Just 12 points separate three drivers – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+12), Chris Buescher (+12) and Matt DiBenedetto (-12) along the Playoff cutline through 10 races of NASCAR Cup Series competition in 2021. Each week the Playoff bubble bounces shaking up the standings near the cutoff for this season’s Playoffs.
Nine drivers have secured their spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on wins this season – Martin Truex Jr. (two wins), Joey Logano, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell (each have one win) – leaving just seven spots still up for grabs with 16 races left in the regular season.
| Rank | Driver | Points | Wins | Stages | Playoff Pts | Pts From Cutoff |
| 10 | Denny Hamlin | 446 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 229 |
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | 308 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | 306 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 89 |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 271 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
| 14 | Austin Dillon | 268 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 |
| 15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 229 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 16 | Chris Buescher | 229 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 17 | Matt DiBenedetto | 217 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -12 |
| 18 | Kurt Busch | 216 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -13 |
| 19 | Ryan Newman | 198 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -31 |
| 20 | Bubba Wallace | 196 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -33 |
| 21 | * Ryan Preece | 192 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -37 |
| 22 | Tyler Reddick | 191 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -38 |
| 23 | Cole Custer | 178 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -51 |
| 24 | Daniel Suarez | 174 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -55 |
| 25 | Ross Chastain | 173 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -56 |
| 26 | Aric Almirola | 159 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -70 |
| 27 | Erik Jones | 157 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -72 |
| 28 | Chase Briscoe # | 155 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -74 |
| 29 | Anthony Alfredo # | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -129 |
| 30 | Corey LaJoie | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -138 |
Of the four drivers within 15 points (+/-) of the cutline, Kurt Busch (-13 points from cutline) has the best average finish at Kansas Speedway with a 15.9; followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (19.1), Chris Buescher (19.6) and Matt DiBenedetto (25.5)
