blaney has scored points in nine consecutive stages. … Blaney finished fifth at both Darlington and Bristol earlier this season. Both are in the first round. … Blaney had 10 top-five finishes in the 19 regular season races he finished (52.6%).

Key question: Can Blaney avoid the DNFs that plagued his regular season?

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5. Christopher Bell

Points: 2023 (16 points above cutline)

Wins: 3 (Atlanta I, COTA, Phoenix)

Key number: 0 — Cup championships won by Joe Gibbs Racing since Phoenix began hosting the title race in 2020.

What to know: Bell won at Phoenix earlier this season — the second consecutive season he’s won the track’s spring event. … Bell is the only driver other than Shane van Gisbergen to win on a road course this season, taking the checkered flag at Circuit of the Americas in March. … Bell has 15 top-five finishes in the last 30 playoff races (2022-24). … Bell narrowly missed making the championship race a third consecutive season last year.

Key question: Will Bell return to victory lane for the first time since March during these playoffs?

6. Shane van Gisbergen

Points: 2022 (15 points above cutline)

Wins: 4 (Mexico City, Chicago Street Race, Sonoma, Watkins Glen)

Key number: 6 — Pit road speeding penalties van Gisbergen has had this season, most among playoff drivers.

What to know: If he makes it into the second round, he’ll be the favorite to win at the Charlotte Roval. A victory there would send him into the third round. … He’s never raced at World Wide Technology Raceway, which is the middle race of the opening round.

Key question: Will his 22 playoff points be enough to help him advance beyond the first round?

7. Chase Elliott

Points: 2013 (6 points above cutline)

Wins: 1 (Atlanta)

Key number: 11.9 — Elliott’s average finish this season, best in the series.

What to know: Elliott has made it to the Round of 8 the last seven times he’s been in the playoffs (he did not make the playoffs in 2023). … This is Elliott’s 10th season paired with crew chief Alan Gustafson, the longest active driver/crew chief pairing in the series.

Key question: With only two wins since 2023, can Elliott score multiple victories in the playoffs to make it to the championship race?

8. Chase Briscoe

Points: 2010 (3 points above cutline)

Wins: 1 (Pocono)

Key number: 10.3 — Briscoe’s average start this season, best in the series.

What to know: He won last year’s Southern 500, which was the final race of the regular season. … Briscoe qualified fourth at Darlington in the spring before finishing 28th. … Briscoe has three runner-up finishes this season (Sonoma, Dover and Iowa). … Had one win, three runner-ups and five top-five finishes in the last 10 races of the regular season. … Briscoe has a series-high six poles this year.

Key question: Can he become only the third driver in the 2000s to win a Cup title in their first year with a team (joining what Kevin Harvick did in 2014 with Stewart-Haas Racing and Kyle Larson did in 2021 with Hendrick Motorsports)?

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9. Bubba Wallace

Points: 2008 (1 point above cutline)

Wins: 1 (Indianapolis)

Key number: 100 — Race winless streak snapped with his Indianapolis victory.

What to know: Has failed to finish seven races this season. … Made the playoffs with rookie Cup crew chief Charles Denike, who came from the Truck Series. … Finished the regular season with four top 10s in the last six races.

Key question: Team has been up and down this season. Can it be more consistent to make a deep playoff run?

10. Austin Cindric

Points Position: 10th

Points: 2008 (1 point above cutline)

Wins: 1 (Talladega)

Key number: 2 — Top-10 finishes in the 16 races since his Talladega victory.

What to know: He is the defending winner at World Wide Technology Raceway, the second race in the opening round. … Darlington is one of three tracks (Kansas and Phoenix are the others) where Cindric has made at least six starts and has yet to score a top-10 finish.

Key question: He’s made it to the Round of 12 the two previous times he’s been in the playoffs. Can he go beyond that?

11. Ross Chastain

Points: 2007 (0 points above cutline)

Wins: 1 (Coca-Cola 600)

Key number: 21.9 — Average starting position this season. Only teammate Shane van Gisbergen has a worst average starting position (22.7) among the playoff drivers.

What to know: Ranks 13th among the 16 playoff drivers in stage points scored this season (78). … Did not finish better than 10th in the final 11 races of the regular season, doing so at the Chicago Street Race and Watkins Glen.

Key question: Can the team find enough speed to make a playoff run?

12. Joey Logano

Points: 2007 (On cutline)

Wins: 1 (Texas)

Key number: 40.5% — Fifteen of Logano’s 37 career Cup wins (40.5%) have come in playoff races.

What to know: Few, if any, thought of Logano as a strong title contender last year after winning only once in the regular season, but he won three times in the playoffs to claim his third Cup title. … Logano’s championship spurred debate about NASCAR’s playoff system and led to NASCAR forming a committee to examine the issue. No announcement has been made if next year’s playoff format will be different. … Logano has never made it to the championship race in an odd-numbered year.

Key question: Can Logano continue his playoff success and score multiple wins this year?

13. Josh Berry

Points: 2006 (1 point below cutline)

Wins: 1 (Las Vegas)

Key number: 2 — Top-10 starts in the last 15 races.

What to know: Making his first Cup playoff appearance. … Has not led a lap in the last 15 races. … He has scored back-to-back top 10s for the first time since March, placing eighth at Richmond and ninth at Daytona in the regular season finale.

Key question: Can the team make it out of the first round?

14. Tyler Reddick

Points: 2006 (1 point below cutline)

Wins: 0

Key number: 99.78 — Percentage of the 6,511 laps in the regular season that Reddick has completed (6,497 laps), best in the series.

What to know: Reddick made the championship race last year after winning the regular season title. … He has made it to at least the Round of 8 each of the past two seasons.

Key question: Only once has Reddick had more than back-to-back top 10s this season. Can this team find the consistency to make a deep playoff run?

15. Austin Dillon

Points: 2005 (2 points below cutline)

Wins: 1 (Richmond)

Key number: 2014 — The last year a Richard Childress Racing driver finished in the top 10 in points (Ryan Newman placed second that season).

What to know: Dillon is the only playoff driver not to have a pit road speeding penalty this season. … This is his first playoff appearance since 2022.

Key question: Can he end RCR’s top-10 drought?

16. Alex Bowman

Points: 2002 (5 points below cutline)