Chase standings take another major turn after Watkins Glen

By foxsports
Published

Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International saw the standings for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup take another unpredictable turn, as Denny Hamlin put on a late-race charge to win for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500.

With 22 of 26 races complete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season so far, following are the 16 drivers who currently Chase eligible. The final Chase grid will be sent after race No. 26 at Richmond International Raceway.

Currently Chase eligible:

Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, four wins each;

Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, and Jimmie Johnson, two wins each; and 

Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano, one win each.

The five winless drivers who right now are Chase eligible are: 

Ryan Newman of Richard Childress Racing leads all winless drivers with 562 points. 

Rookie Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports is next with 561 points.

Then it's Austin Dillon (559), Jamie McMurray (550) and Kyle Larson (520). 

Larson got spun on the last lap by AJ Allmendinger, which cost him a top-five finish and about 25 points. 

Chris Buescher, who won at Pocono last week, got caught up in a late-race crash and finished 30th. Unofficially, Buescher is now 3 points behind David Ragan for 30th place in the points.  

For Buescher to make the Chase, he will have to leave Richmond in the top 30 in points. If Buescher makes it into the top 30, Larson would be the bubble driver who would get knocked out of the Chase. 

On the outside looking in with four races to go are Trevor Bayne (512 points), Kasey Kahne (509) and Ryan Blaney (502). Of course, if one of them wins in the next four races, it would change everything.

For the full unofficial Sprint Cup points standings after Watkins Glen, see below.