Sprint Cup Chase 2016: NASCAR Standings, Schedule Post-Federated Auto Parts 400

The final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season is in the books after Denny Hamlin won the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night. 

It also finalized the field of 16 racers who will compete for the chase, NASCAR's version of the playoffs. 

Here are the final driver standings and the 16 competitors who will be moving on:

Place	Driver	Points
1	Kyle Busch	2,012
2	Brad Keselowski	2,012
3	Denny Hamlin	2,009
4	Kevin Harvick	2,006
5	Carl Edwards	2,006
6	Martin Truex Jr.	2,006
7	Matt Kenseth	2,006
8	Jimmie Johnson	2,006
9	Joey Logano	2,003
10	Kyle Larson	2,003
11	Tony Stewart	2,003
12	Kurt Busch	2,003
13	Chris Buescher	2,003
14	Chase Elliott	2,000
15	Austin Dillon	2,000
16	Jamie McMurray	2,000

Now with the playoff field set, here is the remaining NASCAR schedule and how the Sprint Cup will decide its winner:

Date	Time (ET)	Race	Venue
Round of 16
Sunday, Sept. 18	2:30 p.m.	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400	Chicagoland
Sunday, Sept. 25	2 p.m.	New England 300	New Hampshire
Sunday, Oct. 2	2 p.m.	Citizen Soldier 400	Dover
Round of 12
Saturday, Oct. 8	7 p.m.	Bank of America 500	Charlotte
Sunday, Oct. 16	2:15 p.m.	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas
Sunday, Oct. 23	2 p.m.	Alabama 500	Talladega
Round of 8
Sunday, Oct. 30	1 p.m.	Goody's Fast Relief 500	Martinsville
Sunday, Nov. 6	2 p.m.	AAA Texas 500	Texas
Sunday, Nov. 13	2:30 p.m.	Can-Am 500	Phoenix
Championship 4
Sunday, Nov. 20	2:30 p.m.	Ford Ecoboost 400	Homestead

Hamlin ensured that he would head into the postseason as the No. 3 seed after taking the checkered flag in his home state of Virginia for his third victory of the season, via NASCAR on NBC:

He, along with 11 other drivers, had already clinched a spot in the chase even before Saturday's race. But there were four spots up for grabs that created plenty of questions at Richmond. 

Chris Buescher needed to stay in the top 30 of the points standings in order to cement his spot in the chase. With one win on the season, he entered Saturday night 11 points ahead of David Ragan. 

His 24th-place finish, coupled with Ragan's inability to finish the race due to wrecking during the race's 15th caution of the night, was enough for him to get the No. 13 spot as he spoke to NASCAR:

Chase Elliott needed to finish in at least 24th and not see a new winner take the checkered flag at Richmond in order to make it in. With Hamlin taking his third win of the season, Elliott's 19th-place finish put him into the chase as the youngest man in the postseason field at the age of 20. 

His chances looked grim early on when he took contact from Jeff Gordon, but his crew was able to fix the car up and get him back on the track. He owed a lot to them when speaking with NBC Sports after the race, via Hendrick Motorsports:

Austin Dillon took the No. 15 seed by finishing 13th on Saturday and with Hamlin winning. Dillon couldn't finish lower than 15th or else he would have been out. 

Jamie McMurray took the final spot by finishing 43 points ahead of 17th-place Ryan Newman. Newman needed to either win or outscore McMurray, Dillon or Elliott to move on just by points. 

But Newman's hopes came crumbling down after Tony Stewart took him out of the race, via NASCAR:

Of the 16 drivers making the chase, four of them are first-timers in Buescher, Elliott, Dillon and Kyle Larson, whose one win this season helped him nab the No. 10 seed.

Heading into the first race of the playoffs on Sept. 18, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski will have an early, slim advantage as their four wins apiece this season netted them 12 bonus points heading into the chase. 

Stats courtesy of NASCAR.com.