While those drivers flourished, other championship contenders struggled to make up ground. William Byron fell 15 points below the cutline after a late-race incident with Ty Dillon, relegating him to a 36th-place finish. Similarly, Ryan Blaney fell to eighth in the playoff standings after an early incident placed him last in the 38-car field.
Chase Elliott finished 18th, dropping him to 23 points below the cutline in sixth. Joey Logano had a solid finish with a sixth-place result, but failed to make up any ground on the cutoff and remains 24 points out in seventh.
The next stop for the NASCAR Cup Series is Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 19 for the YellaWood 500. Coverage of the event will be available on NBC, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.