NASCAR playoff preview: How it works, format, schedule and predictions

It’s time to crown a NASCAR Cup Series champion.

After a grueling 26-race regular season, the NASCAR playoffs begin this weekend.

It’s been a thrilling season so far with no clear favorite heading into the final 10 weeks. The opening 26 races included a three-wide photo finish in Atlanta, the closest finish in Cup history in Kansas and all 34 full-time drivers scoring at least one top-10 finish.

So, what’s in store for the 2024 playoffs? Here’s a full preview of the postseason, including an explanation of the complicated format, the drivers competing, the schedule and some predictions:

How does the NASCAR playoffs work?

If you’re unfamiliar with NASCAR, the playoffs can seem a bit confusing. Here’s a breakdown:

• Sixteen drivers make the playoffs – regular season race winners, plus the highest finishing drivers in the points standings without a win to fill the field (14 drivers won a race in 2024, so two made the playoffs on points).
• Drivers are seeded based on playoff points, which are earned throughout the season by winning races (5 playoff points each), winning stages (1 playoff point each) and placing in the top 10 of the points standings (15 playoff points to regular season champion, 10 to second, 8 to third and down to 1 for 10th).
• The 10-race playoff schedule consists of four rounds, with four drivers eliminated every three weeks.
• The Round of 16 is three races, the Round of 12 is three races, the Round of 8 is three races and the Championship 4 is one race.
• Drivers advance to the next round automatically by winning a race in the round. At the end of each round, the four drivers with the fewest points are eliminated (unless they won a race).
• The standings are reset at the beginning of each round based on playoff points earned throughout the entire season. So, if a driver earned 30 playoff points in the regular season and wins a race in the Round of 16, he would start the Round of 12 with 35 playoff points.
• In the finale, the Cup championship is awarded to whichever driver finishes best among the four title contenders in the do-or-die final race. There are no playoff points for the championship, it simply comes down to whoever crosses the finish line first.

Who’s in the NASCAR playoffs?

The 16-driver playoff field includes six former champions and two first-time participants. All three manufacturers are represented, with six Ford drivers, five Chevy drivers and five Toyota drivers in the mix. Additionally, there are drivers from eight different organizations in the playoffs.

Here’s a look at the 2024 NASCAR playoff drivers:

Seed	Driver	Car, team, manufacturer	Playoff points
1.	Kyle Larson	No. 5, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevy	40 (4 race wins, 10 stage wins, 2nd in standings)
2.	Christopher Bell	No. 20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota	32 (3 race wins, 10 stage wins, 4th in standings)
3.	Tyler Reddick	No. 45, 23XI Racing, Toyota	28 (2 race wins, 3 stage wins, 1st in standings)
4.	William Byron	No. 24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevy	22 (3 race wins, 1 stage win, 5th in standings)
5.	Ryan Blaney	No. 12, Team Penske, Ford	18 (2 race wins, 3 stage wins, 6th in standings)
6.	Denny Hamlin	No. 11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota	15 (3 race wins, 6 stage wins, 7th in standings)
7.	Chase Elliott	No. 9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevy	14 (1 race win, 1 stage win, 3rd in standings)
8.	Brad Keselowski	No. 6, RFK Racing, Ford	8 (1 race win, 8th in standings)
9.	Joey Logano	No. 22, Team Penske, Ford	7 (1 race win, 2 stage wins)
10.	Austin Cindric	No. 2, Team Penske, Ford	7 (1 race win, 2 stage wins)
11.	Daniel Suarez	No. 99, Trackhouse Racing, Chevy	6 (1 race win, 1 stage win)
12.	Alex Bowman	No. 48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevy	5 (1 race win)
13.	Chase Briscoe	No. 14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford	5 (1 race win)
14.	Harrison Burton	No. 22, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford	5 (1 race win)
15.	Ty Gibbs	No. 54, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota	4 (2 stage wins, 9th in standings)
16.	Martin Truex Jr.	No. 19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota	4 (3 stage wins, 10th in standings)

NASCAR playoffs bracket 2024

While there aren’t any head-to-head matchups like March Madness or the new 2025 NASCAR In-Season Tournament, there is still a bracket you can fill out.

