CHASE ELLIOTT VAULTS TO NASCAR CUP SERIES POINTS LEAD AFTER DOVER FINISH

CHASE ELLIOTT AT DOVER MOTOR SPEEDWAY – TEAM CHEVY PHOTO

by Derek Jackson

Chase Elliott moved into the NASCAR Cup Series regular season points lead with a strong run at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday. Elliott started the race from the pole position at the Monster Mile and earned his first stage victory of the season in Stage 1.

The Dawsonville, Georgia native added more points in Stage 2 while leading a race high blistering 238 laps. Elliott’s teammate William Byron was the points leader going into today’s race, but Byron was collected in the lap 394 wreck, triggered when Christopher Bell spun out. Byron finished 31st, ceding the points lead to the NASCAR Fan Favorite.

Aside from winning the non-points event 2025 season opening race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC, Elliott has collected 12 top-tens, 7 top-fives, and his thrilling win at Atlanta earlier this year in June on his way to the top spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Points Race.

Here’s the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings after the race at Dover Motor Speedway:

1. Chase Elliott 702 points (1 win, 6 playoff points)
2. William Byron: -17 (1 win, 12 playoff points)
3. Kyle Larson -38 (3 wins, 23 playoff points)
4. Denny Hamlin -39 (3 wins, 24 playoff points)
5. Tyler Reddick -62 (1 playoff point)
6. Christopher Bell -67 (3 wins, 17 playoff points)
7. Ryan Blaney -126 (1 win, 9 playoff points)
8. Chase Briscoe -132 (1 win, 6 playoff points)
9. Alex Bowman -155
10. Chris Buescher -174 (5 playoff point penalty)
11. Joey Logano -178 (1 win, 7 playoff points)
12. Ross Chastain -185 (1 win, 6 playoff points)
13. Bubba Wallace -202 (2 playoff points)
14. Ryan Preece -218 (2 playoff points)
15. Kyle Busch -241
16. Ty Gibbs -254
17. Michael McDowell -279 (1 playoff point)
18. AJ Allmendinger -282
19. Austin Cindric -285 (1 win, 8 playoff points)
20. Erik Jones -291
21. John Hunter Nemechek -302
22. Josh Berry -303 (1 win, 6 playoff points)
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -310
24. Zane Smith -314
25. Carson Hocevar -327
26. Shane van Gisbergen -328 (3 wins, 17 playoff points)
27. Brad Keselowski -342
28. Austin Dillon -349
29. Daniel Suarez -361
30. Ty Dillon -365
31. Justin Haley -365
32. Todd Gilliland -369
33. Noah Gragson -430
34. Cole Custer -439
35. Riley Herbst -451

1. Denny Hamlin (4 wins)
2. Kyle Larson (3 wins)
3. Christopher Bell (3 wins)
4. Shane van Gisbergen (3 wins)
5. Chase Elliott (1 win)
6. William Byron (1 win)
7. Ryan Blaney (1 win)
8. Chase Briscoe (1 win)
9. Joey Logano (1 win)
10. Ross Chastain (1 win)
11. Austin Cindric (1 win)
12. Josh Berry (1 win)
13. Tyler Reddick +156 ahead of playoff cutline
14. Alex Bowman +63
15. Chris Buescher +44
16. Bubba Wallace +16
17. Ryan Preece -16 behind 16th
18. Kyle Busch -39
19. Ty Gibbs -52
20. Michael McDowell -77
21. AJ Allmendinger -80
22. Erik Jones -89
23. John Hunter Nemechek -100
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -108
25. Zane Smith -112
26. Carson Hocevar -125
27. Brad Keselowski -140
28. Austin Dillon -147
29. Daniel Suarez -159
30. Ty Dillon -163
31. Justin Haley -163
32. Todd Gilliland -167
33. Noah Gragson -228
34. Cole Custer -237
35. Riley Herbst -249

The Cup Series resumes next Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 at the I presented by PPG, where Kyle Larson is the defending race winner. (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).