18 Drivers Eliminated From NASCAR Title Contention After Talladega, Including William Byron and Chase Elliott

Pit This Time may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our coverage. Learn more.

Eighteen drivers across NASCAR’s three national series are out of title contention after the Talladega weekend, including Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Chase Elliott, leaving Kyle Larson as the only Hendrick driver who can still win the Cup Series championship.

Nine Cup drivers, five Truck Series drivers and four O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers can no longer win a title, no matter what happens in the last two races of the season.

Nine Cup drivers eliminated

A driver can score at most 76 points in a race, or 152 over the last two races. Every Cup Chase driver more than 152 points behind Larson after Talladega Superspeedway is out:

• Ty Gibbs, 183 back
• Austin Cindric, 183 back
• Carson Hocevar, 198 back
• William Byron, 214 back
• Chase Elliott, 218 back
• Bubba Wallace, 218 back
• Daniel Suárez, 240 back
• Ryan Preece, 249 back
• Chris Buescher, 255 back

Byron finished second to Larson at Talladega but could not close the gap. Elliott, the spring Martinsville winner, was caught in the Lap 132 crash and finished 36th.

Seven still alive in the Cup Series

Larson leads Denny Hamlin by 73 points. Christopher Bell is 74 back, Chase Briscoe 79, Joey Logano 100, Ryan Blaney 107 and Tyler Reddick 126. Larson clinches the title at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday if he leaves with a lead of at least 77 points over all of them, as Pit This Time reported.

Five Truck Series drivers out

In the Truck Series, Gio Ruggiero (177 back), Daniel Hemric (194), Ben Rhodes (203), Tyler Ankrum (214) and Grant Enfinger (219) can no longer catch leader Kaden Honeycutt with two races left. Honeycutt leads Layne Riggs by 43 points. Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith and Christian Eckes are all between 141 and 144 points back and still mathematically alive.

The Truck Series races at Martinsville on Friday night.

Four O’Reilly drivers out

In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff and Rajah Caruth are out of the title race. Jesse Love leads Justin Allgaier by 19 points, with Corey Day 29 back, Sheldon Creed 50 back and Carson Kvapil 59 back. Sammy Smith, who won at Talladega, is seventh, 108 back.

The O’Reilly Series races at Martinsville on Saturday and ends its season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 7.