As NASCAR Cup Series drivers head to Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday in their return from the Easter break, they find themselves in different positions.
For some, the off weekend was desperately needed after slow starts to the season. For drivers such as Ty Gibbs, who continues to inch closer to his first win amid all the fan backlash he continues to receive, and Tyler Reddick, who is finally favored to win the championship after a historic start to the season, it put a pause on their consistent stretch of races to begin the 2026 campaign.
Martinsville Speedway winner Chase Elliott, however, has had an extra week to build on his first win of the season and head into the grueling stretch of races ahead with some additional momentum. He may not always accumulate the stage points or run toward the front as often as fans would expect, but his consistency is unmatched.
In a new points system that puts more of an emphasis on points than in years past, Elliott was someone whom many in the industry expected to benefit the most. Unlike the previous format, though, when drivers would accumulate playoff points for each stage and race win, being able to consistently put finishes together will be key for the 10-race "Chase" to crown a champion.
Chase Elliott excelling under new points system
To be fair, wins still matter and are obviously the ultimate goal regardless of the format. Just ask Reddick, who already has a sizable 82-point lead over Ryan Blaney and a 104-point advantage over Elliott, who is currently fourth.
While that may be the case, those playoff points are no longer available, so it is even more crucial for drivers to amass as many points as they can throughout the season to put themselves in the best position when the 16 playoff drivers are re-seeded for the Chase. That is where Elliott's consistency comes into the play.
Aside from a 23rd place finish at Phoenix Raceway, where the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization struggled, Elliott has finished 15th or better in every race. That includes an overachieving seventh at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), where he took matters into his own hands with an on-the-spot decision to pit under green, and a 15th place result at Darlington Raceway when his teammate, Kyle Larson, made a late mistake and suffered a toe link issue that dropped him to 32nd.
Throw in a runner-up showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after he was battling for the lead throughout the race, and the Martinsville race during which he led a season-high 84 laps, combined with zero DNFs, and Elliott is in the middle of the points battle. Six drivers have led more laps than Elliott (103), including series leader Denny Hamlin (444), but the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran is only 10 points ahead of Elliott.
Since Elliott equaled his career-high for wins with five when the Next Gen Car made its debut during the 2022 season, he has only won four races. Even when he finally broke through for his first wins in 2024 and 2025 following a winless 2023 season, his overall lack of victories and stage points kept him toward the bottom of the playoff standings and put him at a deficit when the postseason began.
The regular season champion is set to be awarded a 25-point advantage to begin the Chase, with an additional 10-point drop-off to third and a five-point drop for each playoff driver thereafter.
There is still clearly an advantage for the regular season champion, but unlike under the prior format, when several drivers could have a substantial edge on the field to start each round, someone with Elliott's consistency could easily put enough results together to be close enough to the top to be in contention for the title after the lone points reset.
From there, it is about putting the most consistent results together over the 10 playoff races. While Elliott still needs to show he can return to the front more regularly, his start to the season serves as a reminder of his craft and how he always tends to be around for a solid finish at the end.
Wins reward the consistency even more, but if he can continue to put these types of results together and be close enough to the points lead to start the playoffs, it would be hard to count the No. 9 team out.