The full-season NASCAR Cup Series championship enthusiasts are absolutely going to love (or maybe hate) this one.
On the same day that two-time champion Kyle Larson put himself in strong position to win a second consecutive title, provided he simply avoids disaster at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, he was also eliminated from finishing the 2026 season with the most total points scored across all 36 races.
Larson's championship lead grew from five points to 73 points with his victory at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, his first career win on a drafting track.
Entering the 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval, there were six drivers within 56 points of Larson. Those six drivers are all now between 73 and 126 points behind the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
When NASCAR ditched the "win and in", knockout-style playoff format and went back to an iteration of the "Chase", there were two main groups of fans. One group was grateful for the change in general. The other was also grateful for the removal of the old playoffs, but would have preferred the full-season, pre-2004-style championship to return.
What if NASCAR would have gone with a full-season points format, with no postseason and thus no post-regular season points reset?
Ironically, Larson would have been eliminated at Talladega, even with his victory.
He would have entered the race 217 points behind points leader Denny Hamlin with a maximum of 228 points still up for grabs. Despite the victory, he'd only have moved to 175 points behind Hamlin. With 152 points still up for grabs over the season's final two races, his championship chances would be over for 2026.
Only Team Penske's Ryan Blaney (-98) and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick (-151) would still have a chance to beat Hamlin for the championship, and Reddick would literally need Hamlin to miss one of the races to be mathematically eligible.
Here is a list of how many total points each playoff driver has scored through 34 races this year, with no post-regular season reset.
NASCAR full-season Cup Series point standings
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1295 | 0 |
2 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 1197 | -98 |
3 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 1144 | -151 |
4 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 1120 | -175 |
5 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1090 | -205 |
6 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1075 | -220 |
7 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1068 | -227 |
8 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford | 1015 | -280 |
9 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 906 | -389 |
10 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 896 | -399 |
11 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford | 884 | -411 |
12 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 878 | -417 |
13 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota | 864 | -431 |
14 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 852 | -443 |
15 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 833 | -462 |
16 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford | 814 | -481 |
At the end of the day, this list means nothing. We know these aren't the "real" standings, despite what social media wants you to believe. Everybody plays by the same rules, everybody is well aware of what the rules are, and Larson owns a 73-point lead over Hamlin with two races left on the 2026 schedule.
The first of those two races is the Xfinity 500, which is set to be shown live on NBC from Martinsville Speedway starting at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, November 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!
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