With just three races left in the regular season, Denny Hamlin holds a 103-point lead, but there’s a surprising new name in second. After a big win in Iowa, Ty Gibbs jumped up from fourth, leaping over Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney. There is just 17 points between those three drivers in the battle for P2, with a lot of bonus points on the line once the Chase resets.
The biggest mover in the championship standings was runner-up finisher Christopher Bell, vaulting four positions up the standings from tenth to sixth. In contrast, the biggest loser was Carson Hocevar, who dropped three positions from fifth to eighth after battling engine gremlins all day.
In the battle around the cut-line, Austin Cindric remains on the bubble, but Ryan Preece chipped into the gap, now 29 markers back after entering this race at -38pts. Of note, the 25-point penalty for intentional wrecking from Texas earlier this does not impact Preece in the owner standings, so the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford is just four points out.
An impressive day for Ross Chastain helped him to jump three positions in the standings, erasing 35 points of his deficit and now 47 points below the cut-line. Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones are just a few markers behind him, so all three still have a chance.
Just above the cut-line, Shane Van Gisbergen lost a bit of his cushion, falling from +57pts to +47pts.
2026 NASCAR Cup points after Iowa (Race 23 of 36)
Note: Kyle Busch scored 217 points before his tragic passing, and we have followed NASCAR’s decision to no longer classify Busch in the weekly driver standings.
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