For the first time since June, Denny Hamlin is not the NASCAR Cup Series points leader. That honor now belongs to Kyle Larson, one of three Chase winners and the only driver to finish top-five in each of the last three races.
Larson entered Bristol Motor Speedway nine points behind Hamlin. By earning 47 points on Saturday to Hamlin’s 37, he moved himself to the top of the Chase leaderboard by a single point. Hamlin’s 25-point advantage entering Darlington Raceway three weeks ago has proven vulnerable and ultimately short-lived.
On paper, Larson didn’t seem like the driver who’d first dethrone Hamlin in the Chase. He entered seventh in the standings, 55 points out of the lead. Equally surprising is that ninth-seed Joey Logano has surged to third, himself now 16 points back after starting 65 points behind.
The Importance of Winning
The clear separator in the standings thus far appears to be wins. The three winning drivers in the first three Chase races – Larson, Logano, and Christopher Bell, have largely neutralized Hamlin’s initial cushion to come within 17 points of one another at the top. The next driver back, Ty Gibbs, is 42 points out.
A closer look at the points yields through three Chase races places even greater emphasis on winning. Larson, Logano, and Bell have earned by far the most points of the 16 Chase drivers. Race winners earn 55 points compared to 35 points for second place – this means the runner-up would need to sweep the stage wins while the winner earns zero stage points in order to offset the points incentive for the victory.
Even with Bubba Wallace’s 104-point haul so far (about 35 per race) and Carson Hocevar’s 101 points (about 34 per race), both drivers are behind the paces they need to run for the championship. The formula of consistency and solid points days may be proving inadequate. For drivers such as them, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe, one or multiple wins could be the last lifeline for a championship run in 2026.
New Points leader Kyle Larson leads all Chase drivers with 161 points scored through the first 3 races of The Chase.
Ryan Blaney has scored the most Stage Points (40), but with back-to-back finishes outside the Top 30, he has the 6th fewest points scored overall. pic.twitter.com/lz8Z0Q9wvq
— Daniel Céspedes (@_DanielCespedes) September 21, 2026
