Kyle Larson capped off the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a dominating victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Larson was the second playoff driver to win in the first round after Joey Logano did so at Atlanta. Instead, the theme of the postseason thus far has been adversity for the championship contenders. The first round eliminated former champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. as well as Ty Gibbs, who was above the cutline going into the night.
Alex Bowman bested the playoff field in stage points earned in the first round (37). Christopher Bell, however, ended up as the overall point leader over Larson.
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Hendrick Motorsports has all four of its drivers still in the championship hunt while Joe Gibbs is down to two contenders. All three Team Penske drivers, including defending champion Ryan Blaney, also advanced, as did regular-season champion Tyler Reddick. And then there are the underdogs in Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe.
Here is how the Round of 12 will begin at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 29):
1. Kyle Larson: 39 points above the cutline (47 playoff points)
2. Christopher Bell: 24 points above the cutline (32 playoff points)
3. Tyler Reddick: 20 points above the cutline (28 playoff points)
4. William Byron: 14 points above the cutline (22 playoff points)
5. Ryan Blaney: 11 points above the cutline (19 playoff points)
6. Denny Hamlin: 7 points above the cutline (15 playoff points)
7. Chase Elliott: 6 points above the cutline (14 playoff points)
8. Joey Logano: 4 points above the cutline (12 playoff points)
9. Austin Cindric: 4 points below the cutline (8 playoff points)
10. Daniel Suarez: 6 points below the cutline (6 playoff points)
11. Alex Bowman: 7 points below the cutline (5 playoff points)
12. Chase Briscoe: 7 points below the cutline (5 playoff points)
Tyler Reddick is the defending winner at Kansas Speedway.
Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 6) and the Charlotte Roval (Oct. 13) will complete the Round of 12.