NASCAR has a new points leader heading into the break
By Asher Fair
NASCAR has another new leader of the Cup Series point standings following Sunday afternoon’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
We are now 16 races into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, and the series is set for its one and only off weekend of the season next weekend.
Heading into the break, the Cup Series has another new points leader. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who dominated Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway en route to securing his second win of the season, his fourth career win at the track, and his 33rd career Cup Series win, is the sixth driver to lead the standings through the first 16 races of the season.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who dropped to a third place tie in the standings after a 31st place finish, had been the points leader. He took the lead for the first time this season after the previous race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Martin Truex Jr., who missed last year’s playoffs with his first winless season since 2014, had not led the NASCAR Cup Series standings since 2019.
He hadn’t led the actual point standings (excluding playoff resets) since 2018. The 2017 champion now has a 13-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, with Blaney and Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain a further 11 points behind.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick is just one point behind Blaney and Chastain, so just 25 points separate the top five.
Of course, we would be remiss not to mention the fact that Byron has technically scored more points than Truex this year. He was docked 60 points after the early April race at Richmond Raceway as a result of a greenhouse violation that was discovered on his No. 24 Chevrolet. Without that penalty, he would be ahead of Truex by 47 points.
Byron, who is tied with Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch atop the wins list with three so far in 2023, has not officially led the standings yet this year.
dark. Next. All-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list
Sunday afternoon’s race wrapped up Fox’s portion of the broadcast schedule, with NBC set to take over on Sunday, June 25 when the season is scheduled to resume at Nashville Superspeedway. The Ally 400 is set to be broadcast live on NBC starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don’t miss it!