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What Happens if There Are More Than 16 Winners at the End of the Season?

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 24: The NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 playoff drivers pose onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on September 24, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Wyatt Bell

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Royal T Grafix

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What’s Happening?

With the current NASCAR playoff format, a win virtually guarantees drivers a spot in the 16-driver playoff field at the end of the 26-race regular season. The key word there is “virtually” because while a win does all but lock drivers into the playoffs, it doesn’t 100 percent lock them in if certain scenarios occur.

  • There are 16 spots available in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, with drivers fighting all year to claim one of the valuable spots.
  • While a win virtually locks drivers into the playoff field, it doesn’t completely guarantee a driver is locked in if certain scenarios present themselves.
  • So, what scenarios cause a win not to lock a driver into the playoff field? Find out below!

How Does the Regular Season Work?

We’ll start with the basics because understanding how the regular season works and how points are awarded plays is key. The Cup Series runs a 36-race schedule, with 26 races coming in the regular season and the final 10 being playoff races. How a driver performs in the regular season plays a big role in their playoff seeding. Performing well can provide a driver with a huge advantage going into the final 10 races, while underperforming and limping into the playoffs can put a driver on the back foot before the green flag drops on the first playoff race.

So that begs the question, how do the regular season points work? Drivers compete for maximum points payouts in each race. A driver can earn 40 points for a win, 35 points for second place, and one fewer point per position below second down to 36th. Drivers also compete for stage points in each race, which can provide valuable “playoff points” that drivers benefit from once the final 10 races begin.

Drivers can earn stage points in stages one and two of each race, earning 10 stage points for a win and one less point per position back to 10th, with the 10th place finisher earning one stage point. The winner of stages one and two is awarded a playoff point. Beyond that, the winner of the race takes home five playoff points, and the regular season champion is awarded a massive 15 playoff points. Points are reset at the beginning of the playoffs, with drivers’ playoff points collected throughout the season being added to their total.

For a more comprehensive breakdown of the NASCAR points system, check out our Points and Playoff System Explained article.

What Happens if there are More Than 16 Winners?

So now you might be asking yourself, there are 16 playoff spots, and a win is supposed to lock you into the playoffs, so what happens if there are more than 16 winners? We’ll get into that and look at some scenarios and how they would play out.

Scenario 1: Less than 16 winners

This is the most basic and least chaotic scenario. It’s pretty simple; if there are fewer than 16 winners, the drivers who have won a race are locked into the playoffs and would be re-seeded at the points reset based on playoff points collected throughout the regular season. Subsequently, the drivers who did not earn a win during the season would fill out the remaining playoff spots based on their point totals from the regular season. For example, if there are 12 winners, the highest point earners would fill the remaining four spots during the season beyond the 12 winners. Simple and clean.

Scenario 2: 16 Winners, 16 Spots

Another relatively simple scenario. There are 16 playoff spots. If there are 16 winners, the playoff field would be reset based on playoff points earned, with tiebreaks for seeding being implemented.


Austin Dillon wins the regular-season finale to become the 16th winner of the 2022 season to lock himself into the playoffs.

Scenario 3: A Winless Regular Season Champion

This is where things start to get wild. A win is supposed to qualify a driver for the playoffs automatically, but being the regular season champion is also worthy of an automatic bid. This would include a winless regular-season champion, as consistency can carry a driver to a regular season championship without winning a single race. In this scenario, if there were 16 winners with the regular season champion not being one of those 16, the winless champion would get the playoff spot over the winning driver with the fewest amount of points collected throughout the season. While this scenario has never happened before, it was very close to becoming a possibility in 2022, a season that saw a NASCAR-record 19 different winners.

Scenario 4: Chaos: 17 Winners

This would be full-blown chaos territory for the current playoff format. This scenario would clearly break the “win and you’re in” narrative. Since the current playoff format was implemented in 2014, a win has guaranteed drivers a spot in the playoffs. This would all go out the window if there was a scenario including 17 regular season winners or more.

Here is how this hypothetical scenario would play out: Every driver with multiple wins would advance. One-win drivers would then be determined based on points earned throughout the season. The one-win driver with the lowest point total would be the odd man out and eliminated from playoff contention. It would be a tough pill for that driver to swallow, but in scenarios such as this one, drastic times call for drastic measures.

Conclusion

Now that we’ve gone through all the scenarios, hopefully, you have a better idea of how things work when it comes to playoff seeding and what would happen in the event that there were more winners than spots available in the playoff field. Now give us your thoughts! What are some crazy scenarios that you can imagine? What is the wildest playoff scenario you can remember from the last few years? Let us know, and follow us on our social channels at The Daily Downforce to stay up-to-date with the latest NASCAR news and information!

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HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 21: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Road Ranger Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at Echo Park Speedway on February 21, 2026 in Hampton, Georgia.

O’Reilly: Sheldon Creed Breaks Through in Thriller at EchoPark Speedway

by Cody Williams

What’s Happening?

It was a busy Saturday at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). First, we had the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Then, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series took center stage and they were two vastly different events. Ultimately, it was Sheldon Creed standing tall in victory lane when all was said and done. Here’s what you need to take away from tonight’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway.

