Despite winning at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, Denny Hamlin hasn’t officially clinched a spot in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin ended a record streak of 12 consecutive races won by drivers under the age of 30, securing his first win of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season at his home track of Richmond Raceway on Sunday afternoon.
Hamlin became the seventh different winner in the first seven races of the 2022 season. But despite popular belief, the 41-year-old hasn’t clinched a spot in this year’s playoffs.
The modern playoff format is commonly referred to as a “win and in” format, but that isn’t exactly true. And while it has proven to be a “win and in” format in the past, it very well might not be that this year.
The start of the Gen 7 car era has produced a level of parity at NASCAR’s top level that nobody could have anticipated.
In addition to the seven drivers who have found victory lane this year, there are at least a dozen others who easily could have taken a checkered flag through seven races. So with just 16 playoff spots available, what happens if there are more than 16 winners in the regular season?
That’s where the idea of a “win and in” format could be proven false. That is because the 16 playoff spots technically go to the regular season points champion, whether he has any wins to his name or not, and the next 15 drivers who rank highest on the wins list.
If there are more winners than playoff spots available, the tiebreaker among the single-race winners becomes points. It really is no different than filling the playoff field with non-winners when there aren’t 16 winners; the drivers with the highest point totals get in.
While getting more than 16 winners is still not a very likely scenario, is remains very much a possibility, as we sit just nine winners shy of 16 with 19 races remaining on the 26-race regular season.
In fact, right now, eight playoff spots are technically occupied, as points leader Ryan Blaney (tied with Chase Elliott, but owns the tiebreaker) hasn’t won a race. None of the drivers inside the top three in the standings have won a race this year, as Elliott and third place Martin Truex Jr. haven’t won any either.
Hamlin is actually last among the seven winners in points, sitting in 20th place in the standings, William Byron leads the way in fourth, with Ross Chastain in sixth, Alex Bowman in seventh, Chase Briscoe in ninth, Kyle Larson in 12th, and Austin Cindric in 15th.
The only way to truly secure a playoff berth on wins at this point in the year is by winning twice, as there can be no more than 13 multi-race winners in the regular season. Of course, a driver still must remain in the top 30 in points to remain playoff eligible, but in a series with just 32 full-time drivers, finishing in the top 30 is basically a foregone conclusion for anyone who wins more than once.
The eighth race on the 2022 schedule is the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, April 9. Will an eighth different winner emerge? If you haven’t started a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don’t miss any of the excitement!
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April 04, 2022 at 06:30PM
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NASCAR: Denny Hamlin hasn’t clinched a playoff spot - Beyond the Flag
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