Denny Hamlin had a pretty miserable day Sunday, getting run over by James Davison at one point and struggling.  He still finished 15th and held on to win the Round of 12.  He ended up 16 points ahead of Kevin Harvick, who had his own struggles Sunday before finishing 11th.  Chase Elliott's victory did not gain him any positions, but moved him within one point of Harvick.  Martin Truex Jr. moved up one place to fourth after finishing despite a late spin.

Joey Logano is up two places to fifth after finishing second.  Brad Keselowski dropped two places to sixth after finishing 18th.  Alex Bowman is down one place to seventh despite finishing eighth.  Kurt Busch moved up to eighth after finishing in a strong fourth.  Even though Kurt was already in the Round of 8 by virtue of winning in Las Vegas, he was able to claim the last regular spot in the next round after being outside of the top eight the last two weeks.

Austin Dillon was the first driver eliminated Sunday.  He dropped a position to ninth, 10 points behind Kurt Busch and 38 behind Bowman.  Clint Bowyer moved up to 10th despite losing his power steering on a late restart.  Kyle Busch dropped to 11th after a late pit stop for fuel dropped him to a 30th-place finish.  Aric Almirola stayed in 12th after a disappointing run to 16th.

Outside of the playoffs, Ryan Blaney finished fifth to stay in 13th, while William Byron ended the round in 14th.  Matt DiBenedetto finished 22nd to stay in 15th, while Cole Custer is 16th.

Of those who never qualified for the playoffs, Erik Jones overtook Jimmie Johnson for 17th Sunday with a third-place finish.  Tyler Reddick is still 19th, while Chris Buescher is 20th.

In the upcoming Round of 8 that starts Sunday in Kansas, Harvick will use his 67 playoff points to start the round with a 13-point lead over Hamlin

Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Denny Hamlin 3163, 2) Kevin Harvick -16, 3) Chase Elliott -17, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -41, 5) Joey Logano -45, 6) Brad Keselowski -49, 7) Alex Bowman -54, 8) Kurt Busch -82, 9) Austin Dillon -92, 10) Clint Bowyer -100, 11) Kyle Busch -103, 12) Aric Almirola -116.

Note: Drivers in Bold have locked into the Round of 8.

Note No. 2: Drivers in Italics in current points have been eliminated.

Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Kevin Harvick 4067, 2) Denny Hamlin -13, 3) Brad Keselowski -32, 4) Chase Elliott -40, 5) Joey Logano -45, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -50, 7) Alex Bowman -58, 8) Kurt Busch -61.

Best of the Rest: 9) Kyle Busch 2187, 10) Austin Dillon -1, 11) Ryan Blaney -27, 12) William Byron -32, 13) Clint Bowyer -33, 14) Aric Almirola -44, 15) Matt DiBenedetto -56, 16) Cole Custer -64, 17) Erik Jones -1401, 18) Jimmie Johnson -1409, 19) Tyler Reddick -1472, 20) Chris Buescher -1579, 21) Christopher Bell -1617, 22) Bubba Wallace -1648, 23) Michael McDowell -1651, 24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -1678, 25) Ryan Newman -1687, 26) Ty Dillon -1694.

Regular Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 1281, 2) Denny Hamlin -132, 3) Martin Truex Jr. -193, 4) Joey Logano -197, 5) Chase Elliott -198, 6) Brad Keselowski -199, 7) Ryan Blaney -276, 8) Kyle Busch -374, 9) Alex Bowman -380, 10) Aric Almirola -384, 11) Kurt Busch -394, 12) Clint Bowyer -420, 13) William Byron -457, 14) Matt DiBenedetto -484, 15) Erik Jones -495, 16) Jimmie Johnson -503.

Playoff Points: 1) Kevin Harvick 67, 2) Denny Hamlin -13, 3) Brad Keselowski -32, 4) Chase Elliott -40, 5) Joey Logano -45, 6) Martin Truex Jr. -50, 7) Alex Bowman -58, 8) Kurt Busch -61.

Stage Points: 1) Joey Logano 303, 2) Ryan Blaney -4, 3) Kevin Harvick -20, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -27, 5) Chase Elliott -33, 6) Denny Hamlin -60, 7) Brad Keselowski -77, 8) Alex Bowman -91, 9) Kyle Busch -103, 10) William Byron -158, 11) Clint Bowyer -165, 12) Aric Almirola -169, 13) Jimmie Johnson -175, t-14) Kurt Busch -197, t-14) Matt DiBenedetto -197, 16) Erik Jones -204.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Kevin Harvick 1148, 2) Denny Hamlin -93, 3) Brad Keselowski -147, 4) Martin Truex Jr. -192, 5) Chase Elliott -195, 6) Joey Logano -216, 7) Aric Almirola -244, 8) Kurt Busch -248, 9) Clint Bowyer -294, 10) Ryan Blaney -299, 11) Kyle Busch -302, 12) Matt DiBenedetto -318, 13) Alex Bowman -320, 14) Erik Jones -330, 15) William Byron -338, 16) Austin Dillon -371.

