Kyle Larson had a really good weekend in Iowa, winning the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals. In Richmond, his weekend was just mediocre. He took advantage of the late chaos to finish seventh. That was enough to keep his points lead, but the advantage is down to just five points over Tyler Reddick, who finished third. Chase Elliott is down to third despite a ninth-place finish. Denny Hamlin was credited with second after his crash exiting turn 4 on the final lap. He stays in fourth, but gains significantly.

Ryan Blaney spent much of the race on an alternate tire strategy to the leaders, but ended up in 11th. He keeps the fifth spot. Christopher Bell moved up two places to sixth after winning stage one. A speeding penalty on pit road dropped him to a sixth-place finish. William Byron is down to seventh after finishing 13th, while Martin Truex Jr. is down to eighth after dropping out due to engine failure.

Brad Keselowski struggled for much of Saturday night, but stays in ninth after finishing 16th. Alex Bowman is still in 10th, but was off the pace much of the night and finished 28th. Ty Gibbs remains in 11th, while Bubba Wallace moved up two places to 12th after finishing fourth.

Wallace is the last driver in the playoffs on points. He has a three-point advantage over Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher. Chastain finished fifth, while Buescher was 18th. Joey Logano's last lap spin out of a potential win dropped him to a 19th-place finish, but keeps him in 15th. Daniel Suarez's alternate strategy resulted in a stage win and a 10th-place finish, which moved him up to 16th.

Chase Briscoe is down to 17th, but due to Austin Dillon's victory, is now more than two full races behind Wallace. Kyle Busch finished 12th and stays in 18th. Todd Gilliland is up one spot to 19th, while Austin Cindric is 20th.

Dillon entered Sunday's race 32nd in points. The victory moved him up six places to 26th. The top 30 rule is no longer in effect in the NASCAR Cup Series, but if it were, he would still get in.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kyle Larson 779, 2) Tyler Reddick -5, 3) Chase Elliott -6, 4) Denny Hamlin -21, 5) Ryan Blaney -77, 6) Christopher Bell -78, 7) William Byron -101, 8) Martin Truex Jr. -117, 9) Brad Keselowski -143, 10) Alex Bowman -164, 11) Ty Gibbs -177, 12) Bubba Wallace -192, t-13) Ross Chastain -195, t-15) Chris Buescher -195, 15) Joey Logano -222, 16) Daniel Suarez -282.

Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 20) Austin Cindric -328, 26) Austin Dillon -435.

Note: Drivers in italics are either outside of the playoffs, or ineligible for points.

Playoff Points: 1) Kyle Larson 28, 2) Christopher Bell -3, 3) Denny Hamlin -7, 4) William Byron -12, 5) Ryan Blaney -16, 6) Tyler Reddick -20, 7) Austin Cindric -21, t-8) Chase Elliott -22, t-8) Joey Logano -22, t-8) Daniel Suarez -22, t-11) Brad Keselowski -23, t-11) Alex Bowman -23, t-11) Austin Dillon -23, 14) Martin Truex Jr. -25, t-15) Ty Gibbs -26, t-15) Chris Buescher -26, t-17) Ross Chastain -27, t-17) Bubba Wallace -27, t-17) Michael McDowell -27, t-17) Joey Hand -27.
 

Note: If he were eligible for playoff points, Shane van Gisbergen would be tied for 16th.

Stage Points: 1) Denny Hamlin 228, 2) Kyle Larson -1, 3) Christopher Bell -44, 4) Tyler Reddick -58, 5) Ryan Blaney -61, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -68, 7) Chase Elliott -70, 8) William Byron -95, 9) Brad Keselowski -107, 10) Joey Logano -121, 11) Ty Gibbs -124, 12) Bubba Wallace -129, 13) Alex Bowman -131, 14) Austin Cindric -156, 15) Ross Chastain -162, 16) Chris Buescher -166.

Outside of the top-16, but Still in the Playoffs: 20) Daniel Suarez -185, 25) Austin Dillon -199.
 

Note: The Stage Points also include the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona. 

