The first regular season of NASCAR's newest "way of doing things" officially ended with the checkered flag for Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
The postseason, now known as the Chase, still begins at Darlington with the Labor Day weekend Southern 500. But starting this year, the championship-chasing field is made up of the top 16 drivers in the final regular-season point standings.
Five drivers entered Saturday night's race mathematically within range of reaching that top 16 or falling out of it. The top 13 in points, entering the Coke 400, had clinched their Chase spots.
Here they are, along with the others who'll go to Darlington to begin the 10-week run toward the 2026 Cup Series championship.
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NASCAR drivers who clinched playoff berths before Daytona- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Blaney
- Tyler Reddick
- Ty Gibbs
- Chase Briscoe
- Christopher Bell
- Chase Elliott
- Kyle Larson
- Joey Logano
- Chris Buescher
- Daniel Suarez
- Carson Hocevar
- William Byron
- Bubba Wallace
- Austin Cindric
- Ryan Preece
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Brad Keselowski
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR Chase field officially set after Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
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