Kyle Larson has scored a series-best 255 stage points.

He enters the playoffs atop the standings with 2040 points.

Larson has nine wins in 70 career playoff starts. … Chase Elliott has seven wins in 70 career playoff starts.

The organization has won three of the five races at Atlanta under the current configuration.

William Byron has two of those wins at Atlanta during that stretch.

Elliott and Alex Bowman are back in the playoffs after not being in it last year.

Larson has not finished in the top 10 in his last 13 starts at a drafting track.

His last top 10 at such a track came when he finished fourth at Talladega in April 2022.

A disappointed Richard Childress, who has raced in NASCAR as a team owner for 55 years, indicated that NASCAR’s ruling and its appeals decisions that revoked Austin Dillon’s playoff spot will have a huge impact on NASCAR racing and he also considers himself having received the biggest fine in NASCAR history in the money lost in not making the playoffs.

“Their ruling has changed NASCAR racing on the final lap forever,” Childress said Saturday prior to Cup practice at Darlington Raceway, later adding, “It’s over a million dollars to us.

The largest fine ever in NASCAR. I’m just disappointed, disappointed, disappointed.

That’s all I can say.”