After a dizzying NASCAR Cup race at WWT Raceway with a track record 18 cautions, Denny Hamlin still holds onto the championship lead, but he's just nine points ahead.
Kyle Larson was the biggest mover, jumping five positions after earning his first victory in 51 races, now right behind Hamlin in the battle for the lead. Southern 500 winner Christopher Bell is now 18 points back in third
The biggest loser in the points battle was Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez, both dropping three positions each from fifth to eighth and 13th to 16th (last) in the Chase standings.
In the battle to be the best of the rest, Shane van Gisbergen still holds 17th, but both Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain made gains on him with strong runs at Gateway.
The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for a 500-lap showdown.
2026 NASCAR Cup points after Gateway (Race 28 of 36)
| Pos. | Driver | Points | Positions gained or lost |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 2168 | -- |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | 2159 | +5 |
| 3 | Christopher Bell | 2150 | -1 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 2135 | -1 |
| 5 | Tyler Reddick | 2126 | -1 |
| 6 | Ty Gibbs | 2117 | -- |
| 7 | Joey Logano | 2117 | +1 |
| 8 | Chase Briscoe | 2109 | -3 |
| 9 | Carson Hocevar | 2080 | +3 |
| 10 | Bubba Wallace | 2078 | -- |
| 11 | Chase Elliott | 2075 | -2 |
| 12 | Austin Cindric | 2060 | +2 |
| 13 | Chris Buescher | 2057 | -2 |
| 14 | Ryan Preece | 2055 | +1 |
| 15 | William Byron | 2054 | +1 |
| 16 | Daniel Suarez | 2049 | -3 |
| CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE |
| 17 | Shane van Gisbergen | 630 | -- |
| 18 | Brad Keselowski | 591 | -- |
| 19 | Ross Chastain | 560 | +1 |
| 20 | Michael McDowell | 554 | -1 |
| 21 | Erik Jones | 544 | -- |
| 22 | Todd Gilliland | 502 | -- |
| 23 | AJ Allmendinger | 499 | -- |
| 24 | Austin Dillon | 474 | +2 |
| 25 | Zane Smith | 468 | -1 |
| 26 | Josh Berry | 463 | -1 |
| 27 | Alex Bowman | 454 | +2 |
| 28 | John Hunter Nemechek | 453 | -- |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 443 | -2 |
| 30 | Riley Herbst | 412 | -- |
| 31 | Cole Custer | 359 | +1 |
| 32 | Noah Gragson | 355 | -1 |
| 33 | Ty Dillon | 323 | -- |
| 34 | Connor Zilisch | 304 | -- |
| 35 | Cody Ware | 217 | -- |
| 36 | Casey Mears | 13 | -- |
| 37 | Kevin Magnussen | 11 | -- |
| 38 | Jimmie Johnson | 9 | -- |
| 39 | Katherine Legge | 8 | -- |
| 40 | BJ McLeod | 4 | -- |
Note: Kyle Busch scored 217 points before his tragic passing, and we have followed NASCAR's decision to no longer classify Busch in the weekly driver standings.
