Martin Truex Jr. kicked off the 2019 playoffs in style at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and took home the checkered flag in the South Point 400.
Truex punched his ticket to the next round with the win, which was his fifth overall victory this year.
He led for 32 laps and finished ahead of second-place finisher Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski, who placed third.
Kurt Busch didn’t finish the race because of a crash and placed last.
The next playoff race will be Sept. 21 at the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.
NASCAR playoff points standings 2019
| Rank | Driver | Wins | Points |
| No. 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 5 | 2,082 |
| No. 2 | Kevin Harvick | 3 | 2,079 |
| No. 3 | Joey Logano | 2 | 2,075 |
| No. 4 | Kyle Busch | 4 | 2,063 |
| No. 5 | Brad Keselowski | 3 | 2,058 |
| No. 6 | Chase Elliott | 2 | 2,057 |
| No. 7 | Denny Hamlin | 4 | 2,056 |
| No. 8 | Kyle Larson | 0 | 2,044 |
| No. 9 | William Byron | 1 | 2,040 |
| No. 10 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | 2,039 |
| No. 11 | Alex Bowman | 0 | 2,037 |
| No. 12 | Aric Almirola | 0 | 2,033 |
| No. 13 | Ryan Newman | 0 | 2,027 |
| No. 14 | Kurt Busch | 1 | 2,019 |
| No. 15 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 2,012 |
| No. 16 | Erik Jones | 1 | 2,007 |
| No. 17 | Daniel Suarez | 0 | 672 |
| No. 18 | Jimmie Johnson | 0 | 635 |
| No. 19 | Paul Menard | 0 | 598 |
| No. 20 | Chris Buescher | 0 | 573 |
| No. 21 | Austin Dillon | 0 | 510 |
| No. 22 | Matt DiBenedetto | 0 | 502 |
| No. 23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 0 | 500 |
| No. 24 | Ty Dillon | 0 | 462 |
| No. 25 | Daniel Hemric | 0 | 393 |
| No. 26 | Bubba Wallace | 0 | 365 |
| No. 27 | Ryan Preece | 0 | 364 |
| No. 28 | Michael McDowell | 0 | 337 |
| No. 29 | Corey LaJoie | 0 | 307 |
| No. 30 | David Ragan | 0 | 200 |
| No. 31 | Matt Tifft | 0 | 275 |
| No. 32 | Reed Sorenson | 0 | 90 |
| No. 33 | Quin Houff | 0 | 71 |
| No. 34 | Jamie McMurray | 0 | 19 |
| No. 35 | Austin Theriault | 0 | 10 |
| No. 36 | Andy Seuss | 0 | 9 |
| No. 37 | Stanton Barrett | 0 | 2 |
| No. 38 | Casey Mears | 0 | 1 |
How the NASCAR playoffs work:
At all three NASCAR national series, there are a number of eliminations that will take place as the playoffs progress. This will leave a crop of drivers for the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where they will race “straight-up” for the title as the first of the four championship-eligible drivers to cross the finish line is crowned the champion.
Round-by-round
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
– 16 drivers, four rounds
– Playoffs begin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
– Cutoff races: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Kansas Speedway, ISM Raceway at Phoenix
How drivers earn points:
– Win Stage 1 or Stage 2 in a race: 1 playoff point (point awarded per stage win)
– Win a race: 5 playoff points
– Win the regular-season championship: 15 playoff points
Second place in the final regular-season standings earns 10 playoff points, third place receives eight points, and the points awarded decline to one point for 10th (4th = 7 points, 5th = 6 points, etc.).
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Championship-contending drivers can accumulate additional playoff points throughout the playoffs via stage and race wins and may use all the playoff points they earn, from both the regular season and the playoffs, to advance all the way up to the Championship 4.
Playoff points are added to a championship-contending driver’s reset points total at the start of every round of the Playoffs until they are eliminated from championship contention.
If a driver accumulates playoff points during the regular season, but does not qualify for the playoffs, their playoff points are eliminated from the scoreboard.
At Homestead-Miami, playoff points are off the table and the Championship four drivers enter the “winner-take-all” race tied in the standings.
Cup playoff information provided by NASCAR.