Race Winners: Denny Hamlin (Daytona-1, Darlington-2, Homestead, Pocono-2, Kansas, Dover-1, Talladega-2), Joey Logano (Las Vegas-1, Phoenix), Alex Bowman (Fontana), Kevin Harvick (Darlington-1, Atlanta, Pocono-1, Indianapolis, Michigan-1, Michigan-2, Dover-2, Darlington-3, Bristol-2), Brad Keselowski (Charlotte-1, Bristol, Loudon, Richmond), Chase Elliott (Charlotte-2, Daytona-2, Charlotte-3), Martin Truex Jr. (Martinsville), Ryan Blaney (Talladega-1), Cole Custer (Kentucky), Austin Dillon (Texas), William Byron (Daytona-3), Kurt Busch (Las Vegas-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.

Chase Briscoe was the best driver in Saturday's splashfest, leading a race-high 23 laps.  However, as seen above, he spun on the final restart and dropped to an 18th-place finish. Despite that, he still did enough to win the Round of 8.  Briscoe's margin was 16 points over Noah Gragson, who was likely the strongest in the extreme wet and finished second.  Austin Cindric is down one place to third after finishing sixth.  Brandon Jones escaped from Charlotte with a 10th-place finish, which moved him up to fourth.

Kaulig Racing teammates Justin Haley and Ross Chastain ended up tied for fifth.  Chastain finished fifth Sunday, while Haley crashed out and finished 35th.  Haley wins the tiebreaker due to his win at Talladega.  Ryan Sieg drops to seventh after finishing 21st.  Justin Allgaier drops to eighth after finishing 23rd.  He is the last driver to qualify for the Round of 8.

Allgaier ended up 38 points ahead of Brandon Brown and Harrison Burton, neither of whom finished the race.  Brown ran in the top 10 for most of the race before crashing in the final laps.  Then, his car was abruptly stopped by standing water.  Burton's car suffered a transmission failure.  Michael Annett recovered from a crash to finish ninth, but it just wasn't enough.  Riley Herbst finished 12th, but not before he took out Gragson from the lead.  That likely won't go over well.

Outside of the playoffs, Jeremy Clements stayed in 13th after finishing 16th.  Alex Labbe is up to 14th after finishing in a career-best fourth.  Daniel Hemric is up into a tie for 15th with Josh Williams after finishing third.  Williams ran very well early, but crashed out on a restart.

For the Round of 8, Briscoe will start with a 10-point lead over Cindric.  Allgaier will be third, while Gragson is fourth, more than half a race back.  Haley will be two points out of the Championship 4, while Jones will be sixth, then Chastain and Sieg.

Round of 12 Point Standings: 1) Chase Briscoe 2177, 2) Noah Gragson -16, 3) Austin Cindric -25, 4) Brandon Jones -52, t-5) Justin Haley -60, t-5) Ross Chastain -60, 7) Ryan Sieg -70, 8) Justin Allgaier -71, t-9) Brandon Brown -109, t-9) Harrison Burton -109, 11) Michael Annett -116, 12) Riley Herbst -117.

Note No. 1: Drivers in Bold have locked into the Round of 8.
Note No. 2: Drivers in italics in the point standing sections are currently at risk of elimination.

Regular Season Point Standings (1-16): 1) Austin Cindric 1237, 2) Chase Briscoe -40, 3) Ross Chastain -71, 4) Noah Gragson -107, 5) Justin Haley -229, 6) Justin Allgaier -246, 7) Harrison Burton -290, 8) Brandon Jones -341, 9) Michael Annett -400, 10) Ryan Sieg -492, 11) Riley Herbst -504, 12) Brandon Brown -607, 13) Jeremy Clements -661, 14) Alex Labbe -694, t-15) Daniel Hemric -729, t-15) Josh Williams -729.

Round of 8 Point Standings: 1) Chase Briscoe 3060, 2) Austin Cindric -10, 3) Justin Allgaier -27, 4) Noah Gragson -35, 5) Justin Haley -37, 6) Brandon Jones -40, 7) Ross Chastain -50, 8) Ryan Sieg -58.

