With a runner-up finish, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin extended his lead in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings over 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick in the series' most recent race at North Wilkesboro Speedway one week ago.
With five races remaining on the 26-race regular season schedule, the driver of the No. 11 Toyota appears to be in the catbird seat to win the regular season championship.
Having said that, what once looked like a relatively safe 129-point lead for Reddick is now a 68-point deficit, so things can definitely still change; the regular season battle is far from over. Even Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, who is 87 points behind Hamlin, still has an outside chance. Hamlin, Reddick, and Blaney have all clinched playoff spots.
As the battle for playoff seeding continues, here is how the top 10 in the standings stack up heading into Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series standings before Indianapolis
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 842 | 380 |
2 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 774 | 312 |
3 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 755 | 293 |
4 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 708 | 246 |
5 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 634 | 172 |
6 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 616 | 154 |
7 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 598 | 136 |
8 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 587 | 125 |
9 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 585 | 123 |
10 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 574 | 112 |
A full starting lineup for Sunday's 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval was determined by Saturday's single-car qualifying session, with Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar on pole.
Follow along with our standings updates from Indianapolis as the Brickyard 400 unfolds.
NOTE: Only the top 10 drivers are included after the first two stages.
NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis: Standings updates
NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis: Standings after Stage 1
NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis: Standings after Stage 2
NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis: Full standings after Brickyard 400
After next week's off weekend, the second and final off weekend of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, action is scheduled to resume at Iowa Speedway with the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday, August 9. USA Network is set to provide live coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET to open up NBC's season-ending portion of the broadcast schedule, so begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!
