There is still TONS of time until “The Chase” for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship begins in September, but after just four races, is it way too early in the season to say that there might be some drivers in trouble?
It’s been a very interesting start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, with a pair of superspeedway events at Daytona and EchoPark Speedway to start the year, then a trip to Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, to follow. Then, this past weekend, an unusually high-attrition event at Phoenix Raceway.
That has left the point standings looking quite interesting as the series continues its ‘West Coast Swing’ at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.
BLANEY PERFORMS WIZARDRY FOR PHOENIX WIN
After coming from the back TWICE, Ryan Blaney held off Christopher Bell to win Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event at Phoenix Raceway — the first win of 2026 for a driver not named Tyler Reddick.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/dlwo8vdrvv
— TobyChristie.com (@TobyChristieCom) March 9, 2026
Tyler Reddick, with his history-making victories at Daytona, EchoPark, and COTA, continues to hold the lead in the point standings over Phoenix winner Ryan Blaney. Reddick’s teammate, Bubba Wallace, who has been involved in the battle for final spots in the post-season in recent years, currently sits third in points.
One of the biggest surprises in the top-16 in points, right now, has to be Shane Van Gisbergen, sitting fifth. The Auckland, New Zealand-native has a knack for the road courses, and did finish second at COTA, but has also managed to earn solid finishes at EchoPark (sixth) and Phoenix (11th).
As a three-car unit, Spire Motorsports has also been very strong to start the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, with Michael McDowell sitting eighth in the standings and Carson Hocevar in 14th. After a poor run at Phoenix, Daniel Suarez dropped to 17th, two points below the cutline.
AJ Allmendinger has also managed to put together a fantastic start to the year for Kaulig Racing, despite the organization having no factory support whatsoever for the first time in their NASCAR Cup Series tenure.
So, obviously, with there being some surprises inside the top-16 in point standings at this junction of the season, that means there are obviously some surprises of drivers sitting outside the top-16.
Ross Chastain is usually a contender to fight for a spot inside the top-10 in NASCAR Cup Series points, but after just a so-so start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, the Trackhouse Racing driver finds himself sitting 23rd in points standings, 26 points below the cutline for “The Chase”.
Austin Cindric is sitting 30th in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, 48 points below the cutline, after a DIFFICULT start to 2026. There’s been no shortage of speed for the Team Penske driver, but because of one thing or another, Cindric hasn’t been able to get a single finish indicative of his running position — and heads to Las Vegas looking for his first top-25 of the year.
Josh Berry is the defending winner of the Spring race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but ever since that fantastic moment in his NASCAR career, things have seemed to be rather unlucky for the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Entering this weekend, Berry is 31st in series point standings, 50 points below the cutline.
It doesn’t get much worse than the start of the year that Chase Briscoe has had. After making the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last Fall, Briscoe has started the season with three finishes of 36th or worse in the opening four events of the season, which leaves him 33rd in point standings, 53 markers below the cutline (held by Brad Keselowski).
At the start of the year, there was a lot of hype surrounding Connor Zilisch and his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 for Trackhouse Racing. That hype is justified, but it’s been a tough start to the year for the 19-year-old driver, with three finishes of 29th or worse, and a 14th-place finish at COTA — after it looked like a victory was possible before being spun around twice on the afternoon.
For Alex Bowman, right now, making “The Chase” isn’t even his top priority. After having to exit his car in the late stages of the NASCAR Cup Series event at COTA, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has been sitting out ever since — with Anthony Alfredo subbing at Phoenix, and Justin Allgaier at Las Vegas. So, right now, the goal for the Tucson, Arizona-native is just to get feeling better… the Ally Chevrolet will be here when he returns, and then maybe, he can focus on making up what will likely be a triple-digit deficit to the cutoff.
The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next for the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, March 15. Coverage of the event will begin at 4:00 PM ET on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
