Alex Bowman firmly on NASCAR playoff bubble after Richmond

Alex Bowman won't be able to sleep easily this week. 

Following Austin Dillon's victory in Saturday's Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Bowman, who finished runner-up to Dillon on Saturday, holds the 16th and final provisional Cup Series playoff spot going into the regular season finale at Daytona. 

While Bowman has a 60-point advantage over Chris Buescher for the final spot, a new winner from 17th or below on the playoff grid would knock Bowman out of the postseason. In the five years since Daytona became the regular season finale, three winners of the Daytona summer race have been first-time winners on the season. 

"Certainly really stressful on a lot of fronts," Bowman told USA Network regarding his new playoff situation. "I think with the way that race normally goes, it's about a must-win at that point. I think you're most likely going to have a new winner. Just need to go execute (and) try to go win the race. That's all we really can do. Just one spot short tonight." 

Had Bowman been able to get around Dillon and win Saturday's race himself, he'd be carefree at Daytona next weekend. Unfortunately for the No. 48 team, they'll have to sweat out the final 400 miles of the regular season.