Best of the Rest:  t-9) Harrison Burton 2068, t-9) Brandon Brown 2068, 11) Michael Annett -7, 12) Riley Herbst -8, 13) Jeremy Clements -1492, 14) Alex Labbe -1525, t-15) Daniel Hemric -1560, t-15) Josh Williams -1560, 17) Myatt Snider -1565, 18) Anthony Alfredo -1587, 19) Jesse Little -1604, 20) Tommy Joe Martins -1661, 21) Joe Graf Jr. -1692, 22) Jeffrey Earnhardt -1701.

Playoff Points: 1) Chase Briscoe 60, 2) Austin Cindric -10, 3) Justin Allgaier -27, 4) Noah Gragson -35, 5) Justin Haley -37, 6) Brandon Jones -40, 7) Ross Chastain -50, 8) Ryan Sieg -58.

Stage Points: 1) Austin Cindric 387, 2) Chase Briscoe -59, 3) Ross Chastain -62, 4) Justin Allgaier -83, 5) Noah Gragson -91, 6) Justin Haley -161, 7) Brandon Jones -200, 8) Harrison Burton -210, 9) Michael Annett -263, 10) Daniel Hemric -270, 11) Riley Herbst -274, 12) Ryan Sieg -278, 13) Anthony Alfredo -327, 14) Jeb Burton -338, 15) Brandon Brown -351, 16) AJ Allmendinger -358.

Note: If he were eligible for points, Kyle Busch would be 13th in stage points.

Old Point Standings (1-16): 1) Chase Briscoe 1007, 2) Austin Cindric -21, 3) Ross Chastain -31, 4) Noah Gragson -35, 5) Justin Haley -107, 6) Harrison Burton -115, t-7) Brandon Jones -175, t-7) Michael Annett -175, 9) Justin Allgaier -183, 10) Ryan Sieg -246, 11) Riley Herbst -263, 12) Brandon Brown -294, 13) Jeremy Clements -323, 14) Alex Labbe -372, 15) Josh Williams -385, 16) Myatt Snider -404.

Race Winners: Noah Gragson (Daytona-1, Bristol), Chase Briscoe (Las Vegas-1, Darlington-1, Homestead-2, Pocono, Indianapolis, Dover-2, Bristol-2, Las Vegas-2), Harrison Burton (Fontana, Homestead-1), Brandon Jones (Phoenix, Kansas, Darlington-2), Kyle Busch (Charlotte), AJ Allmendinger (Atlanta, Charlotte-2), Justin Haley (Talladega-1, Daytona-3, Talladega-2). Austin Cindric (Kentucky-1, Kentucky-2, Texas, Road America, Daytona-2), Justin Allgaier (Dover-1, Richmond-1, Richmond-2)

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

"Well, I just had another really fast NAPA Camaro and really appreciate the effort. I feel like road courses have been fortunate to us the last few trips, but I feel like we just try to get a little better every time and tweak on the small things. I feel like I tweaked on some small things and got a little better than what I was here last year, which was good. And, I’m just really proud of the effort.

"It’s always special to win here at Charlotte with the shop being right across the street. I appreciate all the effort there. The best way to get into the next round is to win and so, hopefully we can do something with it." - Chase Elliott, race winner

"Yeah, we won our league because no one was beating that other car — the Chase Elliott and Alan [Gustafson] and that whole 9 team. They’re light years ahead of us when it comes to the road course, I mean everybody even their teammates. I can’t really put my finger on it. I got a good look of what it was and watched him cruise around not even trying and he would keep on driving away from me. Overall, I’m proud of what our Shell/Pennzoil team did today. We had to come in here and execute. Obviously, there were plenty of crazy things that could have happened starting in the rain, going to slicks, stage points, trying to get ourselves in position. Obviously, there were times that the 18 was in the spot and we were racing the 88 with only a couple points between us, so it was close, it was stressful, but I feel a lot better now and will be able to sleep well tonight and then fire away to try and get into that Championship 4." - Joey Logano, finished second

"I knew we were there and had tires. We were in a really good spot, but I knew that [Chase Elliott] was really fast and has been pretty tough to beat here the last few years. They’ve got something figured out, they’re really quick here. I was just kind of losing time to him everywhere. He caught me and I couldn’t hold him off more than a couple cars. The Craftsman Camry was good, it was good to get a top [three finish]. Probably a little bit better than what we ran, but we’ll definitely take it." - Erik Jones, finished third

