Three NASCAR Cup drivers comfortably inside Chase field who can make a surprise championship run

After Corey Heim's second career NASCAR Cup Series win in the Brickyard 400 and the final off week of the 2026 season, Sunday's stop at Iowa Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) kicks off a 14-week stretch until a champion is crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.

While the battle for the final "Chase" spots is compelling and some of the top drivers in the series were certainly in need of one final break, others have put together a mid-season surge and have quietly become title contenders.

Here are three drivers inside the top 10 of the standings who can make a surprise championship run.

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

While Hocevar's antics on and off the track continue to rub drivers the wrong way, he has surpassed expectations and has emerged as a weekly contender anywhere the series goes. 

Since his first career Cup Series win at Talladega in April, Hocevar has surged all the way up to fifth in the standings following a ninth-place finish from the pole in the Brickyard 400. His nine top 10s and 156 laps led are the fewest of any driver in the top five of the standings, but he is also one of only three full-time drivers (Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones) without a DNF this season.

Hocevar may not be the leading candidate to win the championship, but with the looming points reset ahead of the 10-race "Chase," Hocevar has become a sneaky title threat if he can continue to put full races together.

Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Briscoe experienced a mistake-filled start to the 2026 season with three finishes of 36th or worse in the first four races and struggled to capitalize on the elite speed the Toyotas have brought to the track all season.

However, the results have started to turn around with a Fourth of July Weekend win at Chicagoland and four top-five finishes in his last five races. Briscoe admitted that the Chicago win gave the No. 19 team a "second breath of life," and it is hard to argue that after the inconsistency that plagued them earlier this season.

Briscoe now finds himself seventh in points and only 15 points below Hocevar for fifth. He could use an uptick in laps led, but his nine top fives are tied for the third-most in the entire series and it would not be a shock if he is in contention for the title again after finishing third in the standings last season.

Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

The 2026 season has been a trying one for Bell, who fractured his left wrist in a violent crash at Michigan in June and leads the series with six runner-up finishes this season.

With three second-place finishes in the last four races, Bell is on the verge of finally breaking through for his first 2026 win. He has climbed up to 10th in the standings and is only 29 points behind Hocevar for fifth, which is where most drivers believe they need to be to truly have a shot at the title.

Bell is catching fire at the right time and is entering a favorable stretch of races at Iowa, Richmond and New Hampshire. If he can keep the momentum rolling out of the break, a title is not unrealistic for a driver who was barely above the cutline not that long ago.