NASCAR’s playoff grid challenge is live here. Take a look at the bracket:

NASCAR playoffs schedule 2024

There are two new tracks for the 2024 playoffs, and they will be the first two races in the Round of 16. Darlington Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway were removed for this season, with Atlanta Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International taking their places.

Here’s the full 2024 NASCAR playoff schedule:

Race	Track	Event name	Date, time, TV
1.	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Quaker State 400	Sept. 8, 3 p.m. ET, USA Network
2.	Watkins Glen International	Go Bowling at The Glen	Sept. 15, 3 p.m. ET, USA Network
3.	Bristol Motor Speedway	Bass Pro Shops Night Race	Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network
4.	Kansas Speedway	Hollywood Casino 400	Sept. 29, 3 p.m. ET, USA Network
5.	Talladega Superspeedway	YellaWood 500	Oct. 6, 2 p.m. ET, NBC
6.	Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval	Bank of America ROVAL 400	Oct. 13, 2 p.m. ET, NBC
7.	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	South Point 400	Oct. 20, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC
8.	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Straight Talk Wireless 400	Oct. 27, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC
9.	Martinsville Speedway	Xfinity 500	Nov. 3, 2 p.m. ET, NBC
10.	Phoenix Raceway	NASCAR Cup Series Championship	Nov. 10, 3 p.m. ET, NBC

NASCAR playoff predictions

Expect the unexpected when it comes to the NASCAR playoffs.

While it’s easy to think the favorites will win it all, that’s not always the case. Just look at the last two years, when Team Penske drivers Ryan Blaney (2023) and Joey Logano (2022) got hot at the right time and rode the wave all the way to titles. Blaney entered last season’s playoffs as the No. 12 seed, proving that anyone can win from anywhere on the grid.

Here’s our round-by-round predictions:

ROUND OF 16 (Atlanta, Watkins Glen, Bristol)

Eliminated: Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton

Breakdown: Truex, in his final full-time season, is the biggest surprise here. But the former champion has been slumping as of late and could be mentally checked out entering his final playoff run. Suarez, Cindric and Burton, who all have wins at drafting tracks like Atlanta, will be hard-pressed to advance if they can’t win the opening race. 

ROUND OF 12 (Kansas, Talladega, Charlotte Roval)

Eliminated: Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs

Breakdown: Talladega is a wild-card, but these drivers just haven’t performed at the top level for most of this season. Logano always seems to peak in the playoffs, but he’s struggled on road courses and wrecked in three of four drafting races this season. Briscoe and Bowman, outside of one-off wins, haven’t been consistent. Gibbs, in just his second season, succumbs to a lack of experience in the Round of 12.

ROUND OF 8 (Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Martinsville)

Eliminated: Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Brad Keselowski

Breakdown: The regular season champion has failed to advance to the Championship 4 in two of the last four seasons, and that trend continues with Reddick. He has historically struggled at Martinsville, so the pressure will be on if he can’t win Las Vegas or Homestead-Miami. Elliott and Byron had performance dips in the summer and don’t look like title contenders right now, while Keselowski finished outside the top 10 in his last visit to all three of these tracks.

CHAMPIONSHIP 4 (Phoenix)

Final four: Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin

Champion: Christopher Bell

Breakdown: Larson has had the best season (most wins and laps led), but he was mediocre at Phoenix earlier this year. No driver has repeated as champion since Jimmie Johnson won his fifth straight in 2010, which doesn't bode well for Blaney. And Hamlin retains his crown as the winningest driver in history without a championship.

That leaves us with Bell, who has made the Championship 4 in the last two seasons before heartbreaking defeats. In 2022, it was a pit road error. Last year, his car had a brake failure in the early laps. But he won at Phoenix in the spring with a dominant car, which should give him confidence at the track in November. Now 29 years old with nine career wins, Bell has become a seasoned veteran in the playoff format. It’s his time to win that first Cup title.