Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron, both of whom led the NASCAR Cup Series point standings at some point during the 2025 regular season, also racked up a series-leading 32 playoff points during the 26-race pre-playoff stretch.
As a result, they opened up the playoffs with a series-leading 2,032 points following the playoff points reset following the regular season.
Both of them advanced from the round of 16 to the round of 12, clinching their spots in Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but after the next playoff points reset to start the second round, neither one of them is the points leader.
New NASCAR points leader to start round two
Instead, it's Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin who finds himself atop the point standings, two points ahead of Larson and Byron and 26 points ahead of the round of 8 cut line to open up the quarterfinal round.
Hamlin ended the regular season with 29 playoff points, but while Larson and Byron did not add to their totals in the round of 16 races at Darlington Raceway, Gateway, and Bristol, Hamlin added five with his Gateway win, putting him at 34.
As far as total points (without playoffs) go, for those who still care about that stat, Byron remains out front, as he's been for much of the season. He owns a 27-point lead over Team Penske's Ryan Blaney. Hamlin and Larson are tied for third, 70 points Byron.
Hamlin's lead is noteworthy because of the fact that he could probably have a couple more playoff points had he not missed the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in mid-June, as he likely would have finished higher in the regular season standings had he competed in Mexico. He finished in sixth (five extra playoff points) but could have been as high as second (10).
The round of 12 is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, September 21 with the Mobil 1 301, with live coverage set to be provided by USA Network from New Hampshire Motor Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and be sure to catch all upcoming playoff action!