The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs kicked off with the sport’s traditional intensity, opening with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington on August 31 and moving straight into the pressure cooker of Gateway the following weekend. The postseason still follows the 16-driver, 4-round elimination format, and the Round of 16 schedule: Darlington, World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway), and Bristol, which meant teams had almost no margin for error out of the gate. With the frantic opening set, the first two races already separated the steady from the shaken.

By the time the green flag fell at Gateway, a handful of drivers had done what matters most in the playoffs: win or bank enough points to breathe easier. Race winners clinch automatic advancement, and Chase Briscoe’s Darlington victory i

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