  • There were a lot of drivers who had tire problems which set off massive wrecks and incidents. First, Sam Mayer had a tire go down from the race lead. Sammy Smith got bitten. Austin Green. Corey Day. Taylor Gray. The list goes on and on. Some of them were able to stay in contention while others were plagued for the rest of the race.
  • Speaking for Corey Day, he just had a bad race. First, he sparked an incident which took out several drivers, including the Sieg brothers (who weren’t shy about voicing their displeasure about the rookie) and Harrison Burton. And though the broadcasters on the CW gave him the benefit of the doubt, the later incident was less forgivable. In this incident, while he was battling the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier for the race lead, Day got into the No. 1 Arby’s Chevy, sending all three of them into the wall. This is certainly a performance that he’ll want to forget.
  • Chevrolets swept the stages. Winning the first one was none other than Jesse Love, continuing RCR’s dominance on drafting tracks. Rajah Caruth, who had a handful all race, was able to capture his first career stage win by winning Stage 2.
  • It wasn’t the dominating race for RCR that we all thought it would be. With ill-handling cars, their qualifying attempts were underwhelming, and they got off to a lukewarm start tonight. By the end of it, though, they were in the mix. Slicing and dicing, Austin Hill had the lead as they came around to take the white flag. However, in Turn 1, he got “Chastained.” Ross Chastain plowed into the back of the No. 21, knocking him down to the apron. Hill was able to save it and rally home to a 12th place finish.
  • The big story tonight is that Sheldon Creed, finally, after far too many runner-up finishes to count, broke through to capture his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win. It will certainly be a day he and his team will never forget.

Notable Incidents

Lap 5: Corey Day

Corey Day had a very sloppy, bad race in general, and it started early. First, he caused a wreck that took out Harrison Burton and a couple of others. Then, he took out the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. You can recap that first incident by reading the article below.

Also Read:

O’Reilly: Corey Day Triggers Big Wreck Early at EchoPark Speedway

Lap 142: Sammy Smith

Kvapil and Allgaier weren’t the only JRM cars to have issues tonight. Firstly, Rajah Caruth was out of control throughout the race, fighting a mean-handling car. He was able to brilliantly save it several times, to his credit. But perhaps the biggest incident involving the four JRM Chevys came at Lap 142 when Sammy Smith had a tire go down and spun in front of the pack. This took out several drivers, including Taylor Gray, among others. Read about that here:

Also Read:

O’Reilly: Sammy Smith’s Flat Takes Out Heavy Hitters Late at EchoPark

Results

Results Pending.

Points Standings (2 of 35)

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O’Reilly: Sammy Smith’s Flat Takes Out Heavy Hitters Late at EchoPark

by Cody Williams

What’s Happening?

As Ross Chastain took the lead and the pack was closing in on 20 laps to go, things a little deeper in the pack started to get a little hairy. We had yet another huge crash late in the running here tonight, this one sparked by Sammy Smith’s flat rear tire. Here’s what happened:

  • As the laps were winding down in tonight’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, Sammy Smith, along with his JRM teammates, were in the thick of contention for the win. Unfortunately for him, a poorly-timed flat rear tire ended his (and several others) chance to capitalize and get that first valuable win of the season. Unable to hold onto it, the No. 8 Pilot Chevy spun around in front of a massive horde of cars.
  • Helpless to go anywhere, several heavy hitters were caught up in this incident. They include the likes of William Sawalich, Gio Ruggiero, Patrick Staropoli, Taylor Gray, Brennan Poole, Nick Leitz, and Lavar Scott.
  • It’s an unfortunate beginning of the year for a handful of these drivers. Luckily for Brennan Poole, he’s coming off a strong showing at Daytona and was in the thick of it here tonight. That shows some promise for sure.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

O’Reilly: Mid-Race Report from EchoPark Speedway

by Cody Williams

What’s Happening?

It has been a tail of two races when it comes to today’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at EchoPark Speedway (formerly the Atlanta Motor Speedway). We got off to a rough start with Corey Day triggering a massive wreck that took out the likes of Harrison Burton, and the Sieg brothers. Then, the field settled in and started to churn laps. Here’s what’s gone down so far.

  • Sam Mayer led a bulk of the opening laps. Leading the first 23 laps of the race, he was forced to pit on Lap 24 due to a flat left front tire. No caution was triggered. To make matters worse, he was caught speeding on pit road, putting him down several laps and effectively taking him out of contention.
  • Jesse Love continued RCR’s dominance in the first stage. With Mayer out of the picture, he assumed the race lead, leading 31 laps to win the opening stage.
  • Austin Hill finally made it up to the race lead by Stage 2. Unfortunately for him and RCR, their win streak in the stages ended with the conclusion of Stage 2. It was Rajah Caruth in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevy that captured the green and white checkered flag.
  • In a horrific accident during pit stops, Taylor Gray smashed into one of his tire carriers. It was a scary situation. Fortunately, he got up like a champ and completed the stop. He was thankfully checked and released from the in-field care center.
  • Corey Day’s woes continued as the field set in for the final stage of the evening. Drawing further criticism, Day, while battling for the race lead, made contact with leader Carson Kvapil, sending them both into the outside wall. Also collected in the incident was Kvapil’s teammate, the 2024 series champion, Justin Allgaier.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.