NASCAR Update: Oct. 10

As the NASCAR season reaches its final lap, the excitement continues to build every race.

The fight for the Cup Series is closer than ever, as many racers are neck and neck in the standings.

Currently ranked No. 1 out of all the drivers in the playoffs is William Byron.

The North Carolina native has emerged as a star for Hendrick Motorsports, winning the Daytona 500 earlier this year.

The 2018 rookie of the year has had a successful year overall, winning three races this season to go along with ten top-5 finishes.

Two players that are currently chasing Byron are Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.

Despite either of them not being first, they both have led more laps than Byron.

Both players have work to do if they want to catch up, but they are nowhere near out of it.

As far as the race in Talladega went, it was No. 24 ranked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who ended up getting across the finish line first in a chaotic race.

Despite not being playoff eligible, Stenhouse Jr. was able to celebrate his fifth career trophy win, and first win since the Daytona 500 in 2023.

With five laps remaining in the race, there was a big collision that caused the red flag to come out.

The crash affected eight of the 12 playoff-contending cars. The next race will determine who will survive and advance to the next round of the Cup Series.

The next event will be taking place in Charlotte this upcoming Sunday, as plenty of racers will look to make one final push.

Byron, Bell and Larson look to have locked up spots to make it to the next round. Bell and Larson have both been great road racers, so they can easily get enough points to qualify for the next round.

A player that hasn’t been of discussion yet is Ryan Blaney, who won the Cup Series Championship last year.

Blaney currently is ranked No. 6 in the standings and is 49 points behind the leader Byron.

Despite the success he’s had in previous years, Blaney’s finishes this season could put him in jeopardy of missing the next round.

His average finish during the 2024 season is 16.161.

Another driver to watch as we approach the next playoff race is Alex Bowman, who is ranked No. 5 in the standings.

Bowman currently leads all racers in the postseason in points scored with 189.

On top of Bowman going to one of his best tracks, he will be looking to finish strong to advance along with the other talented racers fighting for positioning.

Tallageda once again provided us with the chaos everyone was expecting to see.

How much excitement will the next race have? Make sure to tune in this upcoming Sunday to find out.

Ben Barker is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bsb5566@psu.edu.