NASCAR Playoff standings, Cup points updated after Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway

The Cook Out 400 took place at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, and the NASCAR playoff standings and Cup points have been updated. This was the seventh Cup Series race of the year and the final race in March.

Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s race, and his place in the standings has increased. Here’s a look at the updated NASCAR playoff standings and Cup points after the Martinsville race.

Updated NASCAR playoff standings after Martinsville

With Hamlin winning on Sunday, he clinched a playoff spot and became one of five drivers to earn a victory this year. Hamlin earned an extra playoff point on Sunday after winning Stage 2 of the race.

Kyle Busch is on the outside looking in, as he’s nine points below the cutoff line. Busch missed the playoffs last season and does not want to miss consecutive years.

Rank	Driver	Wins	Playoff points
1	Christopher Bell	3	16
2	Kyle Larson	1	7
3	Denny Hamlin	1	7
4	William Bryon	1	6
5	Josh Berry	1	6
6	Chase Elliott	0	+77
7	Alex Bowman	0	+74
8	Tyler Reddick	0	+63
9	Bubba Wallace	0	+58
10	Joey Logano	0	+49
11	Ryan Blaney	0	+43
12	Chris Buescher	0	+27
13	Chase Briscoe	0	+13
14	Ross Chastain	0	+19
15	Ryan Preece	0	+15
16	Michael McDowell	0	+9
17	Kyle Busch	0	-9
18	John Hunter Nemechek	0	-11
19	AJ Allmendinger	0	-11
20	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	0	-13

Updated overall NASCAR Cup points after Martinsville

William Byron has a slim lead over Kyle Larson in Cup points. Both drivers have been consistent in the early part of the season, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep it up in the summer.

Erik Jones dropped down from 21st to 29th on Sunday due to being disqualified after the Martinsville race. He is just in front of Brad Keselowski, who has yet to finish in the top 10 this year.

Rank	Driver	Points	Leader
1	William Byron	259	0
2	Kyle Larson	243	-16
3	Chase Elliott	227	-32
4	Christopher Bell	224	-35
5	Alex Bowman	224	-35
6	Denny Hamlin	218	-41
7	Tyler Reddick	213	-46
8	Bubba Wallace	208	-51
9	Joey Logano	199	-60
10	Ryan Blaney	193	-66
11	Chris Buescher	177	-82
12	Chase Briscoe	169	-90
13	Ross Chastain	169	-90
14	Ryan Preece	165	-94
15	Michael McDowell	159	-100
16	Kyle Busch	150	-109
17	John Hunter Nemechek	148	-111
18	AJ Allmendinger	148	-111
19	Josh Berry	147	-112
20	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	146	-113
21	Daniel Suarez	125	-134
22	Todd Gilliand	125	-134
23	Zane Smith	124	-135
24	Austin Cindric	122	-137
25	Ty Dillon	117	-142
26	Justin Haley	114	-145
27	Austin Dillon	114	-145
28	Carson Hocevar	113	-146
29	Erik Jones	108	-151
30	Brad Keselowski	102	-157