One race down, nine to go in NASCAR’s 2026 championship fight.
The Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway officially opened The Chase and immediately reshuffled the standings, although one thing hasn’t changed at the top: Denny Hamlin remains the driver everyone is chasing.
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Hamlin leaves Darlington with 2,135 points and a 12-point advantage over Christopher Bell, who made one of the biggest moves of the weekend by jumping four positions to second.
Ryan Blaney sits third, 16 points behind Hamlin, while Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe complete the top five.
Further down the standings, Bubba Wallace also made a significant move, climbing four spots to 10th. William Byron went the opposite direction, dropping three positions and leaving Darlington 16th among the championship contenders.
With NASCAR’s new Chase format featuring no eliminations and no subsequent points resets, every point earned at Darlington carries through the remaining nine races.
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Here’s the complete championship picture after Race No. 1 of The Chase.
NASCAR Chase Standings After Darlington
|
Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
Behind |
|
1 |
Denny Hamlin |
2,135 |
— |
|
2 |
Christopher Bell |
2,123 |
-12 |
|
3 |
Ryan Blaney |
2,119 |
-16 |
|
4 |
Tyler Reddick |
2,111 |
-24 |
|
5 |
Chase Briscoe |
2,098 |
-37 |
|
6 |
Ty Gibbs |
2,096 |
-39 |
|
7 |
Kyle Larson |
2,086 |
-49 |
|
8 |
Joey Logano |
2,063 |
-72 |
|
9 |
Chase Elliott |
2,063 |
-72 |
|
10 |
Bubba Wallace |
2,054 |
-81 |
|
11 |
Chris Buescher |
2,047 |
-88 |
|
12 |
Carson Hocevar |
2,046 |
-89 |
|
13 |
Daniel Suárez |
2,041 |
-94 |
|
14 |
Austin Cindric |
2,033 |
-102 |
|
15 |
Ryan Preece |
2,031 |
-104 |
|
16 |
William Byron |
2,021 |
-114 |
Denny Hamlin Keeps Control of NASCAR Championship Standings
Darlington didn’t knock Hamlin from the position he earned through the regular season.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver entered The Chase as NASCAR’s No. 1 seed and leaves its opening race with a 12-point cushion over teammate Bell.
But the advantage is already tightening.
Bell’s four-position climb was the biggest move among the championship contenders at Darlington, taking him from sixth to second. He now sits only 12 points behind Hamlin with nine races remaining.
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Blaney is even closer than he was entering the weekend. Although he slipped one position to third, he’s only 16 points out of the lead.
Reddick sits another eight points back in fourth, giving NASCAR four championship contenders separated by only 24 points at the top of the standings.
Then comes the first significant gap.
Briscoe is fifth at 2,098 points, 37 behind Hamlin, followed closely by Gibbs at 2,096.
Larson occupies seventh, 49 points off the lead.
Bubba Wallace Surges, William Byron Takes Early Hit
Bell wasn’t the only driver who made a substantial move at Darlington.
Wallace climbed four positions, moving from 14th to 10th and leaving the Southern 500 with 2,054 points.
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That’s especially important under NASCAR’s revamped championship system.
There are no three-race elimination rounds in 2026. A driver sitting 10th after Darlington isn’t fighting against an immediate cut line. Instead, Wallace and the other 15 Chase drivers continue accumulating points throughout the entire 10-race championship stretch.
That also means a difficult opening race can follow a driver for the next two months.
Nobody illustrates that better than Byron.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver suffered the largest drop among the championship field, falling three positions from 13th to 16th. He leaves Darlington with 2,021 points, putting him 114 points behind Hamlin after only one Chase race.
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Daniel Suárez also lost ground, dropping two positions to 13th, while Gibbs fell two spots to sixth.
There is plenty of racing remaining, but unlike NASCAR’s previous postseason format, there won’t be another reset to erase those deficits.
What’s the Next NASCAR Chase Race?
The second race of the 2026 NASCAR Chase takes place Sunday, Sept. 13, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
The Enjoy Illinois 300 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, with streaming coverage on HBO Max.
From there, NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, Sept. 19.
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Nobody will be eliminated at either race.
Instead, all 16 Chase drivers are trying to accumulate as many points as possible over the remaining nine races before NASCAR crowns its Cup Series champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
Hamlin still owns the top spot after Darlington.
But with Bell, Blaney and Reddick all within 24 points, NASCAR’s championship fight is already considerably tighter than it was when The Chase began.
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