NASCAR playoff standings, Cup points updated after Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway

The 2025 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway took place on Sunday, and the NASCAR playoff standings and Cup points have been updated. With this being the eighth race of the Cup Series season, the top drivers continue to battle for playoff positioning and a chance to win the regular season championship.

Denny Hamlin came away with the win, and has a chance to do some big things if he continues to drive well this year. Here’s a look at where Hamlin and the rest of the drivers stand in the NASCAR playoff standings and Cup points after Darlington.

Updated NASCAR playoff standings after Darlington

Christopher Bell remains on top since he’s the only driver to win three races this year. Denny Hamlin has two race victories and is four points behind Bell for the top spot in the playoff standings.

Kyle Busch would be in the playoffs if it began today after his top-10 finish at Darlington. AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are the first three out.

Rank	Driver	Wins	Playoff Points
1	Christopher Bell	3	16
2	Denny Hamlin	2	12
3	William Byron	1	8
4	Kyle Larson	1	7
5	Josh Berry	1	6
6	Chase Elliott	0	+88
7	Tyler Reddick	0	+86
8	Ryan Blaney	0	+68
9	Bubba Wallace	0	+65
10	Joey Logano	0	+64
11	Alex Bowman	0	+59
12	Chris Buescher	0	+47
13	Ross Chastain	0	+32
14	Ryan Preece	0	+16
15	Chase Briscoe	0	+10
16	Kyle Busch	0	+9
17	AJ Allmendinger	0	-9
18	Michael McDowell	0	-10
19	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	0	-19

Updated Cup points after Darlington

William Byron remains on top of the Cup points, but Hamlin is only 49 points behind him for the lead. Hamlin is looking for his first regular season title as a driver. He won it as a owner last year when Tyler Reddick claimed the title for 23XI Racing.

One driver to watch is Chase Elliott who earned a top-10 finish at Darlington. The Georgia native has quietly having a strong start to the season and could be on top of the standings when it’s all said and done.

Rank	Driver	Points	Leader
1	William Byron	315	0
2	Denny Hamlin	266	-49
3	Christopher Bell	263	-52
4	Chase Elliott	256	-59
5	Tyler Reddick	254	-61
6	Kyle Larson	244	-71
7	Ryan Blaney	236	-79
8	Bubba Wallace	233	-82
9	Joey Logano	232	-83
10	Alex Bowman	227	-88
11	Chris Buescher	215	-100
12	Ross Chastain	199	-116
13	Ryan Preece	184	-131
14	Chase Briscoe	178	-137
15	Kyle Busch	177	-138
16	AJ Allmendinger	168	-147
17	Michael McDowell	167	-148
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	158	-157
19	John Hunter Nemechek	155	-160
20	Josh Berry	154	-161
21	Austin Cindric	151	-164
22	Zane Smith	151	-164
23	Todd Gilliland	148	-167
24	Daniel Suarez	147	-168
25	Ty Dillon	141	-174
26	Ty Gibbs	131	-184
27	Austin Dillon	128	-187
28	Erik Jones	128	-187
29	Justin Haley	127	-188
30	Carson Hocevar	118	-197