The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kicked off last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Team Penske Ford Dark Horse Mustang, punched his way to the next round with a win, there are 15 other drivers still fighting their way to the Round of 12.

Over three months, 16 drivers will be dwindled to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. Here are the five drivers with the best chance to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

5) William Byron

An incredibly strong season has William Byron sitting comfortably in the playoff picture. He quickly established himself as someone to watch by securing his first win at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500 earlier this February.

Byron has also shown his versatility, winning at three different types of racetrack this season: a superspeedway (Daytona), road course (Circuit of the Americas) and short track (Martinsville Speedway).

Those victories don’t tell the full story of his season; through 26 races, he has suffered four DNFs (did not finish), and while not as many as another driver on the list, this has dropped him down the standings through NASCAR’s summer stretch.

Many people consider Byron a “boring driver”; however “boring drivers” have won the playoffs before (ex: Martin Truex Jr’s 2017 championship run). With Hendrick’s equipment, Byron has a strong chance of battling his way into the Championship 4.

Byron entered the playoffs in fourth with 2,022 points.

4) Chase Elliott

NASCAR’s most popular driver has been on a season of recovery after an injury at the start of last season that saw him miss out on the postseason. He enters the postseason as a former champion and enters this season as one of the veterans in this year’s playoff field.

Elliott put together a solid season, breaking an over one-race winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, with seven top-5s and 13 top-10s.

Elliott entered the playoffs seventh with 2,014 points.

3) Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell has been tantalizingly close to the championship the past two years. He’s demonstrated outstanding speed and racecraft at every level of his career, from dirt midgets to stock cars.

Last year, he was frustratingly close to the championship when a mechanical failure put him out of the race. Bell became the first Championship 4 driver to fail to finish in the season’s final race since Carl Edwards in 2016.

Bell has been sporadic this season as he has secured three wins but has DNF’d six times this season, more than any other driver on the list.

Bell entered the playoffs second with 2,032 points.

2)  Kyle Larson

After bursting back onto the top level of stock car racing in 2021, Kyle Larson has established himself as a future hall of famer and a generational talent. In his first season back, he won the championship with Hendrick Motorsports and has made the final round of the playoffs twice over the last three years.

Through 26 races, he has racked up four wins, ten top-fives and 13 top-10s. Similar to Bell, Larson has accumulated 10 stage wins, tied for the most this year.

Larson entered the playoffs first with 2,040 points.

1) Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick has proven himself beyond worthy of his 23XI Racing equipment. Two weeks ago, he wheeled his No.45 Toyota Camry to the regular season champion, beating Larson by one point.

He has racked up two wins, which, to some, can be a concern in a postseason that emphasizes winning. However, he leads the field with 10 top-fives and 19 top-10s, demonstrating that consistency can still get a driver a long way. 

Reddick entered the playoffs in 3rd with 2,028 points