NASCAR Cup Series Stats and Standings Update | Through Race 16

This past weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma marked the 16th and final run before the 2021 All-Star Race. This coming weekend will see the best drivers in NASCAR compete for a shot at $1 million in the annual All-Star event. Of course, this is a non-points race with the regular season set to resume next weekend in Nashville. As such, it is a good time to visit the updated NASCAR stats and points standings to get a clear picture of how the season is shaping up. After all, when points racing resumes, there will be just ten races remaining before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

NASCAR Cup Series Standings Update

Refer to the table below for the updated NASCAR Cup Series points standings through the first five races of the season. The table also includes additional NASCAR Cup Series stats including Wins, Top-5 Finishes, Top-10 Finishes and Total Laps Led. The table is sortable by driver and statistic for your viewing convenience.

Car Number	Driver	Standings Points	Current Playoff Standing	Projected Playoff Points	Wins	Top-5's	Top-10's	Total Laps Led
5	Kyle Larson	861	1	2042	4	11	15	1441
19	Martin Truex Jr.	696	2	2023	3	7	11	647
18	Kyle Busch	740	3	2021	2	10	14	229
11	Denny Hamlin	874	4	2020	0	11	15	771
9	Chase Elliott	711	5	2016	2	9	12	219
24	William Byron	749	6	2016	1	8	14	245
48	Alex Bowman	612	7	2015	3	6	12	151
22	Joey Logano	733	8	2014	1	8	13	361
12	Ryan Blaney	689	9	2012	1	5	11	295
2	Brad Keselowski	676	10	2009	1	7	9	285
1	Kurt Busch	552	12	2008	1	3	7	172
20	Christopher Bell	532	11	2005	1	4	9	57
34	Michael McDowell	448	13	2005	1	2	5	25
10	Aric Almirola	377	14	2005	1	2	3	51
4	Kevin Harvick	673	15	2001	0	6	15	105
8	Tyler Reddick	596	16	2001	0	1	11	20
3	Austin Dillon	591	N/A	N/A	0	1	6	9
17	Chris Buescher	475	N/A	N/A	0	0	4	77
21	Matt DiBenedetto	453	N/A	N/A	0	2	5	60
42	Ross Chastain	452	N/A	N/A	0	2	6	43
23	Bubba Wallace	426	N/A	N/A	0	1	1	49
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	424	N/A	N/A	0	1	2	24
99	Daniel Suarez	401	N/A	N/A	0	1	3	74
14	Chase Briscoe	377	N/A	N/A	0	0	2	6
43	Erik Jones	360	N/A	N/A	0	0	2	7
37	Ryan Preece	357	N/A	N/A	0	0	3	12
6	Ryan Newman	354	N/A	N/A	0	1	3	2
41	Cole Custer	337	N/A	N/A	0	0	2	2
7	Corey LaJoie	269	N/A	N/A	0	0	1	12
38	Anthony Alfredo	222	N/A	N/A	0	0	0	4
52	Josh Bilicki	107	N/A	N/A	0	0	0	0
00	Quin Houff	96	N/A	N/A	0	0	0	0

NASCAR Cup Series Stats Update

Refer to the table below which includes several different NASCAR Cup Series stats through the first five races of the season. The table is sortable by driver and statistic for your viewing convenience. Commentary on several notable stats can be found below.

Note: Only drivers running a full-time Cup Series schedule are included in the table.

Car Number	Driver	Average Finish	Driver Rating	Pass Differential	% Laps Led
11	Denny Hamlin	8.7	107.0	+81	14.1
5	Kyle Larson	10.3	108.5	+237	27.3
22	Joey Logano	10.8	97.7	-7	6.8
9	Chase Elliott	10.9	98.7	+254	4.1
4	Kevin Harvick	11.2	90.5	+57	1.9
18	Kyle Busch	11.4	99.4	+133	4.4
24	William Byron	11.9	97.1	+64	4.5
2	Brad Keselowski	12.6	90.9	+68	5.3
19	Martin Truex Jr.	12.8	97.6	+210	11.9
12	Ryan Blaney	13.1	88.8	+32	5.9
3	Austin Dillon	13.4	79.4	-8	0.2
48	Alex Bowman	14.0	88.3	+99	3.0
8	Tyler Reddick	14.4	79.6	+46	0.4
20	Christopher Bell	16.1	84.4	0	1.1
1	Kurt Busch	17.3	81.9	+60	3.6
17	Chris Buescher	17.4	71.6	-134	1.5
42	Ross Chastain	17.8	74.3	+25	0.8
21	Matt DiBenedetto	17.9	72.8	-129	1.1
34	Michael McDowell	18.3	65.5	-79	0.5
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	19.0	69.2	+64	0.5
99	Daniel Suarez	19.8	64.4	-53	1.4
23	Bubba Wallace	20.1	68.8	-15	0.9
14	Chase Briscoe	20.5	61.7	-37	0.1
43	Erik Jones	21.0	60.6	-24	0.1
10	Aric Almirola	21.8	64.8	-72	1.1
6	Ryan Newman	21.9	59.2	-156	0
41	Cole Custer	22.0	60.7	+19	0
37	Ryan Preece	22.1	60.1	+57	0.2
7	Corey LaJoie	25.5	50.7	-15	0.2
38	Anthony Alfredo	27.2	44.3	-216	0.1
52	Josh Bilicki	32.4	32.5	-45	0
00	Quin Houff	33.0	32.5	-126	0

