For just the second time in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, the points lead has changed hands. 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick led after each of the season's first 17 races and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin led after the next 11.
Now it's Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson who is on top for the first time since he pulled off an unlikely run to the 2025 championship, a run that ultimately proved to be the nail in the coffin for the old "win and in" postseason format.
Of course, despite NASCAR's switch back to the "Chase" format that was used from 2004 to 2013, there were still fans calling for the playoffs to be abolished entirely and advocating for a full-season points format.
After Hamlin, who won the regular season championship by 89 points over Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, lost more than 3,000 combined points to the other 15 playoff drivers following the post-regular season points reset, those calls slowly but surely began to resurface.
And now, after Hamlin lost the points lead to a driver he beat during the regular season by 303 points (11.65 points per race), it's beginning to look like the 2026 season could produce a championship result that again produces more calls for change.
But as we always said during the "win and in" era, everybody knows the rules, and everybody plays by the same rules. That's one thing that hasn't changed, and what also hasn't changed is that the 10-race postseason still matters far more than the 26-race regular season.
It doesn't hurt to look at what the standings would be, however, had the calls for the return of the full-season points format won out, especially after Larson jumped Hamlin at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Here's how things would look after the first 29 races of the 2026 season based on points and points alone, with no post-regular season reset factored into the equation.
Note that we've only included the 16 championship contenders, since the points values for the other drivers wouldn't change.
NASCAR full-season standings, and it's still Denny Hamlin on top
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1132 | 0 |
2 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 1017 | -115 |
3 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 996 | -136 |
4 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 974 | -158 |
5 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 897 | -235 |
6 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 885 | -247 |
7 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford | 864 | -268 |
8 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 825 | -307 |
9 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 774 | -358 |
10 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 772 | -360 |
11 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota | 755 | -377 |
12 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 736 | -396 |
13 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 729 | -403 |
14 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 723 | -409 |
15 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford | 716 | -416 |
16 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford | 704 | -428 |
So Hamlin, despite finishing no higher than eighth in any of the first three playoff races, would have actually extended his lead, while Larson would have only moved up from seventh to sixth, still 247 points behind Hamlin despite leading all drivers with 161 combined points at Darlington Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and Bristol to begin the postseason.
The Hollywood Casino 400 is the fourth race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason schedule, and it is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 27 at Kansas Speedway. Live coverage is set to be provided by USA Network starting at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Add us as a preferred source on Google