What is the story about?
Denny Hamlin preserved his NASCAR Cup Series Chase lead after an eventful Cook Out Southern 500 on Sept. 6 at Darlington.
Hamlin is 12 points ahead of Christopher Bell going into next week's race at Gateway, the second of 10 races in the Chase.
Bell broke the seal in 2026 with the victory at Darlington, his first win since last year at Bristol.
Hamlin recovered from a broken toe link to finish 18th while bagging 16 stage points to minimize the points damage.
Here's the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings:
NASCAR points standings, Cup Series points update after Darlington race
Unofficial after Darlington, 1 of 10 races complete in Chase
- Denny Hamlin — 2,135 points
- Christopher Bell — 2,123 (-12)
- Ryan Blaney — 2,119 (-16)
- Tyler Reddick — 2,111 (-24)
- Chase Briscoe — 2,098 (-37)
- Ty Gibbs — 2,096 (-39)
- Kyle Larson — 2,086 (-49)
- Joey Logano — 2,063 (-72)
- Chase Elliott — 2,063 (-72)
- Bubba Wallace — 2,054 (-81)
- Chris Buescher — 2,047 (-88)
- Carson Hocevar — 2,046 (-89)
- Daniel Suarez — 2,041 (-94)
- Austin Cindric — 2,033 (-102)
- Ryan Preece — 2,031 (-104)
- William Byron — 2,021 (-114)
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR points
standings: Cup Series points update after Darlington race, Chase picture
