NASCAR Cup playoff standings after 12 races shows who has work to do
The NASCAR Cup All-Star Race takes place just before the halfway point of the regular season — 14 races remain until the playoffs begin — but this weekend's event provides a good point to asses what has taken place this year.
Kyle Larson leads the points, has scored the most playoff points, and led the most laps in the 12 races before Sunday night's exhibition event at North Wilkesboro, but is that enough?
Maybe not. Dominance early in a season isn't always rewarded with a Cup title. Consider:
Larson took the points lead from teammate William Byron after winning last weekend's race at Kansas Speedway, the third victory of the season for Larson.
No driver leading the Cup points after 12 races has gone on to win the championship that season since Martin Truex Jr. in 2017.
Dustin Long,
Larson has scored a series-best 23 playoff points (15 points via his three wins and eight points via his eight stage victories).
No driver with the most playoff points after 12 races has gone on to win the Cup title that season since Kyle Busch in 2019.
Take a look at the other end of the playoff picture. Seven drivers have claimed playoff spots with a win, leaving nine spots remaining.
Drivers that made it on points in the Next Gen era (since 2022) had an average of 349.3 points after 12 races. Chase Elliott (378), Ryan Blaney (362) and Tyler Reddick (357) are the only drivers above that point through 12 races this year.
Of the six drivers who made the playoffs on points since 2022, three of them were in the top five in points after 12 races (Martin Truex Jr. was second in 2024, Kevin Harvick was fifth in 2023 and Blaney was third in 2022). Elliott is fourth in the season standings and Blaney is fifth ahead ahead of the All-Star Race.
Only one of the six drivers who made the playoffs on points since 2022 were outside the top 10 after 12 races.
Bubba Wallace was 18th in points after 12 races. He averaged 21.0 points per race in the first 12 races. His performance picked up afterward. He averaged 26.2 points per race in the final 14 races of the regular season that year to earn the final playoff spot.
Among those outside the top 10 in the points and winless this year are: Ross Chastain (11th in the standings), Chris Buescher (12th), Chase Briscoe (13th), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (15th), Ryan Preece (16th), Kyle Busch (18th), John Hunter Nemechek (19th) and Carson Hocevar (20th).
When looking ahead, also consider the schedule. Six of the remaining 14 races in the regular season will be held at either a road course or a drafting track. The road courses are Mexico City (June 15), Chicago Street Race (July 6), Sonoma (July 13) and Watkins Glen (Aug. 10). The drafting tracks are Atlanta (June 28) and the regular-season finale at Daytona (Aug. 23).
Here is a look at the playoff standings after 12 of 26 races in the regular season (those highlighted in yellow are in a playoff spot via a win):
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NASCAR's Mexico City race: Daniel Suarez balances racing at home with uncertainty over contract
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I'm trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and just do my thing on the track.' Return to Mexico Suarez, the only Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race, has two Cup victories, three Xfinity Series wins and one Truck Series win. His 2016 championship in the second-tier Xfinity Series made him the only foreign-born driver to win a national series title. Suarez has faced adversity before, but never like the pressure he's feeling hoping to deliver in front of the local crowd. This weekend in Mexico is special to Suarez, who expects well over 100 of the spectators in attendance Sunday to be friends and family. They've watched from afar as he's worked his way into the NASCAR spotlight, a journey full of ups and downs that have seen Suarez drive for four different Cup teams. He joined Trackhouse Racing in 2021 and last year signed a one-year extension through 2025. 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Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch among drivers with winning memories in Mexico City
Only three Cup drivers have experience racing stock cars on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski competed in Xfinity races there when the series went from 2005 through 2008. Hamlin won the race in 2006 and Busch in the last NASCAR race at the track in 2008. But there are two other drivers who have celebrated wins at the facility. Daniel Suarez won three races there but on a 1-mile oval configuration used in the NASCAR Mexico Series in 2012-14. And Michael McDowell won a sports-car race there in 2005. Do those wins matter? "I recognize a few of the corners as I'm running it [in the simulator]," Hamlin said. "I'm like, 'Yeah I remember this, remember that.' "Certainly there are some different parts of the track that we didn't get to run. But overall, it feels pretty straightforward to me. Not much to it. I think there's a bunch of passing zones. I'm actually looking forward to this one." The 2006 win was Hamlin's first in a NASCAR national series race, so maybe Hamlin looks forward to it thanks to those great memories. When Hamlin and Busch raced, they competed on a configuration that was a 2.67-mile, eight-turn course. Now they will race a 15-turn, 2.42-mile course, a slightly shorter version than what is used when Formula 1 competes at the track. It was the return of F1 that resulted in a reconfiguration in 2015. "It was really cool and unique to just kind of see the fan nature and how different it can be or what it is and the energy that they bring to the track," Busch said. "It's a lot of fun to check that out. … For me to win the final race that we had there back in 2009, it was special." Suarez didn't even win at the facility making right-hand turns, so he takes those wins for what they're worth. With the additional turns, Suarez said he doesn't feel it is the same track that the few drivers who did compete in Xfinity would be used to at all. "It only makes you feel good," Suarez said. "I won there a couple times in an oval configuration. So is that is going to help me? Denny, Kyle, McDowell, they won on a race track that was completely different." Suarez believes the drivers will have to work to run well. "It's going to be a challenge," Suarez said. "Honestly, I don't think that there is a driver out there that has an advantage knowing the race track because it's going to be something completely new for everyone. "It's going to be one of those weekends that there are new things to adapt to and whoever does the best job adapting and improving the quickest is going to be on top." One of the new things they will adapt to is the part of the course that runs through the former baseball stadium that functioned as such 20 years ago but that is still used for events like concerts. "I've seen the F1 races there, so I have a good understanding [of the track]," Busch said. "I've raced there before, so not every corner is different, but the stadium section I know is a lot different. "It'll be interesting to see how all that plays out with our cars." The driver who might be able to correlate their experience the most will be McDowell, as the current Next Gen car is modeled after a sports car when it comes to suspension. "It does help I'm familiar with the track, familiar with the city, familiar with getting acclimated to the [higher] altitude and what that looks like," McDowell said. "So I think there are some advantages to having experience here. "I don't know how much it actually helps 20 years later, but I feel really good about going to a road course in general."' McDowell believes he can adapt to the new facility quicker than others. "Any time you go to a new road course where nobody has any experience or seat time, I feel like that's an advantage for us," McDowell said. "We've been working on it for a few weeks and feel like we're prepared as you can be." The key as far as adapting to the track will come with the extended weekend schedule. Instead of 20 minutes of practice with limited time to change parts and pieces before qualifying, Cup teams will get 75 minutes of practice Friday (a 50-minute session, an hour break and then a 25-minute session). They will then get a couple of hours to work on their cars before having to go through tech for qualifying Saturday, with the cars then impounded for Sunday's race. "It's nice that we have a practice where you can adjust and change on [things] unlike a typical weekend," McDowell said. "So we'll have a few packages we can run through and try to make some overall gains on our road-course package. I'm looking forward to it." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
