NASCAR Playoffs Bracket 2025 Point Standings After Darlington Round of 16 Results

Chase Briscoe became the first driver to book his spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs round of 12 with his second consecutive Southern 500 win.

The No. 19 car driver led over 300 laps and fended off a late challenge from Tyler Reddick to secure the victory in the first race in the playoff round of 16.

The win was the second of the season for Briscoe, who earned a playoff spot with a win at Pocono in June.

Briscoe also became the first driver to win back-to-back Southern 500s at Darlington Raceway since Greg Biffle in 2005 and 2006.

A handful of playoff drivers suffered through tough nights that left them with plenty of work to do over the next two races to reach the round of 12.

NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings

1. Chase Briscoe
2. Denny Hamlin - +43
3. Kyle Larson - +38
4. Tyler Reddick - +35
5. William Byron - +25
6. Bubba Wallace - +25
7. Ryan Blaney - +22
8. Ross Chastain - +21
9. Austin Cindric - +12
10. Christopher Bell - +11
11. Chase Elliott - +9
12. Shane Van Gisbergen - +3
13. Joey Logano - -3
14. Austin Dillon - -8
15. Josh Berry - -19
16. Alex Bowman - -19

Briscoe's win locked him into the round of 12. He can spend the next two races at Worldwide Technology Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway fine-tuning things for the next round.

Tyler Reddick's second-place finish allowed him to feel more comfortable about his round-of-12 status.

Reddick began the weekend in 14th place in the playoff standings, but he is now 35 points ahead of the cut line going into next week.

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are now second and third in the playoff standings behind Briscoe. They are in the safest positions to advance without a win.

Josh Berry and Alex Bowman are each 19 points below the cut line after rough nights at Darlington.

Berry was involved in an early-lap crash and he finished the race over 100 laps behind Briscoe.

Berry, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano enter WWT Raceway below the cut line. Logano is only three points back of Shane Van Gisbergen in 12th place.

Logano is one of three drivers to win at the Illinois track since 2022. Logano's teammate, Austin Cindric, is the reigning champion at WWT Raceway.

Logano and Dillon finished inside the top six in last year's trip to WWT Raceway, so there's plenty of potential for drivers to swap places above and below the cut line after next week.