NASCAR playoff standings, Cup points updated after Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

The NASCAR playoff standings and Cup points have been updated after the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was the ninth race of the Cup Series season, meaning the top drivers are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

Kyle Larson won the race, which was the first of two races at Bristol this year. Here’s a look at where the drivers stand in the playoff standings and the Cup points after the Food City 500.

Updated NASCAR playoff standings after Bristol

Larson becomes the third driver to win multiple races this season, and he’s now second in playoff points behind Christopher Bell. Denny Hamlin is third and followed by William Byron and Josh Berry.

Chase Elliott is the leader among drivers who have yet to win a race. As for who is on the outside looking in, AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell are the first three out.

Rank	Driver	Wins	Playoff Points
1	Christopher Bell	3	16
2	Kyle Larson	2	14
3	Denny Hamlin	2	12
4	William Byron	1	8
5	Josh Berry	1	6
6	Chase Elliott	0	+80
7	Ryan Blaney	0	+77
8	Tyler Reddick	0	+76
9	Bubba Wallace	0	+53
10	Joey Logano	0	+47
11	Alex Bowman	0	+46
12	Ross Chastain	0	+31
13	Chris Buescher	0	+29
14	Chase Briscoe	0	+15
15	Ryan Preece	0	+3
16	Kyle Busch	0	+2
17	AJ Allmendinger	0	-2
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	0	-24
19	Michael McDowell	0	-26
20	Ty Gibbs	0	-29

Updated overall NASCAR Cup points after Bristol

William Byron continues to lead the Cup Points after winning the Daytona 500 to start the year. Denny Hamlin remains in second and is followed by Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.

Hamlin will need to continue his consistent driving if he wants to win the regular season championship. It’s not going to be easy, though, as Byron has had six top-10 finishes in the first nine races.

Rank	Driver	Points	Leader
1	William Byron	346	0
2	Denny Hamlin	316	-30
3	Christopher Bell	305	-41
4	Kyle Larson	304	-42
5	Chase Elliott	278	-68
6	Ryan Blaney	275	-71
7	Tyler Reddick	274	-72
8	Bubba Wallace	251	-95
9	Joey Logano	245	-101
10	Alex Bowman	244	-102
11	Ross Chastain	229	-117
12	Chris Buescher	227	-119
13	Chase Briscoe	213	-133
14	Ryan Preece	201	-145
15	Kyle Busch	200	-146
16	AJ Allmendinger	198	-148
17	Josh Berry	179	-167
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	176	-170
19	Michael McDowell	174	-172
20	Ty Gibbs	171	-175
21	John Hunter Nemechek	171	-175
22	Austin Cindric	171	-175
23	Justin Haley	164	-182
24	Zane Smith	161	-185
25	Carson Hocevar	157	-189
26	Austin Dillon	155	-191
27	Daniel Suarez	151	-195
28	Todd Gilliland	150	-196
29	Ty Dillon	146	-200
30	Erik Jones	139	-207