The championship picture has completely changed with just three races left in the 2026 NASCAR Cup season. Championship leader Kyle Larsonwrecked out of the race due to a cut tire, finishing 34th and scoring just three points.
Christopher Bell is now second, just 5pts back of the lead while the top seven in the championship have just 56 points between them all. Chase Briscoe is third, 24 points behind.
Denny Hamlin suffered a flat tire and a speeding penalty at Phoenix, dropping down to fourth, but he still gained a little bit of ground. He was 49pts behind Larson, but is now 31pts back following Larson's DNF.
Two Penske drivers made huge gains, as Blaney and Logano erased at least half of their deficit to the leader. Tyler Reddickwon the race, and pulls within 56pts of the championship lead.
The biggest mover in the Chase standings was Chase Elliott, jumping two positions to tenth with a third-place finish. Hamlin was the biggest loser, falling from second to fourth.
In the best of the rest battle for 17th, Shane van Gisbergen is now 46pts ahead of Brad Keselowski and 56pts ahead of teammate Ross Chastain.
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Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
2026 NASCAR Cup points after Phoenix II (Race 33 of 36)
| Pos. | Driver | Points | Positions gained or lost |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 2370 | -- |
| 2 | Christopher Bell | 2365 | +1 |
| 3 | Chase Briscoe | 2346 | +1 |
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | 2339 | -2 |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney | 2330 | -- |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 2326 | -- |
| 7 | Tyler Reddick | 2314 | -- |
| 8 | Austin Cindric | 2240 | -- |
| 9 | Ty Gibbs | 2238 | -- |
| 10 | Chase Elliott | 2221 | +2 |
| 11 | Carson Hocevar | 2212 | -1 |
| 12 | Bubba Wallace | 2208 | -1 |
| 13 | Daniel Suarez | 2182 | +1 |
| 14 | William Byron | 2180 | -1 |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | 2166 | -- |
| 16 | Ryan Preece | 2159 | -- |
| CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE |
| 17 | Shane van Gisbergen | 729 | -- |
| 18 | Brad Keselowski | 683 | -- |
| 19 | Ross Chastain | 673 | -- |
| 20 | Michael McDowell | 616 | -- |
| 21 | Erik Jones | 607 | -- |
| 22 | Josh Berry | 584 | +2 |
| 23 | Todd Gilliland | 582 | -- |
| 24 | AJ Allmendinger | 574 | -2 |
| 25 | Austin Dillon | 540 | -- |
| 26 | Zane Smith | 523 | +1 |
| 27 | Alex Bowman | 512 | -1 |
| 28 | John Hunter Nemechek | 503 | -- |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 481 | -- |
| 30 | Riley Herbst | 470 | -- |
| 31 | Noah Gragson | 430 | -- |
| 32 | Cole Custer | 407 | -- |
| 33 | Connor Zilisch | 360 | +1 |
| 34 | Ty Dillon | 352 | -1 |
| 35 | Cody Ware | 235 | -- |
| 36 | Casey Mears | 13 | -- |
| 37 | Kevin Magnussen | 11 | -- |
| 38 | Jimmie Johnson | 9 | -- |
| 39 | Katherine Legge | 8 | -- |
| 40 | BJ McLeod | 8 | -- |
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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