It seems like not too long ago, 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick winning the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship felt like a foregone conclusion.
Then Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin won three races in a row and continued to finish ahead of Reddick afterward to not only vault his way into contention but to take the points lead, ending Reddick's 17-race streak on top to start the year.
Now it appears to be a three-way fight, with Team Penske's Ryan Blaney quietly within striking distance after his victory at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) this past weekend. Like Hamlin, he too had been more than 120 points behind the leader, and now he's within one weekend's worth of points of the top spot.
Given how quickly Hamlin and Blaney managed to close the gap, don't rule out Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs from joining the party over the course of the regular season's final six races either.
Here is how things look inside the top 10 heading into Sunday night's Window World 450, which is set to be the first points race at North Wilkesboro Speedway since 1996.
NASCAR Cup Series standings before North Wilkesboro
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 791 | 0 |
2 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 767 | -24 |
3 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 726 | -65 |
4 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 665 | -126 |
5 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 610 | -181 |
6 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 594 | -197 |
7 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 568 | -223 |
8 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 563 | -228 |
9 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 551 | -240 |
10 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 542 | -249 |
A full starting lineup for Sunday night's 450-lap race around the four-turn, 0.625-mile (1.006-kilometer) North Wilkesboro, North Carolina oval was determined by the qualifying metric after Saturday's single-car qualifying session was canceled due to storms, marking the fifth canceled oval qualifying session of 2026.
Follow along with our standings updates from North Wilkesboro as the Window World 450 unfolds.
NOTE: Only the top 10 drivers are included after the first two stages.
NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro: Standings updates
NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro: Standings after Stage 1
NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro: Standings after Stage 2
NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro: Full standings after Window World 450
The Brickyard 400 is the 22nd race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and it is set to be shown live on TNT from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 26. Don't miss TNT Sports' final race of the season, which is also set to serve as the championship round of the In-Season Challenge!
