After 18 of 36 races, we have a new NASCAR Cup Series championship leader for the very first time, and it came about in messy fashion.
A power steering failure for Tyler Reddick left him with a last-place finish, while Denny Hamlin struggled with splitter damage after a late-race spin, finishing 26th. While Reddick secured the fastest lap bonus, Hamlin's result was enough to erase the eight-point deficit and move the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into the championship lead, a single point.
The biggest mover in the standings is easily race winner Shane van Gisbergen, who jumped three positions back inside the Chase, now 14th and +36pts over the cut-line. Alex Bowman was another big mover, albeit far deeper in the standings, jumping three positions from 32nd to 29th after a top ten finish.
The biggest loser was Erik Jones, who dropped three positions down to 17th, falling outside of the Chase. Austin Cindric now sits on the bubble, 12 points ahead of Jones after the final road course race of the 2026 season.
2026 NASCAR Cup points after Sonoma (Race 18 of 36)
| Pos. | Driver | Points | Positions gained or lost |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 719 | +1 |
| 2 | Tyler Reddick | 718 | -1 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | 615 | -- |
| 4 | Ty Gibbs | 589 | +1 |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | 571 | -1 |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | 554 | -- |
| 7 | Chris Buescher | 518 | -- |
| 8 | Carson Hocevar | 509 | +1 |
| 9 | Daniel Suarez | 484 | -1 |
| 10 | Christopher Bell | 472 | +2 |
| 11 | Chase Briscoe | 468 | -1 |
| 12 | William Byron | 446 | +1 |
| 13 | Bubba Wallace | 444 | -2 |
| 14 | Shane van Gisbergen | 425 | +3 |
| 15 | Ryan Preece | 402 | +1 |
| 16 | Austin Cindric | 401 | -1 |
| CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE | CHASE CUTLINE |
| 17 | Erik Jones | 389 | -3 |
| 18 | Bead Keselowski | 376 | +1 |
| 19 | AJ Allmendinger | 375 | +1 |
| 20 | Joey Logano | 370 | -1 |
| 21 | Michael McDowell | 369 | -- |
| 22 | Ross Chastain | 356 | -- |
| 23 | Zane Smith | 340 | -- |
| 24 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 319 | +2 |
| 25 | Riley Herbst | 317 | -1 |
| 26 | Todd Gilliland | 314 | -1 |
| 27 | John Hunter Nemechek | 310 | -- |
| 28 | Austin Dillon | 280 | -- |
| 29 | Alex Bowman | 231 | +3 |
| 30 | Noah Gragson | 221 | -1 |
| 31 | Josh Berry | 217 | -1 |
| 32 | Cole Custer | 211 | +1 |
| 33 | Ty Dillon | 204 | -2 |
| 34 | Connor Zilisch | 198 | -- |
| 35 | Cody Ware | 156 | -- |
| 36 | Kevin Magnussen | 11 | -- |
| 37 | Casey Mears | 10 | -- |
| 38 | Jimmie Johnson | 9 | -- |
| 39 | Katherine Legge | 8 | -- |
| 40 | BJ McLeod | 3 | -- |
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.
