CHASE ELLIOTT, WHO HAS WON THE NASCAR FAN FAVORITE DRIVER NINE YEARS IN A ROW, IS SEEN HERE ON PIT ROAD AT POCONO RACEWAY EARLIER THIS YEAR – MOTORSPORT AMERICA PHOTO
* _NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs open Sunday at Darlington Raceway._
* _Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, Sept.
7, to serve as second of three races in the opening Round of 16._
_ _
MADISON, Ill. (Aug. 25, 2025) – The 16-driver field has been set for
the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs following Saturday night’s dramatic
regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
With two of the 16 Playoff berths up for grabs, Team Penske’s Ryan
Blaney spoiled the opportunity of the four drivers that finished behind
him to gain entry with a victory. Blaney, already in as a result of an
earlier win this season at Nashville, finished .031 of a second ahead of
Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing. Justin Haley of Spire Motorsports,
Cole Custer of the Haas Factory Team and Erik Jones of Legacy Motor
Club, respectively, rounded out the top five.
Blaney’s victory was of great solace to the winless duo of 23XI
Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who
both earned Playoff berths via points. It was a huge relief to Bowman,
who finished 36th after an early-race crash with Richard Childress
Racing’s Kyle Busch and would have been the odd man out with a win by
any of those four.
Hendrick Motorsports paces the way with a series-high four drivers
advancing to the Playoffs while Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske have
three each. Here is the 16-driver field:
* William Byron, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman of
Hendrick Motorsports
* Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing
* Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric of Team Penske
* Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing
* Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing
* Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing
* Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs open Sunday with the Round of 16 race at
Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. CT, TV: USA Network, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM)
and will be followed by the Enjoy Illinois 300 [2] at World Wide
Technology Raceway [3] on Sunday, Sept. 7 (2 p.m. CT, USA Network,
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM). This will mark the fourth Cup Series race held at
WWT Raceway, but first in the Cup Series Playoffs.
The Cup Series Playoffs consists of four rounds – the Round of 16,
Round of 12, Round of 8 and then the Championship 4 Round. The first
three rounds are made up of three races each while the Championship 4 is
the one-race playoff finale Nov. 2 at Phoenix Raceway where the highest
race finisher among the four remaining drivers is crowned the series
champion. Click here [4] for an overview of the format.
Here’s a quick look at the Cup Series Playoffs and its upcoming visit
to World Wide Technology Raceway:
* Planting the Seeds: Hendrick Motorsports secured the top two seeds
with Larson earning the No. 1 spot and Byron, the regular-season
champion, seeded No. 2. They both enter the Playoffs reset at 2,032
points, but Larson secured the top seed by virtue of more wins during
the season. Behind the Hendrick duo are Hamlin (No. 3, 2,029), Blaney
(No. 4, 2,026), Bell (No. 5, 2,023), van Gisbergen (No. 6, 2,022),
Elliott (No. 7, 2,013), Briscoe (No. 8, 2,010), Wallace (No. 9, 2,008),
Cindric (No. 10, 2,008), Chastain (No. 11, 2,007), Logano (No. 12,
2,007), Berry (No. 13, 2,006), Reddick (No. 14, 2,006), Dillon (No. 15,
2,005) and Bowman (No. 16, 2,002).
* New Kids on the Block: The opening Round of 16 has two of the three
new venues in the Cup Series Playoffs this season. Darlington Raceway,
the regular-season finale last year, will kick off the Playoffs as the
opener. World Wide Technology Raceway, after three years as a
regular-season June race, now moves to the second of three races in the
Round of 16 on Sunday, Sept. 7. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a June
regular-season race a year ago, will open the Round of 12 on Sunday,
Sept. 21.
* Gateway to the Round of 12: A victory by a Playoff driver will
automatically advance them to the next round, with one in the Enjoy
Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway moving them to the Round
of 12. Playoff drivers who have won at WWT Raceway previously are both
Team Penske drivers. Cindric is the defending race winner while Logano
was victorious in the inaugural 2022 race.
*
Championship Pedigree: Four of the 16 Playoff drivers are previous Cup
Series champions under this format. The group is led by Logano, the
defending series champion and only two-time winner (2022, ’24) among
the field. The others are Blaney (2023), Larson (2021) and Elliott
(2020).
*
Welcome to the Post-Season Party: Two drivers – van Gisbergen and
Berry – are making their first appearances in the Cup Series Playoffs.
Van Gisbergen heads to the post-season during a stellar rookie campaign
in which he was the co-series leader for victories (4) with Hamlin. All
of his wins have come on road courses or temporary street circuits –
Mexico City in June, the Chicago Street Race and Sonoma Raceway in July,
and Watkins Glen in August. Berry, in his second full season and first
with the Wood Brothers, made the field by securing his first career Cup
Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
* Spoiler Role: The most prominent name to miss the Playoffs is Busch,
a two-time Cup Series champion. Busch, the 2023 winner at WWT Raceway,
has missed the Playoffs the last two seasons after previously qualifying
for the post-season 11 consecutive years (2012-23). Busch, a 63-time Cup
Series race winner, has won at nine of the 10 Playoff tracks, with the
lone exception being the Charlotte ROVAL.
Limited tickets remain for the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series
Playoff Round of 16 race and are available by visiting
www.wwtraceway.com [3].