NASCAR has a new Cup Series points leader before Richmond return

Over the course of the seven most recent NASCAR Cup Series races, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott have exchanged the lead of the point standings on a number of occasions.

Larson initially gave up the points lead to Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin when he missed the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but he retook it two weekends later by earning his third win of the season at Sonoma Raceway.

Since then, Elliott took the lead at Iowa Speedway and Larson moved back into a tie for the lead at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Larson then retook the lead at Nashville Superspeedway and held onto it at the Chicago Street Course, but Elliott moved back in front at Pocono Raceway.

Then with his series-leading fourth victory of the 2024 season in the series' first Brickyard 400 since 2020 – and his own first Brickyard 400 since 2019 – Larson moved back in front, placing him 10 points ahead of Elliott.

Larson leads NASCAR standings after summer break

It has been three Sundays since the Brickyard 400 was contested, as the Cup Series has had somewhat of a "summer break" due to NBC's commitment to coverage of the Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

Despite having missed a race earlier this season, Larson also leads the series in playoff points, having racked up a total of 28 thanks to his four wins (five playoff points each) and eight stage wins (one each).

As the points leader, he is also in line for 15 more playoff points, as the regular season champion is awarded three wins' worth. The runner-up is awarded 10, making the gap between the top two effectively a full race victory.

Eight playoff points are awarded to the third place finisher, and that total decreases by one point per position down through the 10th place finisher.

Sitting in third place in the point standings, just 15 points behind Larson and five points behind Elliott, is 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, who is not among the seven drivers who have spent time atop the point standings this season. In fact, Reddick has never led the standings at any point during his Cup Series career.

Four of the other five points leaders this season sit between fourth and seventh place in the standings. Hamlin sits in fourth, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney sits in fifth, Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron sits in sixth, and Joe Gibbs Racing's Martin Truex Jr. sits in seventh. Hamlin and Byron have won three races each while Blaney has won twice and Truex is winless.

But the other former points leader this season is Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, and he sits all the way down in 18th place, well outside the playoff picture.

The two-time series champion finds himself 112 points below the playoff cut line and will likely need to win to qualify for the playoffs for a series-leading 12th year in a row. He is also still aiming to extend his record streak of 19 straight winning seasons to 20.

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