After it was starting to look like Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson would run away with his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championship, Phoenix Raceway hit.
Larson entered the race with a 49-point lead over Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin. Now Hamlin is one of six drivers within just 56 points of Larson. To put it into perspective, Hamlin closed the gap to 31, yet he actually lost two positions to teammates Christopher Bell (-5) and Chase Briscoe (-24).
23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick going from 114 points behind to 56 behind in a single race proves just how much a single race can change the championship battle under the new Chase postseason format, and that is thanks in part to the boosted value of victories.
And perhaps there's no track on the Cup Series schedule that epitomizes the "one race can change everything" narrative than Talladega Superspeedway, the one and only superspeedway on the 10-race postseason calendar.
How much different will the standings look after the playoffs' ultimate wild card race? Here are the playoff standings heading into Sunday's 188-lap YellaWood 500 around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama.
NASCAR Cup Series standings before Talladega
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 2370 | 0 |
2 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2365 | -5 |
3 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2346 | -24 |
4 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2339 | -31 |
5 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford | 2330 | -40 |
6 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford | 2326 | -44 |
7 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota | 2314 | -56 |
8 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford | 2240 | -130 |
9 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 2238 | -132 |
10 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 2221 | -149 |
11 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 2212 | -158 |
12 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota | 2208 | -162 |
13 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | 2182 | -188 |
14 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | 2180 | -190 |
15 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford | 2166 | -204 |
16 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford | 2159 | -211 |
A full starting lineup for Sunday's race was determined by Saturday's single-car qualifying session, which featured an opening round and a second-round shootout for pole position that was topped by Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, one of six playoff drivers to qualify inside the top 10.
While the championship battle is widely believed to be a seven-driver battle, none of these 16 drivers have actually been mathematically eliminated yet, although that will likely change throughout Sunday's race.
Follow along with our standings updates from Talladega as the YellaWood 500 unfolds.
NOTE: Only the 16 postseason drivers are included after the first two stages.
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Standings after Stage 1
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Standings after Stage 2
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Full standings after YellaWood 500
NBC is set to provide live coverage of the Xfinity 500 from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this coming Sunday, November 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the penultimate race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase postseason schedule!
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