Average Finish

The average finish statistic is the mean finishing position of the drivers across all races in 2021. Although it has been a quiet stretch of races for Denny Hamlin (7.7), he continues to lead all NASCAR Cup Series drivers in this statistic as he has for seemingly the entire year to date. Behind Hamlin, the list has shifted a great deal over the last several weeks. It has been the Hendrick Motorsports show on the track of late. The same can be said for the average finish and NASCAR stats. Chase Elliott (10.1), William Byron (10.6) and Kyle Larson (10.8) line up in order behind Hamlin in this statistic. The fourth Hendrick driver, Alex Bowman (15.6), ranks 13th in average finish on the season but has two wins in his pocket. 

Driver Rating

The Driver Rating statistic is often one of the best indicators of exactly how well a NASCAR Cup Series driver is performing. With so much happening within a race, it makes sense to have a quantifiable statistic that is based on a combination of factors. A maximum of 150 Driver Rating points are available in a single race. Of course, it would require a perfect run to obtain a full 150. The Driver Rating formula combines the following:

• Wins
• Finishing Position
• Top-15 Finish
• Average Position While Running on the Lead Lap
• Average Speed Under Green
• Fastest Laps
• Most Laps Led
• Lead-Lap Finishing Position 

Once again, we see Denny Hamlin (109.8) holding the line atop this NASCAR stats category. However, things have shifted behind him in the driver rankings as well. On the heels of back-to-back dominant performances at Charlotte and Sonoma, Kyle Larson (108.9) is nipping at the bumper of the No. 11 car to take over the top spot in this statistic. Larson is now one of two NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three victories on the season to date. The other, Martin Truex Jr. (102.4) ranks third in driver rating. Joey Logano (102.4) and William Byron (100.5) round out the shortlist of five drivers with average ratings of 100 or better this season.

Pass Differential

The Pass Differential statistic indicates how many positions a driver has won or lost by way of passing over the course of a race. Those who have completed a greater number of green flag passes than they have been passed will have a positive number in this NASCAR Cup Series stats category. On the contrary, a driver who has been passed more times than he has passes completed will have a negative number. 

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It comes as no surprise that a Hendrick Motorsports driver sits atop this NASCAR stats category. That said, some might be surprised to see Chase Elliott (+191) with a sizable lead over Kyle Larson (+158) in pass differential. There is an explanation for this though. For as dominant as Larson has been, he has spent so much time leading races recently that he has not had to make as many passes. 

A pair of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in Kyle Busch (+123) and Martin Truex Jr. (+112) are the only other two with a pass differential greater than 100 through the season’s first 16 races. A couple of other drivers with strong showings in this category include Alex Bowman (+94), Tyler Reddick (+65) and Ryan Preece (+42). Being fast while racing under green is always something to note!

Percentage of Laps Led

The percentage of laps led is calculated by dividing the sum of laps that a driver has led by the total number of laps that they have completed. It comes as no major shock that Kyle Larson holds a sizable lead in this NASCAR stats area. After dominating each of the last two races from start to finish, the No. 5 car has now led 28.6% of laps, good for over a quarter of the laps run this season. Although he hasn’t spent a lot of time out front recently, Denny Hamlin (17.6%) remains second on this list. 

The only other driver to lead more than 10% of laps on the year is Hamlin’s JGR teammate, Martin Truex Jr. (14.8%). Things drop off quickly after that with just two more drivers having turned greater than 5% of all circuits out in front. Both Joey Logano (8.3%) and Ryan Blaney (5.6%) drive for Team Penske.