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Elliott 718, 2) Tyler Reddick -6, 3) Kyle Larson -68, 4) William Byron -77, 5) Denny Hamlin -79, 6) Ryan Blaney -82, 7) Christopher Bell -96, 8) Ross Chastain -99, 9) Chris Buescher -100, 10) Brad Keselowski -101, 11) Alex Bowman -107, 12) Ty Gibbs -118, 13) Martin Truex Jr. -120, 14) Bubba Wallace -130, 15) Joey Logano -164, 16) Daniel Suarez -176.

Outside of the top 16, but still in the playoffs: 23) Austin Cindric -244, 30) Austin Dillon -312.
 

Note: These standings are based on the old point system that was used before stages were created.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Tyler Reddick 3210, 2) Chase Elliott -38, 3) William Byron -244, 4) Kyle Larson -261, 5) William Byron -275, 6) Ryan Blaney -279, 7) Christopher Bell -304, 8) Brad Keselowski -333, 9) Chris Buescher -353, 10) Ross Chastain -375, 11) Alex Bowman -378, 12) Ty Gibbs -406, 13) Martin Truex Jr. -414, 14) Bubba Wallace -458, 15) Joey Logano -557, 16) Daniel Suarez -633.

Outside of the top-16, but still in the playoffs: 23) Austin Cindric -839, 30) Austin Dillon -1056.

Note: The WC points are based on the original points system created by Bob Latford in 1975.

Race Winners: William Byron (Daytona, COTA, Martinsville), Daniel Suarez (Atlanta), Kyle Larson (Las Vegas, Kansas, Sonoma, Indianapolis), Christopher Bell (Phoenix, Charlotte, Loudon), Denny Hamlin (Bristol, Richmond-1, Dover), Chase Elliott (Texas), Tyler Reddick (Talladega), Brad Keselowski (Darlington), Austin Cindric (Gateway), Ryan Blaney (Iowa, Pocono), Joey Logano (Nashville), Alex Bowman (Chicago), Austin Dillon (Richmond-2)

 
Note: Race wins in Italics do not count towards playoff eligibility.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series was off last weekend. They will resume their 2024 season on Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway.

When the teams pull into Michigan, Cole Custer will have a 56-point lead over Justin Allgaier. Austin Hill is third, then Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst.

At the points cut-off, a strong run for Ryan Sieg at Indianapolis allowed him to move up to 10th and take the last spot in the playoffs on points. He has a three-point lead over Sammy Smith. Brandon Jones is another 66 points back, then Anthony Alfredo and Brennan Poole.

Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 761, 2) Justin Allgaier -56, 3) Austin Hill -87, 4) Chandler Smith -100, 5) Riley Herbst -143, 6) AJ Allmendinger -152, 7) Jesse Love -174, 8) Sheldon Creed -185, 9) Parker Kligerman -208, 10) Ryan Sieg -251, 11) Sammy Smith -254, 12) Sam Mayer -259, 13) Shane van Gisbergen -261, 14) Brandon Jones -320, 15) Anthony Alfredo -365, 16) Brennan Poole -408.

Playoff Points: 1) Shane van Gisbergen 17, 2) Justin Allgaier -1, 3) Chandler Smith -2, 4) Austin Hill -4, 5) Sam Mayer -6, 6) Jesse Love -8, t-7) Cole Custer -9, t-7) Aric Almirola -9, 9) Riley Herbst -10, 10) Ryan Truex -12, t-11) Parker Kligerman -16, t-11) Ryan Sieg -16.

Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek would be tied for fifth in playoff points, while Christopher Bell would be 11th, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott tied for 12th and Ty Gibbs 15th.

Stage Points: 1) Justin Allgaier 225, 2) Cole Custer -41, 3) Riley Herbst -62, 4) Austin Hill -65, 5) Chandler Smith -67, 6) AJ Allmendinger -80, 7) Sheldon Creed -117, t-8) Sam Mayer -123, t-8) Jesse Love -123, 10) Sammy Smith -135, 11) Parker Kligerman -141, t-12) Brandon Jones -149, t-12) Aric Almirola -149, 14) Ryan Sieg -152, 15) Shane van Gisbergen -174, 16) Ryan Truex -189.