"It was a great improvement for our road course program. I’m really proud of everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing; looking at issues and working on what we need to do improve. Whether we were locked-in or not, we came here to go for it. I’m really proud of how our race unfolded. We just seemed to cook the rear tires after about 15 laps into a run, but we had really good braking, so I had to use my strength. I was ready for [Martin Truex Jr.] to bonsai it in there, I was like "Ha ha, I got you bro!'  [Truex] axle-hopped, hit us and I was able to recover quicker than him. Really good day for our Monster Energy team, just wasn’t as fast as [Chase Elliott]. I’m glad he is on to the next round along with Alex Bowman, we got as many Chevy’s as we could pushed-thru to the Round of 8." - Kurt Busch, finished fourth

"Yeah today was a tough one. I’m really frustrated with the speeding penalty. I felt like I was to the good and I obviously wasn’t so I’ll have to go back and look at it. Overall, today was a good day though. We led a lot of laps and felt like our car was capable of running up front with the No.9. I would have liked to see what we could have done there at the end and battled with him. Either way it was a good day for us and we’ll go on to Kansas and try get a win." - William Byron, finished sixth

"Had a little bit of a run on them coming to one to go and probably stuffed it in there a little too far. Tried to get out from inside of [Kurt Busch] and hit that water back there and from there it was all over. Little too aggressive there at the end. Overall, just a so-so day for the Bass Pro Toyota. We had decent speed, not winning speed, but had a lot of fun out there, especially in the rain." - Martin Truex Jr., finished seventh

"Ah, I guess my nerves were getting to me a little bit. It means a lot to this race team to make the Round of 8. It’s something that we’ve fallen short of doing the previous two years. So, thanks to Valvoline and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. I think a lot of people slept on us coming into the Playoffs a little bit so it’s a lot of validation for us to make that round. And when you’re racing champions of the sport, to be able to advance, you’re never comfortable, right? And especially Kyle Busch. My nerves were getting to me a little bit but I’m glad we had a solid day. We weren’t very good. We were really tight and then I would end up snapping the rears and burning the rear tires off the thing really bad. But we did all we could and I’m glad we advanced." - Alex Bowman, finished eighth

"It was definitely interesting. Our car was just way off handling-wise. We were just way too tight and had no drive up off the corner, whether it was wet or dry. We struggled with our Mobil 1 Ford and still probably should have finished somewhere seventh or eighth, but didn’t have the car where we needed to and wound up on the wrong side of all the strategies and things, but everybody did a good job and kept battling. It was actually a lot of fun." - Kevin Harvick, finished 11th

"Every time I come to a road course, I grow as a driver. We had a great No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet today, and I want to thank my team for working with me all day long. It wasn’t an easy day, but we all kept with it and improved throughout the race. It took a little bit of Stage 1 to re-familiarize myself with the course, so I spent a lot of that stage being careful to not overstep and wreck. After a pit stop and adjustment during the second stage, I was able to rotate a lot better all throughout the track, which helped me gain a lot of traction on the field. We had a couple cautions fall later during the race that helped us with some track position a little bit, overall, it was a really good effort by my No. 8 team today. They kept with it and remained patient with me throughout the day, while relaying information on areas of the track to continue to work on. I definitely learned more about this track today and will put that in the notebook for next year." - Tyler Reddick, finished 12th

"Yeah, we were looking pretty good in Stage 1. We had taken tires again and got to fifth in the Stage and that unlucky caution happened. We knew we were kind of dead meat at that point because we didn’t have dry tires on. So, we pitted at the end of Stage 1 and then we had to go to the tail because pit road wasn’t open. Just a lot of stuff. And again, a caution fell late in Stage 2 when we were running 12th and just no help from cautions. The race just didn’t play our way. I’m actually pretty happy with that as far as my road course racing has been. I raced hard all day. We finished 19th and that shows some progress and I think if we would have been up there, track-position-wise, we would have maintained it." - Austin Dillon, finished 19th

"I don’t know. Just trying to get everything we could get. You come into a race like this and you throw a couple Hail Mary’s and they rarely work, especially when you don’t have the car. That 9 (Chase Elliott) car is spectacular here and it was superfast. I followed him for a lot of laps trying to figure it out and he just gets smaller and smaller as he’s driving away. I don’t know, it’s not just this race. It’s a whole season and it’s a culmination of things that led to this and led to our elimination. We knew it coming into this round that this was going to be the hardest round for us to get through. Pretty much impossible and it was. We weren’t able to make up enough or get a win. We’ll just have to fight for a win here the rest of the year." - Kyle Busch, finished 30th