What the NASCAR Cup Series Chase bubble looks like after North Wilkesboro

Joey Logano scored a huge win Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway that put him back on the right side of the Chase bubble with five races left in the regular season. Here's what the NASCAR Cup Series Chase grid looks like through the first 21 races of 2026. 

1. Denny Hamlin (Clinched)

2. Tyler Reddick (Clinched)

3. Ryan Blaney (+293)

4. Ty Gibbs (+246)

5. Chase Elliott (+172)

6. Kyle Larson (+154)

7. Carson Hocevar (+136)

8. Chase Briscoe (+125)

9. Chris Buescher (+123)

10. Christopher Bell (+112)

11. Daniel Suarez (+96)

12. William Byron (+84)

13. Bubba Wallace (+69)

After a 29th-place result at Atlanta last week due to a penalty, Wallace responded in a big way with a sixth-place run at North Wilkesboro. He now has some breathing room as he looks to defend his 2025 Brickyard 400 win. 

14. Shane van Gisbergen (+54)

Van Gisbergen delivered an incredibly impressive, clutch fifth-place run at North Wilkesboro on Sunday. A Chase spot is nowhere near guaranteed, given that the next five races are all ovals, but he seems to be adjusting to them well, as evidenced by his race on Sunday. 

15. Joey Logano (+49)

Logano gained a whopping 57 points on the cut line with his victory at North Wilkesboro and is now on the right side of the bubble. The veteran driver has a string of good racetracks coming up in Richmond, New Hampshire and Daytona to close the regular season. 

16. Austin Cindric (+33)

Cindric turned in another pedestrian 14th-place run on Sunday at North Wilkesboro, but those kinds of races have been good enough to keep him above the cut line for most of the year. He gained a point on the cut line, though he fell from 14th to 16th in the standings. 

17. Erik Jones (-33)

Logano's win has blown a hole into most of the bubble drivers' Chase chances. That includes Jones, who faded to a 21st-place finish at North Wilkesboro after running in the top 15 earlier in the race. He needs a good finish at Indianapolis to chop his deficit to Cindric back down after he lost 41 points to the cut line and fell from 16th to 17th in the standings on Sunday. 

18. Ryan Preece (-48)

Preece finally had something go right this summer, finishing 10th at North Wilkesboro. Unfortunately for the No. 60 team, they lost 22 points to the cut line thanks to Logano's massive points day. 

19. Brad Keselowski (-58)

Like Preece and the No. 60 group, Keselowski and the No. 6 team scored a much-needed top 10 at North Wilkesboro, as the 2012 Cup champion finished seventh. However, Keselowski will need some huge points days over the next several races to get back into Chase contention. 

20. Michael McDowell (-83)

It might be premature to say McDowell's Chase chances have been snuffed out, but things aren't looking good for the 2021 Daytona 500 champion, who finished 24th at North Wilkesboro and lost 36 points to the cut line. 

21. Ross Chastain (-83)

22. AJ Allmendinger (-98)

23. Todd Gilliland (-111)

24. Zane Smith (-124)

25. Riley Herbst (-126)