10 Races Left In NASCAR Regular Season: Who Makes Playoffs And Who Doesn't

With 10 races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, 10 drivers should feel like they can breathe easy when it comes to making the playoffs. Two more should feel pretty good.The other 24 full-time drivers? They must take a win-and-in approach.

The playoff field of 16 drivers is made up of the regular-season champion plus the 15 drivers based on the number of wins with ties broken by points.

There have never been more than 16 winners in the 26-race regular season, so typically there are a couple of spots available to those highest in points with no wins.

Of the 10 races remaining, three are on street or road courses (Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen), three on tracks between 0.75-to-1 mile (Dover, Iowa, Richmond), two are on drafting tracks (Atlanta, Daytona) and two are on big tracks that race as a hybrid of intermediates and speedways (Pocono, Indianapolis).

So who’s in the field and who should be nervous? Let’s take a look.They Won. They're In

Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are absolutely locked in with three wins apiece this year.

The only way a driver with one win doesn’t get in is if there are seven new winners in the next 10 races. That's highly unlikely in a season where there have been 10 winners in 16 races. 

Here are the one-win drivers and their points: William Byron (604), Ryan Blaney (466), Ross Chastain (443), Joey Logano (411), Austin Cindric (337), Josh Berry (320) and Shane van Gisbergen (242). All of those drivers should feel safe.

Good On Points?

Chase Elliott, who currently has a 146-point edge on the current cutoff, and Tyler Reddick (+123) should be in. That's unless there are five new winners, and they aren’t among those five in the final 10 races. 

But for the moment, count them in. That leaves four spots available.All of those drivers should feel safe.

Good On Points?

Chase Elliott, who currently has a 146-point edge on the current cutoff, and Tyler Reddick (+123) should be in. That's unless there are five new winners, and they aren’t among those five in the final 10 races. 

But for the moment, count them in. That leaves four spots available.

For more information go to https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/10-races-left-nascar-regular-season-who-makes-playoffs-who-...