Note: If they were eligible for Xfinity Series points, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs would be tied for 15th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 671, 2) Austin Hill -60, 3) Chandler Smith -87, 4) Jesse Love -95, 5) Justin Allgaier -98, 6) Sheldon Creed -116, 7) Parker Kligerman -118, 8) AJ Allmendinger -122, 9) Riley Herbst -133, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -138, 11) Ryan Sieg -149, 12) Sammy Smith -169, 13) Sam Mayer -180, 14) Anthony Alfredo -209, 15) Brandon Jones -224, 16) Brennan Poole -247.

WC Points (1-16): 1) Cole Custer 2946, 2) Austin Hill -214, 3) Chandler Smith -291, 4) Justin Allgaier -320, 5) Jesse Love -338, 6) Sheldon Creed -364, 7) Parker Kligerman -438, 8) AJ Allmendinger -443, 9) Riley Herbst -463, 10) Shane van Gisbergen -488, 11) Ryan Sieg -542, 12) Sammy Smith -582, 13) Sam Mayer -599, 14) Anthony Alfredo -739, 15) Brandon Jones -773, 16) Brennan Poole -867.

Race Winners: Austin Hill (Daytona, Atlanta), John Hunter Nemechek (Las Vegas, Nashville), Chandler Smith (Phoenix, Richmond), Kyle Larson (COTA), Aric Almirola (Martinsville), Sam Mayer (Texas, Iowa), Jesse Love (Talladega), Ryan Truex (Dover), Justin Allgaier (Darlington), Chase Elliott (Charlotte), Shane van Gisbergen (Portland, Sonoma, Chicago), Christopher Bell (Loudon), Cole Custer (Pocono), Riley Herbst (Indianapolis)

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

Christian Eckes entered Saturday night not having to do all that much to wrap up the Regular Season Championship. With a second-place finish in stage two, he clinched the title. He continued to finish second in the race and earn the most points (54) on the night.

As a result, Eckes won the Regular Season Championship by 74 points over Corey Heim, who ran well early, but faded to a 16th-place finish. Ty Majeski's second win in a row puts him third in points. Nick Sanchez burned up his clutch and finished 30th, keeping him in fourth.

Grant Enfinger won stage two, led the most laps and finished fourth. That performance boosted him up two places to fifth. Tyler Ankrum stays in sixth after a sixth-place finish. Rajah Caruth finished 17th and dropped two places to fifth. Taylor Gray finished third to lock himself into the playoffs.

Ben Rhodes finished seventh to stay in the ninth spot. Daniel Dye finished eighth with 13 stage points. That was enough to take the final spot in the playoffs.

Dye ended up 12 points ahead of Tanner Gray, who finished 12th. Stewart Friesen struggled to a 25th-place finish and stays in 12th. Matt Crafton is 13th, then Chase Purdy. Layne Riggs moved up to 15th after finishing fifth, while Jake Garcia is 16th.

Once the playoffs begin at The Milwaukee Mile, Heim will have a three-point lead over Eckes by virtue of his five wins. Majeski is third, then Sanchez and Caruth. At the bottom, Taylor Gray will start in eighth with a one-point advantage over Rhodes and two over Dye.

Finally, the playoffs for owners will look a little different. Both Spire Motorsports' No. 7 and Niece Motorsports' No. 45 earned enough owners points to qualify at the expense of ThorSport Racing's No. 99 and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing's No. 43.

The top-seven teams in the standings are identical to the regular playoff points. However, the Nos. 7 and 45 are in between McAnally-Hilgemann Racing's No. 18 and TRICON Garage's No. 17.

"[Logano] was trying to get him loose, but the 11 was more of just a reaction. I wasn't lifting at that point because I was more looking at where the 22 was. When the 11 came across, it was just reaction.

"To me, I've seen a lot of stuff over the years in NASCAR where people move people. It's just part of our sport. You know what I mean? Remember when Joey said 'short-track racing'. He knows what it was." - Austin Dillon, race winner