Updated 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Standings Following Chase Elliott’s Victory at Dover

OK, we’re done worrying about Chase Elliott, not that there was really a reason to be concerned in the first place. Winning at Dover all but clinched it, but he was going back to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs regardless.

As we scour the list of the other 15 drivers who advanced to the 2021 playoffs, however, it’s time for at least three drivers to either start maximizing their points or win a race.

Chase Elliott is pulling away ahead of the return to Darlington

Chase Elliott experienced difficulty closing the deal since mid-2021, but the man still possessed a knack for being in the picture near the end of NASCAR Cup Series races. This week, the series returns to Darlington, the site of Elliott’s last DNF. Elliott and Christopher Bell tangled in Turn 1 of the Cook Out Southern 500, and the then-defending Cup Series champ went to the garage 40 laps early.

Since then, Elliott has finished in the top 10 in 13 of 20 races. It’s that sort of consistency that allowed him to take the lead in points five races into the current season. He has pulled away since, with the victory at Dover putting him 50 points up on Ryan Blaney and 65 ahead of William Byron and Kyle Busch.

The picture figures to get even brighter for Elliott, too. Half of his 14 career victories have come on road courses, and the meat of NASCAR’s non-ovals schedule is still to come, beginning at Sonoma in mid-June.

Eleven of the top 12 drivers on the latest points list were playoff qualifiers a season ago. The newcomer crashing the party is Ross Chastain, whose two victories already guarantee him a spot in the 2022 postseason.

After 12^th-place Kevin Harvick, eight of the next 10 drivers on the list didn’t make the 2021 playoffs, setting us up for an action-packed remainder of the regular season.

It’s getting late for Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch, and Michael McDowell

Chase Elliott’s victory at Dover made him the ninth driver to win through 11 races. Six of the nine made last season’s playoffs, and you have to figure Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., and Joey Logano are strong candidates to join the list in the remaining 15 regular-season races. Christopher Bell, who has been coming on strong since early frustrations, probably also belongs on the list.

Other drivers who entered the final 10 races last season with a shot at the title should be more than just mildly concerned as we creep up on the midpoint of the schedule. Chief among them, obviously, is Brad Keselowski, whose 100-point penalty is costing him 14 spots in the standings. Denny Hamlin is way back in points, too, but he won at Richmond.

Tyler Reddick is currently 16^th in points, which isn’t a safe status since two drivers behind him (Austin Cindric and Hamlin) have been to Victory Lane. It gets worse for others: Kurt Busch is four places and 20 points behind Reddick, and Michael McDowell is eight places and 48 points back.

Reddick and Busch own four top-10 finishes apiece. McDowell has scored two of his three top-10 results in the past three weeks and has some momentum. Assuming he doesn’t win somewhere, though, he’ll need to pass at least 10 drivers in points to feel comfortable.

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