Chase Elliott is six races away from capturing the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship, but it's a close race.
The Dawsonville, Ga. driver sits atop the driver standings but does so with a slight eight-point edge over his Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson in second. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is in third in the points (-38 from Elliott) and Elliott’s HMS teammate William Byron (-54) is in fourth and JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. (-61) rounds out the top five in the driver standings with just nine races to go in the regular season.
Not only is Elliott looking to take home the regular season championship trophy and bank the 15 Playoff bonus points that come with it, but he would also like to become just the third driver since the introduction of the regular season championship to win more than one; joining Martin Truex Jr. (2017, 2023) and Kyle Busch (2018, 2019). Elliott won his first NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season title in 2022.
Only five drivers have won the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship in total: Martin Truex Jr. (2023, 2017), Kyle Busch (2019, 2018), Chase Elliott (2022), Kyle Larson (2021), and Kevin Harvick (2020).
A total of 10 different drivers have secured their spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a win this season, leaving just six spots open on points as the series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.
