The race at North Wilkesboro has had a significant impact on the NASCAR Cup standings, with Joey Logano achieving his first victory of the 2026 season. This win has allowed Logano to move above the cut line for the Chase, earning a crucial number of points.
At the top of the table, Denny Hamlin has extended his lead after an incident during the race with Tyler Reddick and a speeding penalty on Ryan Blaney. Currently, Hamlin has a 68-point lead over Reddick, while Blaney is 87 points behind the leader.
The situation around the cut line for the Chase has become more competitive. Austin Cindric has lost some positions following a strong performance by Logano (+49) and Shane van Gisbergen (+54). Cindric is now 33 points above Erik Jones, who occupies the 16th and final spot for the Chase.
After the race at North Wilkesboro, it is noted that no one has moved more than two positions in the standings. Now, only five races remain to finish the regular season, with the next competition scheduled for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Standings 2026 (Race 21 of 36)
Pos. Driver Points Positions Gained or Lost
1 Denny Hamlin 842 —
2 Tyler Reddick 774 —
3 Ryan Blaney 755 —
4 Ty Gibbs 708 —
5 Chase Elliott 634 —
6 Kyle Larson 616 —
7 Carson Hocevar 598 +1
8 Chase Briscoe 587 +2
9 Chris Buescher 585 -2
10 Christopher Bell 574 -1
11 Daniel Suarez 558 —
12 William Byron 546 —
13 Bubba Wallace 531 —
14 Shane van Gisbergen 516 +1
15 Joey Logano 511 +2
16 Austin Cindric 495 -2
CHASE CUT
17 Erik Jones 462 —
18 Ryan Preece 447 —
19 Brad Keselowski 437 —
20 Michael McDowell 412 +1
21 Ross Chastain 412 -1
22 AJ Allmendinger 397 —
23 Todd Gilliland 384 +1
24 Zane Smith 371 -1
25 Riley Herbst 369 —
26 John Hunter Nemechek 350 +1
27 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 347 -1
28 Austin Dillon 341 —
29 Alex Bowman 292 —
30 Ty Dillon 259 +1
31 Noah Gragson 253 -1
32 Cole Custer 246 —
33 Josh Berry 234 —
34 Connor Zilisch 213 —
35 Cody Ware 177 —
36 Kevin Magnussen 11 —
37 Casey Mears 10 —
38 Jimmie Johnson 9 —
39 Katherine Legge 8 —
40 BJ McLeod 4 —
Note: Kyle Busch accumulated 217 points before his unfortunate outcome. Currently, NASCAR has decided not to rank Busch in the weekly driver standings.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
