Saturday night (9/10) NASCAR‘s final 2016 regular season race at Richmond was won by Denny Hamlin and that set the 16 driver Chase Grid for the playoffs.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers raced the short track of Richmond International Raceway for the second time this year, some simply wanted the bonus points to start The Chase. Other drivers needed a win to make NASCAR’s playoffs. That may be part of what led to a record setting 16 caution periods that led to a green-white-checkered finish for the race.

Martin Truex Jr. led the most laps during the race with 193 circuits as the leader in the 407 laps ran (the race was scheduled for 400 laps). However, Denny Hamlin was just behind him in the laps led total with 189. In the end it is that final lap that matters the most and Denny was the leader when the checkered flag waived.

Denny scored his third win of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, giving him extra bonus points to start The Chase. Kyle Larson scored a second place finish with Martin Truex Jr. grabbing third. Brad Keselowski finished in fourth place with Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five. See the complete race results for the Federated Auto Parts 400 here.

Kyle Busch jumped up six places to end the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup regular season as the point leader. Brad Keselowski held stead in second place in the point standings. Denny Hamlin moved up two spots to third place while Kevin Harvick fell three spots from the lead to fourth place. Carl Edwards slipped back a single spot to fifth place. See the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.

Of course, for the most part those point standings mean a lot less now. Wins and the points up to this point have set the Chase Grid for the start of NASCAR’s playoffs. However, the points have been re-set for those 16 drivers with a chance to win the championship with bonus points awarded to the drivers for each regular season win they had. Here is how the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Grid looks to start The Chase.

Now these 16 drivers will have three races in the “Round of 16” to either win a race and automatically advance to the next round or be in the top 12 based on points in the three races to advance. Following the third race of this round, the bottom four drivers in points will be eliminated from The Chase.

NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup begins Sunday, September 18th at Chicagoland Speedway with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400.

By: Buck Stevens