Sprint Cup Chase grid: Harvick, Logano headline bottom fou

Sunday was not a good day to be a driver in the Chase for the Sprint Cup after five of the 12 remaining finished 30th or worse at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon are tied at three points behind Denny Hamlin in eighth, the cutoff spot for the third round. Following them are Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
But it was business as usual for Jimmie Johnson at Charlotte, who won his track record eight race. He advances to the third round for the first time since the elimination format was introduced.
Immediately behind Johnson is Matt Kenseth (+31) and Kyle Busch (+27).
Click here to see the full Sprint Cup Chase Grid.

Sprint Cup Chase grid: Truex, Harvick lead 12 drivers into second round

The Sprint Cup Chase grid has four fewer drivers now after the completion of the first round.
No longer eligible for the championship are Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, Chris Buescher and Jamie McMurray.
Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick advanced to the second round off wins while the rest of the 12-driver field was based off points.
Round two will be made up of Truex, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Brad  Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon.
The second round will take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
Click here for the full Chase grid following the first round.

Chase grid: Larson, Harvick among first four out with Stewart on edge of cutoff

One race is down in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with two races left in the first round.

Martin Truex Jr. locked himself into the second round with his win at Chicagoland Speedway.

Here is a look at the Chase grid ahead of expected points penalties for Truex and Jimmie Johnson failing post-race laser inspection on Sunday.

The first four drivers currently out of the top 12 would be Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.

Tony Stewart is in the 12th position, one point above the cutoff. Johnson is currently 10th on the grid, but a possible 10-point penalty would drop him to a three-way tie with Harvick and Dillon.

Here’s the full Chase grid.

Chase grid: Denny Hamlin vaults up standings, Kyle Larson on edge of top 16

With his win in the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International, Denny Hamlin became the sixth Sprint Cup driver to win multiple races in 2015. He jumped six spots on the latest Chase grid to fourth.

Losing spots were Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon, who each dropped two spots after being involved in a multi-car wreck Sunday that led to Johnson finishing last.

Luckily, Johnson is already locked into the Chase. Dillon is 14th on the grid and has yet to win this season.

Chris Buescher, who won last week at Pocono Raceway, is still not on the grid. After finishing 33rd due to being in a late wreck and being forced to go to the garage, Buescher is still three points out the top 30 in points. A driver must have a win and be in the top 30 to automatically qualify for the Chase.

AJ Allmendinger re-entered the top 20 after finishing fourth Sunday. He is now 34 points behind the cutoff spot of 16th. In 16th is Kyle Larson. Larson is teetering on the edge of the top 16, only eight points up on 17th, after Allmendinger wrecked him on the final lap of Sunday’s race, sending Larson to a 29th-place finish instead of a top five.

Chase Grid: Ryan Blaney on bubble with 11 races left before playoffs begin

Joey Logano‘s win last weekend at Michigan International Speedway made him the 10th different winner this season, leaving six playoffs spots based on points. Ryan Blaney fell one spot to 16th — the final transfer spot — after finishing 17th in Sunday’s race. Blaney leads Kasey Kahne by 11 points for 16th.

Tony Stewart, who finished seventh on Sunday, is 45 points out of 30th place with 11 races to go before the playoffs start. He must be in the top 30 in points and win a race to make the Chase.

Here’s a look at the Chase Grid after 15 races:

Chase Grid: Kenseth qualifies, Elliott earns big gain after Dover

With his win at Dover International Speedway, Matt Kenseth became the first driver to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the last five races.

There have now been seven different winners through the first 12 races of the Sprint Cup season. With Denny Hamlin‘s poor performance since winning the Daytona 500, Kenseth was able to move up eight spots on the latest Chase grid to sixth, ahead of Hamlin.

Chase Elliott, who finished third Sunday for a career-best result, moved up three spots on the grid to ninth. The only driver ahead of him on the gird who hasn’t won a race is Kurt Busch. Busch is the only driver with 10 finishes in the top 10 through 12 races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon had the biggest drops, each falling three spots to 13th and 12th, respectively.

The first four drivers out of the 16 spots that will qualify for the Chase are AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.