.Bob Pockrass.FOX NASCAR Insider.The biggest concern of those defending a playoff location in the NASCAR Cup Series is that a chauffeur that isn't from another location in the mix vaults into the playoffs along with a distressed victory.Hello, Austin DillonDillon, that was actually 32nd in the standings entering into Richmond, placed themself in the playoffs with a victory-- albeit a controversial one-- on Sunday, the 23rd ethnicity of the 26-race routine season.Following Richmond, 3 nationalities stay to place the playoff range: Michigan, Daytona and Darlington.The NASCAR playoffs include 16 vehicle drivers-- the regular-season champion and then the next 15 vehicle drivers placed by success along with dead heats violated by points.With the top seven vehicle drivers in the standings all having at least one success, the regular-season champion likely will be just one of the champions. Thirteen vehicle drivers have won this year, meaning up to 3 areas may be accessible on factors. Thus that resides in, that gets on the bubble and that goes to win-at-all-costs? Those 13 motorists with triumphes that remain in: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Pursuit Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric as well as Austin Dillon.The blister transformed significantly along with Dillon's success as right now maximum simply three spots-- not 4 as prior to the Richmond race-- might be readily available to winless chauffeurs. Each Chris Buescher and also Ross Chastain dropped beneath the cutline while Bubba Wallace relocated to the silver lining of being just one of the 3 winless chauffeurs along with the most points.Joey Logano explains Austin Dillon's overtime move to win the 400 Thus allow's specify: There are actually 5 winless drivers that would be combating for the current 3 spots accessible exclusively on points.Martin Truex Jr. has a 78-point side on the cutline (currently Buescher and Chastain), with 60 points on Ty Gibbs, that is actually 15 aspects above Wallace. Buescher and Chastain, tied in the status, are actually 3 points responsible for Wallace.In other phrases, it's mosting likely to be a fight to the finish.Buescher won at Michigan and also Daytona in 2014, however those additionally are areas where Wallace customarily has managed effectively. Gibbs still seeks his 1st profession Mug succeed. Chastain is actually the chauffeur along with one of the most recent expertise in playoff pressure conditions, where he mostly has actually verified he can make points happen.There are 16 other playoff-eligible motorists who essentially skin must-win circumstances: Pursuit Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Todd Gilliland, Josh Berry, Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, John Seeker Nemechek, Harrison Burton and Zane Smith.Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has actually spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with assignments at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene publication as well as The (Daytona Seaside) News-Journal. Observe him on Twitter @bobpockrass. Obtain a lot more coming from NASCAR Mug Series Follow your favorites to obtain relevant information about activities, news as well as even more.