For the overwhelming majority of the 2025 season, Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron has been atop the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, and that is technically still true if you ignore the playoff point resets after each round; he is 27 points ahead of Team Penske's Ryan Blaney for the top spot through 29 of 36 races in terms of total points.
Byron started the playoffs tied for the points lead even after the initial reset, as he and teammate Kyle Larson both racked up 32 playoff points during the 26-race regular season. That meant they started the playoffs with 2,032 points, ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin in third place with 2,029.
But while Byron and Larson did not accrue any more playoff points in the three-race round of 16 by winning any more stages or races, Hamlin did. He added five more playoff points with his series-leading fifth victory of the year at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, two weekends ago bringing him to 34 on the year.
William Byron not the NASCAR points leader
As a result, Hamlin, who is actually tied with Larson for third place (70 points behind Byron) in terms of total points scored in 2025, is set to open up the round of 12 as the points leader following this past weekend's Bristol Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
With 3,034 points, he is two points ahead of Byron and Larson, and he is 26 points above the round of 8 cut line, which is currently set between 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace and Team Penske's Austin Cindric.
The four drivers set to begin the round of 12 below the cut line are Cindric, teammate Joey Logano, Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain, and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick.
Reddick notably ended the round of 16 in the top eight, but he dropped back to 12th (last among remaining contenders) after the reset. Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott wrapped up the round of 16 in 11th, but the reset vaulted him back inside the top eight to seventh.
A full breakdown of the playoff picture to open up the round of 12 can be found here.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is scheduled to host the round of 12 opener this Sunday, September 21. Live coverage of the Mobil 1 301 is set to be provided by USA Network beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!