Denny Hamlin leads NASCAR Cup Series Chase standings

The NASCAR Cup Series has entered the postseason phase, known as the Chase, following a reset of the standings. Denny Hamlin, the regular-season champion driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, enters as the top seed with a 25-point advantage over Ryan Blaney.

The championship format features a 10-race cumulative points battle starting at Darlington Raceway and concluding at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-November. This format follows a recent change by NASCAR to eliminate knockout rounds after every third postseason race, returning to a cumulative points structure.

Following the regular-season finale at Daytona, Hamlin emphasized the need for his team to reach a “next level” of execution. Despite his seeding advantage, he noted the necessity of improving operational details to maintain performance throughout the final 10 weeks of the season.