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Cup Series playoff grid after Pocono

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NASCAR America reviews the playoff standings after an action-packed weekend at Pocono, assesses the performances of the Cup Series rookies, and previews the upcoming race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

For now, Erik Jones is back in and Tyler Reddick is out, with Austin Dillon moving up.

That’s how the NASCAR Cup playoff standings shape up with 11 races remaining in the regular season following last weekend’s doubleheader at Pocono Raceway. The series races at 4 p.m. ET Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on NBC.

Jones’ third-place finish Sunday not only was a significant rebound from Saturday’s 38th-place showing after a wreck, he vaulted over Reddick to take the 16th and final spot for the 10-race Cup playoffs.

Jones had previously been ranked as high as 13th in the playoff picture following last month’s two races at Charlotte, only to get knocked out of the top 16 after finishing 21st at Miami.

“We feel like we definitely should make the playoffs,” said Jones, who entered Sunday six points out of a playoff spot. “We’ve done that the last few years and I don’t see this year as any different.”

Reddick lost his power steering as Sunday’s race began. After repairs were made, his team had to change an alternator belt. Reddick finished 35th, dropping him to 18th in the playoff standings, 26 points behind Jones for the final playoff spot.

Dillon, Reddick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, finished 14th Sunday to climb to 17th in the playoff standings. He is 14 points behind Jones.

As for the eight drivers locked into the playoffs with wins, Denny Hamlin has the most playoff points (23), followed by Kevin Harvick (16), Joey Logano (14), Brad Keselowski (13), Chase Elliott (10), Alex Bowman (9), Martin Truex Jr. (7) and Ryan Blaney (6).

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