Sunday's Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first NASCAR Cup Series playoff race on the track's oval layout since 2017 after the track's Roval layout hosted one each season from 2018 to 2025, was the sixth of 10 races on this year' Chase postseason schedule.
Just like the fifth race of the Chase at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was, Sunday's 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina oval was won by Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, moving him to within just 65 points of championship leader Kyle Larson after he trailed the Hendrick Motorsports driver by 123 just two races ago.
The 2026 season is the first season under the new Chase postseason format after NASCAR finally did away with the "win and in", knockout-style format that was used from 2014 to 2025. While the return to the Chase was widely praised, there remain those who would have rather seen NASCAR go back to the full-season points setup that was used before 2004.
What if that system were in place this year?
It's a major hypothetical; the scoring system looks nothing like it did back in 2004, and of course, stage racing, another gimmicky addition of the modern era that many are starting to grow very tired of, didn't exist until 2017.
But because of the simplicity of the Chase, all you need to do to see what the full-season standings look like is drop the extra points that were awarded to the 16 championship contenders once the regular season ended at Daytona International Speedway back in late August.
And if you do that, here's how the standings would look after the first 32 races on the 36-race schedule.
NASCAR full-season point standings in 2026
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1245 | 0 |
2 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 1145 | -100 |
3 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 1082 | -163 |
4 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 1046 | -199 |
5 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1043 | -202 |
6 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1024 | -221 |
7 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 1008 | -237 |
8 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford | 949 | -296 |
9 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 865 | -380 |
10 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford | 848 | -397 |
11 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 840 | -405 |
12 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota | 823 | -422 |
13 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 810 | -435 |
14 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 803 | -442 |
15 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 798 | -447 |
16 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford | 762 | -483 |
We only included the 16 championship contenders, since the non-playoff drivers' point tallies remain unchanged. And with the 16 playoff drivers being the top 16 drivers in points, they would still be the top 16 drivers in points; Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen would still be 17th, 44 points behind RFK Racing's Ryan Preece.
All things considered, these standings paint a much different picture than the real standings. With four races to go and a 100-point lead over Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, a lead that is actually 11 points greater than his regular season title-winning margin over Blaney, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin would be in a great spot to potentially clinch his first title early.
Instead, Kyle Larson's hot streak, coupled with the ground he gained on Hamlin after a winless regular season saw him finish 303 points out of the lead, sees him 49 points ahead of Hamlin. In reality, Hamlin is one of five drivers within 92 points of Larson, whereas nobody is even within 99 points of Hamlin in total points scored through 32 races.
And Larson would need a miracle to win the championship. But in reality, he has emerged as the clear favorite.
Alas, these standings mean nothing, as everybody plays by the same rules, and the Chase is what NASCAR decided to use to crown a champion. But just as the case was many times from 2004 to 2025, don't be surprised if the driver who wins the championship is not the driver who finishes the 2026 season with the most total points scored.
Phoenix Raceway is scheduled to host the Freeway Insurance 500 this Sunday, October 18, with live coverage set to be provided by USA Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Don't miss any of the action from the seventh of 10 races on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason schedule!
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