Tyler Reddick enters the cut-off race at Darlington with a 17-point advantage over Kyle Larson in the battle to win the regular season title. Chase Elliott also lurks in the background, only 18 points behind. Whoever prevails will play a key role in how the standings will look when the points reset. After tonight, the 16 playoff drivers will have 2,000 points, plus any playoff bonus points they have accumulated throughout the year.
These points can be gathered via stage wins (one point), race wins (five points), or the often-overlooked third method, which was added in 2017. In that method, the top-ten drivers in the regular season standings after Race #26 will each get a handful of points: 10th gets one point, ninth gets two, eighth gets three, and so on. Although second gets ten playoff bonus points, there is then a notable jump up for the regular season champ. 15 points are offered to the driver who sits atop the standings before the reset. That is the equivalent of three race wins on everyone else, or one extra race win on the runner-up.
