The first year of the “new” Chase is almost at its end with four races left in the 2026 season. So, how has it been so far and what are the standings looking like?
Starting with the Cup Series, Kyle Larson leads the standings by 49 points to Denny Hamlin and 51 points to Christopher Bell. Behind Bell is Chase Briscoe, who is 65 points back, and Ryan Blaney, who is 85 points behind first.
Then there is Joey Logano at -92, Tyler Reddick at -114, Austin Cindric at -145, Ty Gibbs at -156 and Carson Hocevar at -180.
The final six drivers in the Cup Chase are Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece.
Overall, the Cup Chase has had a lot in store. Some of the favorites have shined while others have fallen further and further back.
Hamlin hasn’t been nearly as good as he was earlier in the season. Six races ago he looked great, top of the standings, 25 points clear of Ryan Blaney in second and the clear best driver in the series. But since then, he’s gone downhill.
He finished 18th at Darlington, ninth at Gateway, eighth at Bristol, third at Kansas, 16th at Las Vegas and now fifth at Charlotte; Hamlin hasn’t looked particularly good in any of those races. And top 10 finishes don’t cut it in the Chase.
On the other end, Larson has come alive in the Chase. After starting the Chase in seventh, Larson has worked his way up to the lead with great finish after great finish. Fifth in Darlington, first at Gateway, second at Bristol, first in Kansas, second at Las Vegas and sixth at Charlotte.
Another driver who has made major moves up the standings is Cindric. Cindric started in 15th place and now sits in eighth after some wonderful performances. Cindric would need an insane amount of luck to win the title, but he has been elite in these first six races. He finished 13th, 10th, 11th and 17th at Darlington, Gateway, Bristol and Charlotte respectively, but a second-place finish at Kansas and a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas has proven to be the difference for Cindric to move up the standings.
Meanwhile, Gibbs has fallen a ton since the start of the Chase. Gibbs started in fourth and looked like a legit contender entering the final 10 races. But after some middle of the pack finishes, the 24-year-old has fallen back to ninth. He started the Chase off well, finishing second at Darlington, but beyond that, four finishes below 15th including a 34th place finish at Charlotte that saw him get only three points. The Chase hasn’t been kind to him, but he still has speed, he just needs to find it.
Then there is Chase Briscoe, who has been on a tear these past two races. Briscoe started the Chase in fifth and is only in fourth now but with four to go he looks like the driver to beat. After poor finishes at Gateway and Bristol, Briscoe has opened the door with three straight top fives including wins at Las Vegas and Charlotte. Briscoe now sits only 65 points back from the championship lead and with how he has raced, it is very possible that we could see an upset.
But has the Chase been good? Has it been bad? Well, it looks to be a poor decision by NASCAR, especially when the fans want the sport to go back to a full-season points format.
And unlike the Chase, if NASCAR had a full season points format, Denny Hamlin would still be leading the standings by quite a large margin. The same goes for the O’Reilly and Truck Series. Both Justin Allgaier, who sits fourth in the O’Reilly Series, and Layne Riggs, who sits second in the Truck Series, would be dominating their respective championships.
And NASCAR’s “Playoff” gimmick only makes things worse when you look at the previous format. Motorsports is not about just a one or 10 race stretch. Motorsports is about the grueling and long-winded seasons that makes it so every race matters. In the current format, that isn’t the case for NASCAR.
You can win the first 26 races of the season, and in the Chase, if you falter just a little bit, you won’t win the title. The same went for the “playoffs.” If you won the first 35 races of the season, but you finished below another final four driver, you didn’t win the title.
So, NASCAR should just bring back a full-season points format. The fans want it, the drivers want it, the teams want it, everyone wants it. Everyone, apparently, except for NASCAR.
You can win every single game in the regular season in all other sports and lose title in the Supper bowl, World Series, NBA, NHL, Golf, tennis and all other sports…..who would watch the final if one team already had championship in the bag with 5 races to go?